Iberis sempervirens (EYE-bur-iss semper-vie-rens)
Common Name: Candytuft

Grow this cheery, old-fashioned favorite at the front of the bed, where its bright white clusters of flowers dazzle in the sun by day and glow in the moonlight by night. Iberis is perfect for spilling over the edges of sidewalks and pathways, for its diminutive stature makes it a most kempt and polite little flopper. Glossy, dark green foliage remains attractive all season if plants are sheared after flowering. An evergreen, Iberis benefits from a winter mulching of marsh hay.

Care and Use

Grow candytuft in full sun in soil of poor to average fertility—this tough little plant has retained a bit of a weed gene, meaning it’s a good choice for spot-planting in ditches and naturalized areas where you’re not all that interested in amending the soil. It also prefers neutral to alkaline soils, another reason not to fuss with the soil.

Soil must be well drained, however, or plants can be susceptible to root rot. Anything short of untreated clay soils should suffice, however. Plants will need regular weekly watering in drought and intense heat, and mulching the soil around plants is highly recommended.

I. sempervirens is a spreading evergreen that grows 6-12” tall and spreads 16-36” displaying profuse mounds of tiny, white flowers for up to four weeks in mid-spring. It’s a great edging and rock garden plant. ‘Autumn Snow’ bears flowers in spring with a second bloom period in fall. ‘Little Gem’ is a compact, spring-flowering plant that spreads only 10”. ‘Snowflake’ is a taller, wider, mounding plant that bears larger, white flowers in spring.

As stems spread outwards, they may root where they touch the ground. Once you get several plants established, you can cut these rooted ends away from the central plant and plop them in elsewhere.

Too often gardeners get suckered into buying and growing perennials with vibrant red, blue, purple, orange and yellow flowers, forgetting that white is not only a color, it is as eye-catching and essential to the garden as any. White is the only color you get with Iberis, and that’s perfect.

Fothergilla ‘Blue Shadow’

I heard about this new variety of Fothergilla coming down the pipeline several years ago—my ears always perk up when I hear the phrase, “blue-leaved”—and in 2007, it’s here.

A blue-leaved form of F. ‘ Mount Airy,’ Blue Shadow exhibits the same robust growth but in a slightly smaller frame. In Zone 4, plants will grow to around four feet high by four feet wide.

Unlike the attractive, glossy green leaves of Mount Airy, this new variety features powdery blue leaves that are a bit more rounded. The large, white, bottlebrush flowers that appear in spring are honey scented and similar to the superb flowers formed by Mount Airy. In the fall, you get what Fothergilla is famous for—sizzling foliage color ranging from yellow to orange to red.

Fothergilla, part shade planting, in fall.

Plant in full sun to part shade, any decent soil. In part shade, Fothergilla develops a more open and airy habit.

‘Blue Shadow’ is going to be a killer set in front of light green shrubs and evergreens, near anything gold or yellow, and alongside lighter colored stone outcroppings, patios, and walls.

Weigela florida ‘My Monet’
(wy-JEE-lah FLOOR-ih-dah)

I’m finally beginning to get off on weigelas. My snobbery toward shrubs that deliver lovely blooms but add little value to the landscape the other eleven months of the year (lilacs leap to mind) led me to ignore this genus for a long time. When I started gardening, weigelas had nondescript green leaves that did nothing in the fall beyond turn brown and fall off.

Then ‘Wine and Roses’ came along, with its wonderful burgundy-purple foliage that caused the rosy pink blooms to pop out at you, and I started growing them. Then ‘French Lace,’ a cute, taller variety with green/yellow variegated leaves came along, and I love that one. Now the new kid on the block is W. florida ‘My Monet.’

Use

It’s a dwarf, the smallest weigela you can grow, only hitting 18-20” in height with a dense spread to 24”. Cool to use near the front of the perennial border and as an understory plant to evergreen shrubs. The large and distinct white margin emerges pink in spring, then matures to a clean white with what looks like a paintbrush-splash of dark green in the center.

Soft pink flowers appear in great profusion spring through early summer, with noticeable though mild repeat bloom. The foliage keeps the plant a focal point from spring through fall; alas, there is no late fall color change, except to the aforementioned brown.

