While every section of the country has its climatic vagaries, it would seem that the Midwest, that expensive region of the interior stretching from the hills of eastern Ohio west to the Great Plains and northward from the Ohio River to the Canadian Border is subject to more difficult growing conditions than any other part of the United States.
Pronounced temperature extremes ranging from 30° to more than 110° degrees Fahrenheit, sudden fluctuations, strong winds, drought, excess precipitation, hail, sleet, and, in many instances, uncongenial soils all combine to create obstacles that test the patience and perseverance of the most determined gardener.
Midwest Climatic and Unfavorable Conditions
Climatic and other unfavorable conditions notwithstanding, it is said that the Midwest can support over five thousand woody plant species and varieties, a number seemingly ample to meet any planting requirements.
And, while many of the 5000 are old favorites, widely admired and extensively planted for their ornamental merit, climatic tolerance, and general adaptability, an even greater number are either unfamiliar or entirely unknown.
Believing many of these deservings of greater popularity and wider usage, our momentary concern is primarily with them.
Without Underestimating The Value of Trees
It is shrubs that are the real mainstay of the landscape planting scheme. Serving as they do as background or screening materials, subjects for border planting, foundation use, and accent specimens, they perform services duplicated by no other plant group.
Given their pronounced difference in fit size, diversity of form and branching habit, and variance in foliage texture and coloring and floral, fruit, and other characteristics, they must be carefully selected to meet the requirements expected of them.
Considering First The Tall Growers
For those shrubs whose maximum growth usually exceeds 8′ feet, we should like to call attention to several choice subjects bearing wider acquaintance.
The pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia) is one of them, a native species, hardy well into Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Taking over the position of high regard held by the flowering dogwood in milder regions, the pagoda dogwood imparts a comparable picturesqueness of growth to Northern gardens.
It displays its slender branches in a pleasing arrangement of horizontal tiers and is a flat-topped or rounded hush of year-round attractiveness.
Late May finds the small creamy flowers appearing in flattened cymes along the upper surfaces of its branches; midsummer brings the bright blue-black fruits held erect on prominent red pedicels; and autumn, a foliage color change from green to ruddy purple.
Here is an excellent shrub equally appropriate for introducing a strong horizontal line at the shaded corner of a building or for facing the edge of a woodland.
Japanese Cornelian Cherry
Another dogwood, the Japanese cornelian cherry (Corista officinalis), is valued for an entirely different reason, its precocious yellow flowers appearing a week or so earlier than those of its smaller-blossomed counterpart.
The cornelian cherry dogwood (C. nuts). Clean, rich green foliage and handsome elongated red fruit, tartly flavored hut useful for jellies, number among its other attractions. Being tall (8′ to 10′ feet) and wide-spreading, it demands plenty of space.
Cotoneaster Multiflora Calocarpa
The pleasing grace evident in the branch structure of the many-flower cotoneaster (Cotoneaster multiflora calocarpa), the clean appearance of its rounded, medium green leaves, the generous floral effect in May when tight clusters of white bloom erupt all along its stems, and the lavish autumn display of bright red cranberry-sized fruit—these are the distinguishing features of the most ornamental tall cotoneaster for midwestern use.
Hardy in the more temperate parts of the region, vigorous and pest-free—what more could one ask?
Preston Lilacs
In late years, the Preston lilacs (Syringa Prestoniae in variety) have been much in the news, and quite understandably, when it is realized the important position they play in bridging the gap in bloom between the common lilacs(Syringa vulgaris) and the later-blooming species types.
Developed by Miss Isabella Preston, Horticulturist of the Canadian Experimental Station at Ottawa, they offer, in addition to late blooming, extremely dense foliage and a constitution unmatched in sturdiness.
The color range provided by the numerous named varieties in cultivation includes various lilac, pink, and purple hues. CORAL, ISABELLA, and ROYALTY are among the most popular.
Medium Height Category
In the medium height category (5′ to 8′ feet), would surely he mention the bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora), a handsome shrubby species native to the Southeast?
Whether grouped along a sloping woodland margin, in a shrub border shaded by high-branching trees, or at the corner of a building, the rounded foliage mass of this stoloniferous buckeye will appear equally at home.
In July, foot-long upright blossom spikes rise like tall white candles above its bold, five-parted leaves, and in autumn, the clear gold of its foliage adds interest.
Floriferousness may decrease in proportion to the depth of the shade, although there will be no corresponding lessening of the luxuriance of the foliage.
