Super Shrubs

If the garden is an outdoor "room," then flowering shrubs bring color and texture to its "walls." Unlike perennials, which you must periodically dig up and divide to maintain their vigor, you can leave shrubs permanently in place. Even if you completely ignore them, most will survive. To get the most beautiful display of flowers from your shrubbery, take some advice from Ed Hasselkus of Wisconsin's Longenecker Gardens:

• Mulch with a 4-inch-deep layer of wood chips or bark. To keep grass from creeping into the mulch, spray weed killer at the outside edge of the mulch once each season. Hand-pull weeds that still invade the mulch.
• To enhance flowering, follow a schedule of renewal pruning in winter or early spring. Cut back to ground level one-third of the oldest, thickest stems. Note: pruning to control size can be an uphill battle. Check on the ultimate size of the shrub before you buy and plant.
• If deer munch your shrubs, discourage them by hanging hair-filled bags on the plants about 3 feet above the ground. At the Gardens, the bags stay in place from Labor Day through winter.

Not all shrubs are created equal. These flowering shrubs will bring special pleasure throughout the summer season:

Daydream Smokebrush In June, this sun-loving, drought-tolerant shrub festoons itself with large, reddish-pink plumes that resemble puffs of smoke. As the summer ends and autumn approaches, the plumes mature and darken to a rich brownish-pink color. The eye-catching shrub's blue-green leaves also turn a mellow orange-red in autumn. Over time, Daydream smokebrush can reach 15 feet tall and 15 feet across.

McKay's White Potentilla A profusion of white blooms distinguishes this compact, extremely hardy, drought-resistant shrub, bred to flower most of the summer. McKay's White, a mound-shaped shrub that matures at about 2 1/2 feet tall, highlights potentilla's best traits and adds clouds of creamy-white flowers. Developed at McKay's Nursery in Waterloo, Wisconsin, this variety is perfect for sunny-spot borders in mixed beds.

Bottlebrush Buckeye This midsummer bloomer makes a commanding presence in a large space that receives sun for at least part of each day. The blooms-spectacular, towering white "bottlebrush" spikes-rise above dark-green clusters of foliage. Bottlebrush buckeyes grow 12 feet tall and spread up to 15 feet across on suckering shoots. They're hardy in all but the most northern reaches of the Heartland.

Cheyenne Red Tamarisk In midsummer, deep-pink flower clusters contrast with fine-textured, ferny foliage. Growth is vigorous, almost weedlike, in rich soil. Though a plant can reach a height and width of 15 feet, the shrub looks best if pruned smaller. Ideal for poor, alkaline soil, tamarisk tolerates drought and thrives in full sun.

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