The Plan
Below is the original planting plan. We haven’t planted any of the Cornus alba and may not. We did plant a single bed of roses but have since removed it. We have a Rosa rugosa ‘Fru Dagmar Hartop’ in front of the house that needs to be thinned periodically and this was designed as a place to put what we thinned out. It was just too weedy and difficult to maintain.
Here’s how things looked in May 2016.
Here is the area again a year later.
And here it is in 2022.
The photos below show roughly the same view in different years. Not only are the shrubs larger, but different shrubs are blooming on the same date.
Here’s the view of that area from the house. Our travel trailer blocks part of the view.
The Plants
These are the lilacs we planted. I really wanted the Beauty of Moscow and the Primrose (which was a later addition and not on the original plan). The others were selected from what was available at the garden center. The Albert F. Holden has become a favorite. The back side of the petals are silvery, giving a bicolor effect, and the fragrance is excellent.
- Syringa vulgaris
- Syringa vulgaris ‘Krasavitsa Moskvy’ Beauty of Moscow
- Syringa vulgaris ‘Congo’
- Syringa vulgaris ‘Monge’
- Syringa vulgaris ‘Belle de Nancy’
- Syringa vulgaris ‘Albert F. Holden’
- Syringa vulgaris ‘Primrose’
- Syringa meyeri ‘Palabin’ (Korean dwarf lilac)
These are the other trees and shrubs in the area. We ended up with one Judd viburnum but I can’t tell the difference from the Korean Spice viburnums.
- Cornus Rutgers ‘Stellar Pink’
- Viburnum x Juddi (Judd viburnum)
- Viburnum Carlesii (Korean Spice viburnum)
- Chionanthus virginicus (White fringetree)
- Spirea vanhouttei (VanHoutte spirea)
- Calycanthus floridus (Carolina allspice or sweetshrub)
- Cercis canadensis (eastern redbud)
The white fringetree is just the coolest plant. I’ve never seen anything else like it. The first two photos show the dogwood blooming at the same time.
Here’s a close up of the viburnum blossoms with a bonus bee. The blossoms are very fragrant. We have another Judd viburnum at the corner of the house so we can enjoy the fragrance from the front porch.
Here’s a last photo of viburnum and redbud flowers, just because they’re pretty. Redbuds are my favorite spring flowering tree.