Early Autumn Shrub
The most talked about shrub in early autumn is the winged euonymus (Euonymus alatus) from northeastern Asia, a shapely wide-spreading bush claiming a distinctive bright pink or rosy red leaf color unrivaled among woody plants.
Mass groupings produce breathtaking color displays; even a single specimen will brighten an entire area. The coloring is more intense in full sunlight, although partial shade does not detract appreciably from its brilliance.
Unusual corky-winged branches attract attention after the leaves have fallen and furnish interest throughout the winter.
Space limitations may necessitate using the lower growing (6′ feet) compact winged euonymus (E. alatus compactus), a more densely branched shrub with deeper red fall coloring.
Southern Native Shrub
A native shrub of the southern Alleghenies which first found favor in England and was not appreciated in our own country until the early part of the present century is the large fothergilla or spring scent (Fothergilla major), a relative of the witch-hazels growing into an erect, branched bush 8′ feet high.
While especially prominent in spring when peculiar sweet-scented, white, bottle-brush-like flowers bedeck its branches and in October when the rounded, deeply veined leaves exhibit a color range starting with the yellows and blending into orange, red and purple, good summer foliage and a shapely form assures there will be no lagging of interest at other times.
Witch Hazel
To the witch-hazels goes the honor of both opening and closing the blooming season in midwestern gardens.
The bright yellow fall-appearing flowers of the common witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) are already well known, but to many, the vernal witch-hazel (H. vernalis) from the Ozarks is a stranger.
Only a few mild days are necessary to bring its peculiar, narrow-petaled gold or reddish terra-cotta-colored flowers into bloom, often occurring as early as January. They have a pungent, woodsy scent which is especially appreciated so early in the year.
Large bright green leaves give this species a somewhat bolder appearance than the common witch-hazel, though its growth characteristics are quite similar. It is adapted to any moist, well-drained location open to spring sunshine.
Alpine Japanese
Always a favorite of those who are acquainted with it is the Alpine Japanese flowering quince (Chaenomeles japonica alpina), a very dependable dwarf who can always be counted on to stay within bounds.
Flat-topped and twiggy, it forms a broad uniform mass never over 2 1/2′ feet in height. Its orange-scarlet flowers are somewhat dazzling, so it requires a careful choice of companion plants.
Rock Cotoneaster
Unfortunately, the semi-evergreen rock cotoneaster (Cotoneaster horizon-tails) and its varieties are tender over much of the area, but in their place may be grown several similar forms.
The early cotoneaster (C. adpressa praecox) from China is one of the most dependable of these, a 2-foot shrub of the more mounded habit of growth but with equally good-looking, glossy leaves and liberal quantities of large red fruit.
Dwarf Alps Honeysuckle
Everyone who sees it is attracted by the compactness and foliage density of the dwarf Alps honeysuckle (Lonicera alpigena nana), a 4-foot shrub from the mountains of Central and Southern Europe.
Rarely encountered outside of botanical collections, its many good qualities still await the wider recognition it deserves.
The uniformity of its contour is especially noteworthy, and there is a crisp freshness to its bold-textured, dark green leaves, most satisfying during the hot summer days.
Overlooking the rather mediocre floral display in May. We find more interest in the summer-produced, oval red berries and the twiggy branch structure so noticeable in winter.
Alpine Currant
The Alpine currant (Ribes alpinum), universally recognized as one of the most dependable low shrubs for shaded areas, is now available in a dwarf form.
The epitome of daintiness, the variety known as the early Alpine currant (R. alpinum pumilum) does not grow over 18″ or 20″ inches tall and forms a dense globe of fine textured foliage. Its yellow flowers in spring are inconspicuous, but there is a jewel-like quality about its miniature sparkling red fruit.
Korean LittleLeaf Boxwood
In all but the colder parts of the region, the Korean little leaf boxwood (Buxus microphylla koreana) is a possibility, one of the few broad-leaved evergreens tolerant of midwestern conditions.
True, its foliage is much smaller than ordinary boxwood and without the latter’s permanent green color, but the mere fact that its leaves are evergreen is sufficient reason for commendation.
It should be explained that the winter browning of the foliage is a normal reaction that in no way affects the regaining of its light green coloring the following spring.
These few by no means exhaust the list of worthwhile low growers, there being numerous other desirable shrubs among the barberries, deutzias, dogwoods, forsythias, hypericums, nine-barks, potentillas, privets, spiraeas, viburnums, and other generic groups.
44659 by E. Lowell Kammerer