As spring approaches, the anticipation of viewing the beautiful flowering trees and shrubs can become overwhelming.
One way to insure your landscape lives up to your expectations is to add a few new plants each year. Planting now will provide surprises and enjoyment in the springs to follow.
Here are three new plants that will add to your spring delight.
Pink Chinese loropetalums. They're new, but widely available, and you can select from several forms.
These are large evergreen shrubs, reaching 8 to 15 feet tall and 6 to 8 feet wide. In the spring, they're covered with bright pink flowers with thin, strap-shaped petals. The new leaves are bright burgundy red that mature to a deep burgundy green.
The plants are adapted to sun or partial shade in sandy or clay soils. They should be hardy except in the cold mountain areas of Georgia.
Pink Chinese loropetalums plants are naturals for screens or hedges. They tolerate pruning, and they're drought-tolerant and nearly pest-free. You can train older plants into small, multistem tree forms.
Mohawk viburnum. This hybrid has good foliage, fragrant flowers and a truly nice form. The dark green, lustrous leaves are small and often turn burgundy in the fall before they drop.
The spring flowers are in clusters 3 inches wide. The individual flowers are pink as buds and open to a nice white. The flower clusters smell like daphne and scent the surrounding space. The plant produces a few fruits that first turn red and then black.
These plants do best in moist, well-drained soils and produce more flowers in full sun. They will mature at 8 to 10 feet tall and nearly as wide.
Mohawk viburnum is cold hardy throughout Georgia. Its abundant, spicy flowers, neat growth habit and cold hardiness make it an outstanding shrub.
Mount Airy fothergilla. This native plant deserves much greater use in Georgia.
A vigorous spring flowering shrub, it reaches 4 to 6 feet in height. The plants are adapted to sun or shade, tolerant of drought and thrive in our Georgia soils.
The white bottlebrush flowers, 2 inches long by 1.5 inches wide, cover the ends of the leafless spring branches. They dance with the wind, releasing their fragrance.
The foliage is a dark blue-green that turns red, orange and yellow in the fall. The rounded-mound habit makes a nice addition to a border or as a specimen planting.
These are three great selections that add flowers, interest and even fragrance to your landscape.
If you plant now in early spring, the plants can become established and develop a strong supporting root system. Strong roots and a productive top will produce flowers for next spring's display.
