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Mar 27, 2010 8:57 AM CST
Thread OP
Name: Neal Linville
Winchester, KY (Zone 6a)
Bulbs Charter ATP Member Cottage Gardener I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Irises Roses
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Garden Ideas: Level 2
There are so many blooming shrubs I find perfectly at home in the Cottage Garden. In spring, Lilacs and Forsythia are a must for my garden. Later, color from Viburnums, Hydrangeas, Weigelias, and Butterfly bushes are welcomed sights as well.

What blooming shrubs adorn your Cottage Garden?

This large Mock Orange was here when I moved in. It's huge and likely quite old. I positioned a bed around it so that it serves as a lovely backdrop whether its in bloom or not :-)

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"...and don't think the garden loses its ecstasy in winter. It's quiet, but the roots are down there riotous." Rumi
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Mar 29, 2010 7:13 AM CST
Name: Sharon
near Detroit, MI
This is where I need help. I live in suburbia so space is very precious. Because of this I have virtually no bushes and my garden shows it. I need to be brave and take the plunge so I will be carefully watching this cubit!
So far I have an old fashion lilac that is in too much shade, so it blooms only at the very top and only once every couple years. I've pruned it into a small tree because of this.
Also I have a Hydrangea, a no name that I got at a going out of business sale for $1. It's flowers are nothing to shout about, small and white, but I like shape of the plant so keep it. Killed 1/2 of it last year by spraying deer repellent on it, so may need to replace it this year.
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Mar 29, 2010 7:34 AM CST
Name: Terese
Central Florida, (Zone 9b)
Wisconsin Dells Area, zone4
Bee Lover Butterflies Cat Lover Charter ATP Member I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database!
Ohh, i'm not good on shrubs.

what i have are.... 2 Rhododendrons in the front [east bed] but they only bloom for one week. Yes, they are pretty when in bloom, but boring the rest of the year.

On the corner i have a Burning Bush... I LOVE burning bushes where many dont like them due to invasiveness ... not here - but i guess the birds eat the berries - then fly south and poop there.

I also have 2 Spirea ... which i'm starting to not like much. and one if half dead... so i may end up replacing it.

all are kept nice and small by minimal trimming.

I recall cece in the UMW forum got this great new shrub... i'll have to look it up to see how big it gets.
Terese --Leesburg, FL & Lake Delton, Wi

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Mar 29, 2010 7:39 AM CST
Name: Terese
Central Florida, (Zone 9b)
Wisconsin Dells Area, zone4
Bee Lover Butterflies Cat Lover Charter ATP Member I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database!
found it.... Regent Serviceberry

Spread and height are both 3-6"

bet you could keep it trimmed to keep it smaller.
Terese --Leesburg, FL & Lake Delton, Wi

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Mar 30, 2010 5:44 AM CST
Thread OP
Name: Neal Linville
Winchester, KY (Zone 6a)
Bulbs Charter ATP Member Cottage Gardener I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Irises Roses
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Garden Ideas: Level 2
Sharon, there are a lot of nice dwarf shrubs out there these days, good options for small plots. I've been curious about the dwarf Forsythias I've seen on the market. There's a new pink Hydrangea out that is the hardy 'Annabell' type, I want one of those really bad! Those seem more like managing a perennial to me for some reason.

Terese, I'm so glad Serviceberries are being marketed for landscape use. In spring they're the first wild trees to bloom around here, joined soon after by the Redbuds- and how glorious they are in bloom together! Around here folks call them "Sarvice trees" LOL. I heard the name came from way back when, and people used the blooming branches to decorate church altars for Easter services,...or "sarvices" if you're from Kentucky, LOL.
"...and don't think the garden loses its ecstasy in winter. It's quiet, but the roots are down there riotous." Rumi
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Mar 30, 2010 1:29 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Neal Linville
Winchester, KY (Zone 6a)
Bulbs Charter ATP Member Cottage Gardener I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Irises Roses
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Garden Ideas: Level 2
Sharon, a member just signed up on the Shrubs for the Home Garden Cubit, who also lives on a small lot, but grows lots of shrubs. I think she may be able to offer some good info for you :-)

