Gifford Garden Notes
Gardening for winter interest and attracting birds.
by Diane Fagergren

While you rest up for the next growing season, spend a little time studying your garden. As I look out my window at home, I realize that there is not enough winter interest in the perennial borders. A blanket of snow can really point out what's missing in your landscape. There also could be more structure to define the garden space. The addition of evergreen or deciduous shrubs would enhance the overall appearance and add to the framework of the garden. Some hard scaping will help provide the structure that is lacking. I would also like to see more plant material that attracts birds. So, now is a good time to thumb through magazines and books and get some ideas for your garden.

Here are a few plants that can add interest to your garden during the winter months. The ones that attract birds are duly noted.

Deciduous shrubs

• Clethra alnifolia (summersweet) is a fairly common native shrub with many great cultivars. Its fragrant flowers emerge in July and continue through August. When the flowers fade and dry, they provide food for many types of birds. I particularly like 'Ruby Spice' because of its dark rose blossoms.
• Cornus alba 'Sibirica' (Tartarian dogwood) is a vibrant red twigged shrub that will wake up any winter landscape. To keep the stems vigorous and colorful, remove approximately one third of the older growth each year.
• Euonymus americanus (strawberry-bush) produces deep red fruits that split open and expose the orange seeds inside. Good for naturalizing and quite showy when heavily fruited.
• Heptacodium miconioides (Seven-Son Flower) shows off during this barren season by exfoliating its bark. Another wonderful characteristic is the profusion of white flower clusters that appear from August thru October.
• Hydrangea anomala (climbing hydrangea) has rich mahogany colored bark that exfoliates as it matures. This self-attaching, woody vine even does quite well in a shady location.
• Ilex verticillata (winterberry) has clusters of small red fruit that will hold through a good part of the winter. It looks quite striking after a snowfall and will also provide food for the birds.
• Itea virginica (sweetspire) is one of my favorites. I have a small mass planting behind a Betula jacquemontii (clump birch) The deep ruby stems of the sweetspire behind the bright white bark of this birch is a striking combination.
• Kerria japonica (Japanese Kerria) with its bright green twigs arching out from the ground adds more color and texture.
• Myrica pensylvanica (northern bayberry) attract a wide range of birds to its clusters of small blue gray berries. The foliage will hold on during the winter especially if planted in a protected spot.
• Rosa hybrids (rose hybrids) are dappled with colorful small hips throughout the winter. These require less maintenance than other roses.
• Stewartia pseudocamellia (Japanese Stewartia) is a small to medium size tree with mottled bark of brown, tan and gray.
• Symphoricarpos albus (snowberry) produces a prolific amount of creamy white berries on a lacey network of fine branches. The birds love to feed on this native.
• Symplocos paniculata (sapphireberry) will naturalize well and attract many birds to your yard. However, its brightly colored turquoise-blue fruit is generally eaten up rather quickly. I have been searching for this shrub for quite some time but found that it is not readily available. What a shame!
• Viburnum trilobum (American cranberrybush Viburnum) is a favorite because of its red fall foliage and berries. Its fruit will persist through the winter and offer food to the birds late into the season.

Just a few suggestions for you to ponder while you stare out the window to your garden at this frigid time of year. I would recommend The Unsung Season, by Sidney Eddison, Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs by Michael A. Dirr and Garden Birds: How to Attract Birds to your Garden by Dr. Noble Proctor for additional reading. They are all great! In the upcoming weeks I will be talking about the role perennials, ornamental grasses, and hardscaping can play in this quest for a garden filled with year round interest.

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