Early Spring blooming shrubs/Garden Style nw

Debbie here with Garden Style. So today I thought I would cover two or three early spring blooming shrubs with you. Some you may be very familiar with and some you may not. All three of these shrubs that I'm getting ready to cover with you are very hardy here in our area which is zone 8 and I get a lot of questions as to where I am talking from. And I'm actually in the nursery today, Sunnycrest Nursery, and we're actually located in Lake Bay, Washington. And for those of you who are not familiar with the Washington map, just think of us as across the water from Seattle. We're actually on the peninsula. So our temperatures here get cold during the wintertime but not super cold. And most of these shrubs and most of the plants that I talk about are really good usually from zone 4 up to zone 9. And I will try and make a habit of covering that with you with each plant that I cover with you today. So here it is. It's early spring. We had a beautiful 63 degree day today. Unloaded several trucks. We're finally starting to get all our plants out on our benches and the place is filling up fast. So as the plants start to come in, I start coming across some specimens that I figure you guys might be interested in. And the two or three I'm talking about today would make excellent foundation plants. And what I mean by foundation plants is they're evergreen. So they're going to hold their leaves all year round. And this first one I'm going to talk about right here is blooming right now. And this is a beautiful shrub. Kind of a light pink flower and slightly fragrant, which is what I love about it. But this would make a fantastic hedge plant as well as a specimen plant out in your yard. And this one is called a spring bouquet loris tenis or a viburnum compactum. And it's you can see it's just loaded with buds right now. It's just now starting to open. And what I love most about this shrub is that they're tough. This one here is hardy down to U.S. state, U.S. zone 7 to 11. So it can actually take more heat and humidity than most plants. It's hardiness is down to zero degrees. So that's pretty good for our area. We usually don't get much colder than 15 degrees during the wintertime. But in the spring, right now, this started putting its buds on probably at the end of February. And now it's finally starting to open with our warm temperatures. And you can smell it. It's just a real light, sweet fragrance. And they're actually really pretty once they go into full bloom. Now this guy probably gets about six feet tall by six feet wide. So excellent hedge plant. I mean just fantastic for that. But you can also plant it in a container for two or three years before moving it out into the yard. Or, you know, have it along a sidewalk or as a foundation shrub up against the house. And that's what I mean. A lot of these evergreens are something you would like to put around the edges of your house so you don't see the foundation itself. And it will hold its leaves year-round. So it's not like it's gonna drop its leaves during the winter and all you're looking at is twigs. So yeah, another fantastic shrub, a viburnum. Compactum is what this is called. And spring bouquet is this particular variety. And let's see, what else can I tell you about it? It is deer resistant, which is a good, really good thing. And it'll take partial to full sun. In order for it to bloom like it should, it should get at least four to five hours of sun. So wherever you place it, make sure it gets that. And you will get this, where it gets all these buds and all these blooms on it. So there you go. There's the first shrub. And then I have a second one here, which is fantastic. This one has tiny little buds on it. And I took a close-up picture and I'll flip it in there so you can see what that looks like. This is a fantastic evergreen shrub. You can see its reddish stems that it has on it. And this is called a pepper bush or mountain pepper. And this one probably gets about 12 feet high by 8 feet wide. So he looks pretty innocent sitting in this pot right at the moment. But they can get very tall. But they're gorgeous. They'll get their blooms on them, little tiny ones. And again, I'll flash a little picture up there so you can see where this one is at right now. But it starts blooming in the spring and then it replaces itself with these berries. And the berries, eventually, as you pick them, you can actually eat them and use them to spice up your dinner, which is why it's called a mountain pepper. Even its leaves can be eaten and it has a peppery type taste to it. So you can harvest this plant later on once its berries are done. And you can use them as a pepper replacement if you want to, to add extra spice to any of your dishes. So what a neat way to go putting in a foundation plant and be able to eat it too. So I always love that when a plant has a multiple purpose like that. Now the cool thing with these plants is they actually originated in Australia. That's where they're native. But they do quite well here in our climate. In fact, it's hardy down to zero degrees as well. Seven to ten. So it can take a little bit warmer temperatures as well. And again, you know, it gets pretty good size. So wherever you're going to put it, make sure you allow it some room to spread. What else can I tell you? Again, full to partial sun. And in order for you to get really good fruiting on it, so you get a lot of berries on it, you do need to have a male and a female in order for it to produce berries. So it's that type of a plant. And we like to carry both here in the nursery. So you get one, try and get another one. So you can make sure it gets pollinated properly and you'll get the little pepper berries later on. But I love these shrubs, if nothing else, for the red stems on them. They hold their leaves and they just have a really neat shape to them. Really, really pretty. I apologize if there's some extra noise in the background. I have traffic going by. I was trying to find a quiet spot. It's hard to do when you're outside. So anyway, yeah, mountain peppers originated from Australia. These type of plants usually start blooming about late winter to early spring. And we've had a very cold spring this year. So he's actually a little late. But I am seeing some buds on him. So that's a hopeful thing for sure. So there you go. Another great specimen foundation plant for you to try in your own yard. Now this next plant is not really a shrub. It's more, it's called a strawberry tree. And he's pretty good sized in here. I don't know if you guys have ever seen a strawberry tree before. But again, it's another one that's an evergreen. It'll start blooming in the late winter, early spring. And then it gets these really cool fruits on them. And I'll flash some more pictures up there so you can see what it looks like. And they actually look like strawberries. So strawberry tree, let me give you the botanical name for it, which is an Arbutus compacta. And this particular plant will get eight feet tall by six feet wide. So they actually consider this a dwarf strawberry tree. Beautiful plant. It's also hardy from zone seven to nine. Average size is six to eight feet tall, about five to six feet wide. In about ten years it might get slightly bigger than that. But you can always keep them trimmed. And that keeps them really compact and bushy as well. Let's see, what else can I tell you? This is also deer resistant. The strawberry type fruits are actually very decorative on the shrub. But I wouldn't recommend eating them. It says nowhere on here that they're actually edible. So I wouldn't recommend eating them. But they are pretty cool when they start to show up. So there's three varieties for you. Three specimens for you to try. Something we have in stock here at the nursery. We try to keep them in stock at least through May. As you know, this is the perfect time of the year to start putting in your trees and your shrubs. So I saw these specimens today and I was like, hey, now there's a neat subject to cover here in my video. Just to introduce you to some new plants to try. Okay, not sure what I'm gonna cover in my next video. We're getting a ton of perennials in right now. And I'm seeing some really neat specimens starting to show up. So I hope to cover some of those with you in my next video. I, of course, am always encouraging suggestions or anything you would like for me to talk about. Had a gal ask me about the differences between compost and mulch. So that might be a subject that I'll talk about in my next video. As that's what we're doing right now. We're all very busy getting the compost and the mulch into our beds and getting everything ready for spring. So that might be a really neat subject to cover in my next video. So if you're just getting started with a brand new yard, here's three samples for you for you to get started to find places for. And all of them are pretty easy. They're not too fussy. They're super easy to take care of once they're established. And, of course, as with any new plant, you want to make sure they stay well watered during their first year. And then after that, just step back and watch them grow. Okay, any of you want to sign up for our email, you can sign up at our website at SunnyCrestNursery.com. And, of course, if you find this information really useful, by all means, share it with your neighbors, your friends. And, of course, hit that like button so that we can get this video out there and get this information out to all the gardeners out there in YouTube land. Okay, you guys, hope y'all are getting your hands dirty out there. I know I am. And bring on spring. It's here. All right, we'll talk to you soon. Bye for now.