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Flowering Shrubs Guide By Guest Writer FlowersByPost.Org.UK
There are quite a few flowering shrubs which can make your garden look particularly pretty and any landscape much more appealing. If you live in a temperate region, it’s easier to grow and take care of such a shrub. The following list is based on the seasonal interest of each flowering shrub. This interest is not only based on the blooms of the shrub, but also on their shape, branching pattern and any other striking peculiarity. The blooming times of the following shrubs vary depending on the region they are growing at. Most people purchase flowering shrubs that they can enjoy all year long so this is the main focus of the list as well.
Spring Flowering Shrubs: There are many lovely shrubs which are in bloom in spring, so it won’t be hard to pick one. Forsythia is a shrub with bright yellow blooms which will beautify your garden from the very first days of spring. Some growers even use methods for forcing the flowers to bloom before spring has come. Some of the most famous flowering shrubs are azaleas and rhododendrons, with some of their types being evergreen. Another popular choice is the lilac, which is a late-comer, but it’s one of the perfect heralds of spring. The lilac has a lovely scent, whose aroma floats in the air everywhere around it and it’s quite recognizable all over the world. Its pretty petals will make your garden a true fairytale spot.
Summer Flowering Shrubs: If you live to the south, you can enjoy the blooms of the mountain laurel, a symbol of the transition from spring to the warmest season. In areas where the laurel is native to, it can be mostly found in the forests. Another flowering shrub for the summer is the Rose of Sharon, which is in bloom in the second half of summer. The shrub is related to the Hibiscus, but its blossoms are not as large.
Some of these flowering shrubs double in fall and winter too – not devoid of interest. With outstanding autumn colours they add beauty to every landscape.
Fall Shrubs: Shrubs may be smaller than trees, but in autumn it rarely matters, as these following types look lovely. The Viburnum shrub produces white blooms in spring and attractive fall foliage too. They also have clusters of bluish berries which makes them even prettier. The Oakleaf Hydrangea is all about its beautiful clusters of white flowers during the summer. In Fall, on the other hand, its foliage turns purple, red or orangey-bronze – the perfect autumn colours for your garden.
Winter shrubs: Perhaps winter is not the best season for plants, shrubs and flowers, but it shouldn’t result in you neglecting your garden. In terms of landscape interest it’s quite poor, so the focus is usually on the unusual branching patterns. One of the examples of a winter shrub with a peeling bark is the oakleaf hydrangea, thus making the shrub a triple winner – popular in summer, fall and winter. Another shrub worth a mention is Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick. Because of its rather unusual branching pattern this shrub is often called “contorted filbert” and “corkscrew hazel”. Many people who have this shrub in their garden his shrub in their garden decorate it for Christmas and New Year’s. It’s a good prop for hanging Halloween lanterns and decoration as well.
New Years Eve Candles
We found this on Facebook from Backyard Diva. Make the numbers with electrical tape – or shown these are precut numbers that you can find cheap in your local hardwood store. Mod-podge over the entire candle and sprinkle/roll glitter on. Use a different glitter for each candle to give a pop to your decorating.
White Grape Peach Hawaiian Punch Spritzer
A delicious white grape spritzer is the perfect drink to bring in the New Year. Frozen fruit serves as yummy ice cubes and the super sour rim just might be sour enough to knock you into 2013.
What you need to make this delicious drink: 6 cans Welch’s white grape peach juice, 1 bottle cold sparkling white grape juice, fruit cocktail that you will freeze into pieces, Hawaiian Punch “singles to go” packets.
Dip the rim of a glass into the Welch’s white grape peach juice and then press the rim down into the Hawaiian Punch powder.
To create the Spritzer: 1. Add a few pieces of frozen fruit to the glass. 2. Fill half of the glass with Welch’s white grape peach juice. 3. Fill the rest of the glass with sparkling white grape juice.
Fruit flavored suckers make the perfect stirrers for these Super Sour White Grape Spritzer! If the Hawaiian Punch is too sour on the rim, use sugar instead.
Thanks to Colleen Beckem for this submission!
New Years Non-Alcoholic Punch
I always feel awkward this time of the year because parties and get-togethers always make me feel weird because I don’t drink. (at all) I have been welcomed with non-alcoholic beverages because they know I don’t drink but I never like to make a hostess feel “put out” by my account. This punch could be enjoyed by people who drink or not and would make the non-alcoholic who may be attending your party a little less awkward. Place a little hand written note beside all punches you may serve that it is alcoholic or non-alcoholic so as not to single out the non drinkers. This punch sounds very delicious so I would have more made up in pitchers (depending on how many will be attending) so when it runs out you can just add more.