http://cubits.org/Shrubs/threa...
"...and don't think the garden loses its ecstasy in winter. It's quiet, but the roots are down there riotous." Rumi
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Mar 30, 2010 8:18 PM CST
Name: Veronica
zone 5b
Charter ATP Member I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Garden Art Butterflies Irises Region: Indiana
Hummingbirder Hostas Dog Lover Daylilies Cut Flowers Clematis
Neal I remember my parents calling them Sarvice trees.... Wonder if they knew the meaning of the name. Sounds like an old country tradition to me. Lots of our ancestors came from England and Scotland. Bet yours did too.
Veronica
My attitude determines my altitude
A truly wise person uses few words; a person of understanding is even- tempered. Proverbs 17:27
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Mar 31, 2010 5:51 AM CST
Thread OP
Name: Neal Linville
Winchester, KY (Zone 6a)
Bulbs Charter ATP Member Cottage Gardener I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Irises Roses
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Garden Ideas: Level 2
Veronica, I think you're exactly right. Funny how little things like that hang on from yesteryear. Like so many from this area, I have Scottish ancestry too. I must get some pics of the Forsythias today. Last year they didn't bloom much, but they're making up for it this year. Wanting to take pics has got me out there weeding and cleaning up the beds- I don't want to show off my weeds, LOL.

I do have a pic of some of my Forsythia that I forced! We had a fund raising event the the venue I work at (The Winchester Opera House), and one of the organizers had wanted Forsythia branches to decorate with. So about 10 days before the event, I cut several buckets full and the timing was perfect.

Thumb of 2010-03-31/gemini_sage/607612
"...and don't think the garden loses its ecstasy in winter. It's quiet, but the roots are down there riotous." Rumi
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Mar 31, 2010 11:55 AM CST
Name: Sally
East Central Kentucky
I had originally thought of putting burning bushes in front of the new porch at my house, but a neighbor/horticulturist suggested Itea Virginica [sweetspire] instead. Unlike burning bush, this plant is native to this area and is not invasive. I am glad I followed her advice, as we got not only the dark red fall foliage but attractive white flowers in the summer, which the butterflies love.

Living sustainably comes with learning to see the world in a new way.
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Mar 31, 2010 3:34 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Neal Linville
Winchester, KY (Zone 6a)
Bulbs Charter ATP Member Cottage Gardener I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Irises Roses
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Garden Ideas: Level 2
Oh so pretty! And what a butterfly magnet! A friend of mine had one of those, I always liked it, but now that I see how well the butterflies like it, I think I need one!
"...and don't think the garden loses its ecstasy in winter. It's quiet, but the roots are down there riotous." Rumi
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Apr 1, 2010 6:19 PM CST
Name: Rita
North Shore, Long Island, NY
Zone 6B
Charter ATP Member Seed Starter Tomato Heads I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Vegetable Grower Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge)
Birds Garden Ideas: Master Level Butterflies Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Roses Photo Contest Winner: 2016
I grow tons of shrubs. They all flower but some of them are not here for the flowers but for the fruit that comes later. I like to attract the backyard songbirds, especially those that eat fruit with lots of shrubs growing here. Like Serviceberries, nanking cherry, Aronia, Beautiberry, Gourmi, viburnums , winterberry and grey dogwood, which is a large shrub.

Then there are the shrubs grown for their flowers. Those would be mainly my azealeas, spirea and lilacs. I do have three blue Hydrangeas and a old and big Weigelia. Also a Kerria, which I love for the early spring pompom flowers and because it reminds me of when I was a child. There were lots of Kerrias around then that all dissappeared thru the years.
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Apr 1, 2010 7:49 PM CST
Name: Rita
North Shore, Long Island, NY
Zone 6B
Charter ATP Member Seed Starter Tomato Heads I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Vegetable Grower Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge)
Birds Garden Ideas: Master Level Butterflies Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Roses Photo Contest Winner: 2016
Some of my Azeales

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Apr 1, 2010 7:57 PM CST
Name: Rita
North Shore, Long Island, NY
Zone 6B
Charter ATP Member Seed Starter Tomato Heads I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Vegetable Grower Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge)
Birds Garden Ideas: Master Level Butterflies Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Roses Photo Contest Winner: 2016
Viburnum blooming in shrub border.