Obviously a shrub to consider for small yards and close spaces. This is a very cool shrub to grow all season in a large container, popping it into the ground in the fall for overwintering.

Care

Grow in sun to part sun. Weigelas get a bit thin and straggly over time unless they get a good solid block of five hours direct sunlight. Plant in soil that drains well, but beyond that weigelas are not too picky about soil. Medium moisture. If shaping is necessary, prune right after flowering. A Proven Winners selection.

Yucca filamentosa ‘Color Guard’ (YUCK-uh fill-a-men-TOE-suh)
Common Name: Yucca, Adam’s Needle

Watch out all you fancy-schmancy, wine sippin’, zone cheatin’ Southern California gardeners—Zone 4 done got us a Yucca.

Where it came from I have no idea. They hit the market a few years ago, and so far have passed our Frozen Tundra test without a problem. Look at it! It looks like, well, a yucca, with splendid, variegated, sword-like foliage and a late summer bloom time to boot.

Foliage grows slowly to 30” while creamy white, bell shaped flowers appear on very tall stalks (upwards to 72”!) in July and August.

Care and Use

This species of Yucca flourishes in full sun but performs quite adequately in part shade. They will also tolerate full shade, though they will not bloom. Plants prefer slightly moist, well-drained, deep soils—they develop a whopper of a taproot.

Once established, the taproot makes them difficult to dig and divide, but if you want more plants, do your darndest at digging up the thing anyway. Hack away until you get most of it. The following year, new Yuccas will appear, growing from the broken root segments that remained in the soil.

Deadheading doesn’t appear to produce additional flowers on a stalk but seems to keep the stalks coming. It’s best to cut each stalk completely to the ground after flowering; the fruiting stalk is kind of ugly, then gets woody and persists through winter unless you deal with it.

Use? Use them everywhere. Leaves are evergreen. The one pictured was planted a mere three weeks prior, towards the start of fall, so is not quite as sprightly and upright as it will appear next season. Mature leaves gradually fold over in half, while center growth stays upright. In winter, these center leaves pierce the snow, and are especially noticeable.

Picea glauca ‘Rainbow’s End’  (pie-SEE-uh glaw-kuh)
Common Name: Rainbow’s End Spruce

Photo courtesy Bachman’s Nursery, Minneapolis

Brand new out of the box I planted a number of these this year, so let’s hope it works. Though it certainly should—this newest addition to the fabulous world of dwarf evergreens has been proven thoroughly hardy to USDA Zone 4, and has performed splendidly in trials across zones 4-8.

I saw a row of them at the wholesale yard in June, and was smitten. A beautiful, tight, pyramidal dwarf evergreen blazing with a topcoat of bright yellow needles, I mean, come on. The first flush of needles in spring is light green, contrasting with the dark green inner growth. The second flush produces bright yellow needles that hold their color well into summer, before turning dark green. Needle form is similar to the Dwarf Alberta Spruce, a very fine and delicate weave. Mature height is 6-7’ tall by 3’ wide.

Care and Use

 Pyramidal evergreens are invaluable to garden design. Line them up as a tight screen or hedge, then fly any deciduous shrubs or perennials in front that have blue, reddish or purple foliage, or any green leaf that’s bold. Small, slim, pyramidal evergreens with fine foliage are fun to slip in front of and around larger evergreens with broader forms and bolder needles. This is a great small tree for the foundation border as well, because you can plant it right up tight to the house. Pyramidals are nice markers, and can be used as singles announcing the entrance to a pathway, or used formally, one on each side.

‘Rainbow’s End’ prefers full sun to part shade. At least a solid four hours of midday sun is advised. Spruce in general are not terribly picky about soil, but it’s always a good idea to plant dwarf conifers in slightly acidic soil that has been amended with organic matter, and drains at a decent rate. A single application of organic granular fertilizer the first spring after planting and each spring thereafter should be all the fertilizer it needs. Don’t let the soil dry out in severe heat, and, as with all evergreens, moderate watering through fall is advised.