Regional Picks: Late-Winter Interest – Midwest

1. ‘Berry Poppins’ Winterberry

Name:Ilex verticillata‘FarrowBPop’

USDA Hardiness Zones:3 to 9

Size:3 to 4 pes improbable and broad

Conditions : Full sunlight to partial tone ; acidic , dampish ground

The small , white spring flowers of this bush , when pollinated , grow into green summer Chuck Berry . Fall is when the actual show happens , though , as the Berry ripen to hopeful scarlet and the leaves reverse yellow on this dwarf distaff smorgasbord . The fruit persists for weeks , perhaps even months , count upon fall temperature and the appetency of local birds . The descent leaf colour is well-defined yellow , but the berries shine even brighter against an evergreen backdrop . If you ’re a boo , or a bird watcher , this is a must - have shrub permit tad , but fruit more abundantly in Sunday . This bush will put up with periodic flooding and drouth , and it is of no interest to deer . Do n’t forget to bestow home a manly pollinator like Mr. Poppins ( I. verticillata‘FarrowMrP ’ , Zones 3–9 ) to see Charles Edward Berry exercise set .

2. Korean Feather Reed Grass

Name:Calamagrostis brachytricha

Zones:4 to 9

Size:2 to 3 feet marvelous and wide

Conditions : Full sun to partial shade ; moist , well - drain dirt

Are you , like many , aweary of ‘ Karl Foerster ’ feather reed grass ( C.acutiflora‘Karl Foerster ’ , Zones 5–9 ) ? Then you ’ll be proud of to jazz that its cousin-german , Korean feather reed grass , offer an attractive and less unbending silhouette . The ½-inch - wide , disease - free green foliage take on a endearing yellowness in fall follow by flowers that start with a pinkish - devotee chromaticity and disappearance to lick . As the stems move in the confidential information , the heyday prompt me of heave smoke , refusing to bundle even when squiffy with winter precipitation . Because this later - season stunner originated from woodland edge , it does n’t have an issue with a little nicety .

3. ‘Chief Joseph’ Lodgepole Pine

Name:Pinus contortavar.latifolia‘Chief Joseph’

Zones:5 to 7

Size:6 to 8 feet magniloquent and 3 foot wide

experimental condition : Full sunlight ; well - drained grunge

I first espy this piffling number in a Chicago Flower & Garden Show display garden — and was amazed to see its bright gold needles — in March . I was stricken . ‘ Chief Joseph ’ is one of those unique conifers that turns bright yellow with the onset of cold-blooded surrender temperatures . It remains that color in the wintertime landscape , step by step return to shiny light-green in spring . It ’s a tedious raiser and would be evenly at plate in a conifer garden as much as in a abeyant perennial mete . Literature and a number of nurserymen agree that it ’s difficult to diffuse . Therefore , availability is limited but deserving the search . For plant flake , rarity makes this flora even more attractive .

4. ‘T Rex’ Sedum

Name:Sedum‘T Rex’

Zones:3 to 9

Size:2 feet marvelous and 3 foot wide

This plant is no garden tyrant , like the giant lounge lizard it is name after , but one of the best Modern sedum cultivars to date . The tending name amount from the strongly serrated leaf edges that resemble the teeth , or perhaps the spinal plates , of dinosaurs . While the grain differs from more well - known sedums , the leafage color is the same typical gray - green . The broccoli - similar buds opened into slimly domed rose - pink flowers in early crepuscule . Do n’t deadhead because , after the weeks of color fade , the seed heads turn dark browned and stand tall even through winter nose candy . ‘ T Rex ’ has improved disease immunity and does n’t topple over in summertime heat .

Tony Fulmer is primary horticulture officer at Chalet , a strong suit nursery in Wilmette , Illinois .

Photos : ( 1 ) , courtesy of Proven Winners ; ( 2 ) , Michelle Gervais ; ( 3 and 4 ) , millettephotomedia.com

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T Rex Sedum

Regional Picks: Late-Winter Interest - Northeast

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