Thumb of 2010-04-02/Newyorkrita/9521e5
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Apr 1, 2010 7:58 PM CST
Name: Rita
North Shore, Long Island, NY
Zone 6B
Charter ATP Member Seed Starter Tomato Heads I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Vegetable Grower Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge)
Birds Garden Ideas: Master Level Butterflies Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Roses Photo Contest Winner: 2016
Weigelia

Thumb of 2010-04-02/Newyorkrita/8c8c39
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Apr 2, 2010 4:27 AM CST
Thread OP
Name: Neal Linville
Winchester, KY (Zone 6a)
Bulbs Charter ATP Member Cottage Gardener I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Irises Roses
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Garden Ideas: Level 2
Oh such gorgeous pics, Rita! I LOVE your shrub border! The rock work is so nice, and your setting is just beautiful.
"...and don't think the garden loses its ecstasy in winter. It's quiet, but the roots are down there riotous." Rumi
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Apr 2, 2010 10:04 AM CST
Name: Rita
North Shore, Long Island, NY
Zone 6B
Charter ATP Member Seed Starter Tomato Heads I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Vegetable Grower Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge)
Birds Garden Ideas: Master Level Butterflies Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Roses Photo Contest Winner: 2016
That shrub border runs along the entire south side property line and totally screens out my neighbors driveway. In the summer you can't even see thru it and when you come around the house to that part of the garden, it looks like a woodland edge. That is the effect I was going for. Also to attract lots of backyard songbirds with the fruiting shrubs that had berries for the birds to eat.

Woodland edge, then grassy path, then roses and lily bed running along side the house. It all turned out very pretty.

That rock there is just stacked loosely, no mortar so its just for effect to define that shrubby area.
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Apr 2, 2010 10:16 AM CST
Thread OP
Name: Neal Linville
Winchester, KY (Zone 6a)
Bulbs Charter ATP Member Cottage Gardener I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Irises Roses
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Garden Ideas: Level 2
The Forsythias are blooming so nicely this year!

Thumb of 2010-04-02/gemini_sage/58d35a
"...and don't think the garden loses its ecstasy in winter. It's quiet, but the roots are down there riotous." Rumi
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Apr 2, 2010 10:21 AM CST
Name: Rita
North Shore, Long Island, NY
Zone 6B
Charter ATP Member Seed Starter Tomato Heads I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Vegetable Grower Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge)
Birds Garden Ideas: Master Level Butterflies Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Roses Photo Contest Winner: 2016
I don't have a Forsythia but I get all the benifits as my neighbor has some planted right at the foot of her driveway so I can see them very well. That driveway is right next to mine. Yes, they are blooming here too.
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Apr 2, 2010 8:06 PM CST
Name: Veronica
zone 5b
Charter ATP Member I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Garden Art Butterflies Irises Region: Indiana
Hummingbirder Hostas Dog Lover Daylilies Cut Flowers Clematis
Enjoying the pictures
My attitude determines my altitude
A truly wise person uses few words; a person of understanding is even- tempered. Proverbs 17:27
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Apr 3, 2010 6:23 AM CST
Thread OP
Name: Neal Linville
Winchester, KY (Zone 6a)
Bulbs Charter ATP Member Cottage Gardener I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Irises Roses
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Garden Ideas: Level 2
Last year the Forsythias didn't bloom very well. We had a mild winter, and there were a few blooms open through most of the winter that year, so I guess they were pretty much done blooming before spring even got here. This past winter was a much different story, so I guess the buds all waited till spring to bloom together.

Thumb of 2010-04-03/gemini_sage/2e7808
"...and don't think the garden loses its ecstasy in winter. It's quiet, but the roots are down there riotous." Rumi

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