After a long winter many of us can't wait to see some bright colour in the landscape.
Some of the early blooming flowering shrubs such as forsythia, double flowering plum, sand cherry and February Daphne will soon be showing their colourful blooms. I noticed that the February Daphne is already blooming in our yard at home.
February Daphne does not bloom in February in our northern climate, but it is the earliest shrub to bloom of all the hardy flowering shrubs. The shrub is covered in clusters of fragrant pink blossoms that grow along the length of each stem. The flowers appear first and are soon followed by the soft green foliage.
When the flowers are finished, you will notice small berries that will eventually turn bright red. These berries, along with all parts of the plant, are poisonous, which is something that should be kept in mind when deciding where to plant a February Daphne. The berries will fall off the plant when they are ripe and if left on the ground, some will become new plants the following spring.
The February Daphne is an upright plant, growing 90 centimetres high and 1.5 metres around. Plant in a sunny location, in a moist soil. It will tolerate most soils, including clay.
Forsythias are easy to spot when they bloom because of their bright yellow primrose flowers that go down the length of the yellow-grey barked stem. Northern Gold is the hardiest of the forsythias (zone 3) and the flower buds are hardy to -35 C which is good because sometimes the flowers are not hardy enough to withstand the cold winter.
You may notice in extreme cold temperatures that only the branches that were under the snow will bloom in the spring because of the extra protection. During very cold weather, you can protect the flowers by piling extra snow to cover the plant, but be careful not to break any branches. This compact shrub grows 1.8 to two metres tall and wide. Plant forsythias in a sunny location where the soil is moist and well-drained.
Double flowering plum produces a nice show of early spring flowers. The double pink flowers go along the entire length of the stem and last for a couple of weeks before the leaves emerge. In the fall the leaves turn a yellowish-bronze. Hardy to zone 3, it grows around two metres tall and wide. This variety of plum does not produce fruit.
Purple leaf sandcherry (Prunus cistena) offers year-round interest. In early spring it blooms first with soft pink fragrant blooms, and then the colourful purple foliage appears, which lasts throughout the summer, along with little black/purple cherries that will cling on the plant until the birds find them. Over the winter months the dark bark stands out against the white snow.
These flowering shrubs are not high maintenance shrubs. The forsythia, double flowering plum and sandcherry should be pruned after they have finished blooming. February Daphne do not like to be pruned. These early bloomers are easily seen, and can be planted toward the back of the landscape so that after they have finished blooming, other plants that bloom later can be planted in front of them.
