Regional Picks: Late-Winter Interest – Northeast

1. Weeping Norway Spruce

Name:Picea abies‘Pendula’

USDA Hardiness Zones:3 to 7

Size : Up to 5 feet magniloquent ; width is variable and governable

Conditions : Sun to partial shade ; fair to well - drained soil

As conifers go , I especially like the crying Norway spruce and the way that snow settle on its inflexible yet leaderless stems , which no earlier arch up then are apparently draw down by gravity , and perhaps up and down again . One expectant specimen I planted 30 twelvemonth ago prompt me of a snow-clad dark green dragon in wintertime . Stems may be trained to a postal service if more tiptop is want , or allowed to tramp freely , where they may become 4 feet marvelous or so but much wider . I have planted them to talk down a slope beside a set of footstep , as well as to whirl around over keep back rampart . Each weep Norway spruce is alone as it senesce ; this is no cookie - cutter bird ’s nest spruce ( P. abies‘Nidiformis ’ , Zones 3–8 ) .

2. ‘Jim’s Pride’ Daphne

Name:Daphnetransatlantica‘Jim’s Pride’

Zones:5 to 9

Size:3 feet tall and up to 6 fundament all-embracing

weather : Full sunshine to fond shade ; average to well - drained soil

Wow , efflorescence from May to December — in New Hampshire ! This hybrid is mostly evergreen here , with gray - immature leaves shaped like surfboards . But it ’s grown for the flowers : four dainty petal arising from purple - stained underground and burst capable in clusters at the end of each stem . inflorescence commence for us in May and continues more or less unabated until former wintertime ( we have had blooms in mid - December , frozen in Methedrine ) . The flowers are fragrant as well , specially in the eventide . A single branchlet in a vase will scent a small room . Alas , daphnes , including ‘ Jim ’s Pride ’ , can be mysteriously quicksilver when it come to their vigor , but this one is not a challenge to farm .

3. ‘Red Dragon’ Ornamental Hazelnut

Name:Corylus avellana‘Red Dragon’

Zones:4 to 8

Size:6 ft tall and 3 to 5 feet wide

condition : Full Lord’s Day to fond specter ; average soil

shape is especially important in winter , and this recent introduction has it . Its slender stems bend and turn in amusive mode . This caliber is especially evident when leafless , although the foliage is also to be celebrated for its striking sunglasses of reddish - purple to at least midsummer . Each foliage is curl inwards , which slenderly diminishes the display . ‘ Red Dragon ’ has been proven insubordinate to the Eastern filbert blight , which can be fatal to other ornamental filberts , such as the pop green - impart Harry Lauder ’s Walking Stick ( C. avellana‘Contorta ’ , Zones 4–9 ) . Dangling Burgundy wine catkins supply to the wintertime show before open in other spring .

4. Coral Bark Willow

Name:Salix alba‘Britzensis’

Zones:3 to 8

Size : Up to 20 foot tall and 15 feet wide-eyed ; smaller if controlled

Conditions : Full sun ; middling to moist soil

Though perhaps not the most compact option for a modest landscape painting , the young stems of coral bark willow ( and the interchangeable redstem willow tree , S. albavar.vitellina‘Chermesina ’ ) ignite in cold weather , staring for adding passion to the wintertime garden . This effect is enhanced by cut the plant back hard in early spring , which also retain them a bit tidy . Coral barque willow tree serves well as a tight - raise hedging , as long as the soil is reasonably moist and the area is sunny . Smaller stems may be edit out for wintertime arrangements .

Doug Gagne , APLD , is the co - owner of The Mixed Border Nursery and Gardens in Hollis , New Hampshire .

photograph : ( 1 and 3 ) , millettephotomedia.com ; ( 2 ) , Joshua McCullough ; ( 4 ) , courtesy of Bluestem Nursery

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