If you’ve ever spent springtime driving through some of the older neighborhoods in cities and towns, you’ll notice the abundance of flowering trees and bushes that were popular garden additions in those days. If you love these showy harbingers of spring and warmer temperatures, now is the time to plan for the spring gardens surrounding your Katahdin Cedar Log Home. Here are just a few of our favorites depending on your climate zone:
Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia)
This broadleaf evergreen shrub produces showy, abundant pink flowers from late spring into summer. The flowers are bell shaped and bloom in clusters. The foliage transitions from light to dark green in spring and summer, with a change to purplish hues through
the winter.
Koreanspice Viburnum (Viburnum carlesii)
If fragrance is your favorite thing about early blooms, then this koreanspice viburnum is a great choice for your yard. The bush’s red buds open to pink snowball clusters of fragrant blooms that fade to white. The fruit shows at reddish clusters that eventually blacken. This bush puts on a foliage show throughout the growing season with leaves that emerge copper, mature to glossy dark green then turn in the fall to a brilliant burgundy or red.
Serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis)
This upright growing bush prunes well into tree shapes or hedges. Springtime white flowers are followed by dark fruits that attract birds. The foliage changes from yellow and orange to red in the fall.
Azaleas
Azaleas come in all types of colors and flower shapes. Best known as the splashes of color at the Augusta National Golf course when
the Masters Tournament is played, azaleas can be grown in many areas from the south to New England. Once completed with flowering the glossy dark leaves are a solid anchor for your summer gardens.
Hydrangeas
This new England favorite is known for its ability to change color when given the right soil amendments. These bushes prefer light shady areas, and produce spectacular large, round flower clusters that bloom from spring through late summer. To achieve a deep blue color, a soil acid level of 5.2 to 5.5 is ideal. Some gardeners achieve higher acidity with coffee grounds; there are also commercial acid fertilizer supplements that can do the trick.
