Shrubs Flashcards
Utah Serviceberry
Amelanchier utahensis
Water use: Very Low - Low
This native, xeric shrub has a long season of interest starting with white flowers in the spring, followed by purple-black berrries and yellow fall foliage. A dense shrub with small, bright green leaves, Utah serviceberry can form dense broundary for privacy.
Fringed Sage
Artemisia frigida
Water Use: Very low - Low
Grown for it soft silver foliage and low-growing form, fringed sage also has a pleasant herby scent. Native to much of the west and adapted to drought and grazing. Can spread and take over because of its adaptation difficult environments. Inconspicuous flowers are yellow and can be sheared back to create a nice form for the foliage. Never prune stems to the ground. Foliage may also be lightly sheared in summer to shape, but avoid pruning in fall. Foliage is evergreen in warm winter climates, semi-evergreen in Utah. Very cold tolerant. Needs good drainage-do not overwater.
‘Powis Castle’ Sage
Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’
Water Use: Low
Powis Castle Artemisia is a stunning foliage plant with finely dissected silver-green leaves that have a delicious fruity scent when bruised. The foliage color and the tidy mounded shape of Powis Castle Artemisia make it valuable as an accent/backdrop plant for colorful perennials. Very tough and adaptable.
Sagebrush
Artemisia tridentata
Water Use: Very low
Native evergreen shrub with finely textured, aromatic, silver-blue foliage and inconspicuous yellow flowers. Does well in a sunny, dry location with well-draining soil. Remove last year’s seed stalks in the spring for best appearance. Tolerant of drought, cold and poor soils.
Sand Sage
Artemisia filifolia
Water Use: Very low - Low
The thin silver foliage of sand sage gives it a soft wispy appearance to this underused shrub. Native to arid parts of the west, sand sage is tough and adaptable and doesn’t tolerate babying. The aromatic foliage is semi-evergreen and could be cut back to one-third in spring to rejuvenate the growth.
Creeping Barberry
Berberis (Mahonia) repens
Water Use: Low - Moderate
Creeping barberry is a low-growing broadleaf evergreen native shrub. If sufficiently cold, the shiny green leaves turn purple in the winter. Spring brings clumps of fragrant, cheery yellow flowers that turn into metallic blue berries. Truly a plant for year round interest and an indespensable dry shade plant. B. repens is a low-growing species that will stay low and is ideal for a groundcover.
Mountain Mahoganies
Cercocarpus spp.
Water Use: very low - low
Native to the Intermountain West, mountain mahoganies are useful cold-hardy broadleaf evergreens. Typically used as a large shrub, mountain mahoganies are tolerant of pruning. Deer and elk may use for browse, but they general recover and are quite long-lived shrubs. The small yellow flowers are not particularly note-worthy, but the seed heads are attractive fuzzy white plumes that look stunning in the winter light. Very drought tolerant once established. In Utah, there are three generally recognized species of mountain mahogan: little-leaf mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus ledifolius var. intricatus) curlleaf mountain mahogany (C. ledifolius), and alder-leaf mountain mahogany (C. montanus). All three of these species are known to hybridize with each other. As a result, mahogany plant and leaf morphology can be variable.
Cercocarpus ledifoliuscurl-leaf mountain mahogany
Cercocarpus ledifolius var. intricatus littleleaf mountain mahogany
Cercocarpus montanusalder-leaf mountain mahogany
Fernbush
Chamaebatiaria millefolium
Water Use: Low
The finely dissected, leathery foliage that gives fernbush its name also has a pine fragrance and forms a bright green rounded shrub. In the summer, the tips of the branches erupt with a plume of crinkly white flowers that bees love. The peeling, reddish bark is also an attractive feature. Drought tolerance and the adaptability to poor and heavy soils make it a valuable plant for low water landscapes.
Rabbitbrush
Ericameria nauseosus
Water Use: Very low - Low
This tough high desert native is adapted to drought, heat and cold. The gray-green foliage erupts into a cloud of yellow flowers early fall that attract bees and butterflies. Additional irrigation make rabbitbrush lanky. A variety of forms are available commercially that range in size from 1 to 5 feet high and wide.
Apache plume
Fallugia paradoxa
Water Use: Very low - Low
Apache plume is a showy member of the rose family, with distinctive feathery plumes that are showier than the flowers and breathtaking when backlit. The seedheads are iridescent pink balls of fluff that look something out of a Dr. Suess book. Native to the southwest, Apache plume is a semi-evergreen twiggy shrub with an extensive root system that is very drought tolerant. The species is also very drought resistant with tiny leaves and deep roots adapted to its rocky native habitat, but does need some maintenance.
Mockoranges
Philadelphus spp.
Water Use: Low - Moderate
There are two species of mockorange that are native and adapted to different parts of the West. Mockoranges are known for their delicous fragrance in the spring.
Little-leaf mockorange (Philadelphus microphyllus) is a small shrub with fine-textured foliage and fragrant white flowers that bloom in late spring. It occurs throughout the southwest from California to Texas. There is a lot of variability within the species and several varieties have been described. It is a highly drought tolerant plant and is often found in extremely rocky soils and very dry
conditions. It can be used as a screen, hedge, or specimen plant in the landscape.
Lewis (or Western) mockorange (Philadelphus lewisii) is an extremely cold hardy shrub native to the Pacific northwest and Idaho and Montana into western Canada. Found in open woods and stream sides, as well as moderately dry rocky slopes and bluffs. Good for erosion control and wildlife.
‘Pawnee Buttes’ Sand Cherry
Prunus besseyi ‘Pawnee Buttes’
Water Use: Low
‘Pawnee Buttes’ is a low growing selection of sand cherry that offers a woody groundcover with seasonal interest. The profuse white blooms cover the plant in spring and accent spring bulbs. The dark berries that follow the blooms attract birds. The elliptic, blue-green leaves turn an orangey red in the fall.
Fragrant Sumac, Skunkbush, Creeping Three-leaf Sumac
Rhus aromatica (var. trilobata)
Water Use: Very low - Low
Rhus aromatica (fragrant) closely resembles R. trilobata (three-lobed) and is often categorized as R. aromatica var. trilobata. Below are two cultivars that are available in the trade.
The deciduous groundcover ‘Gro-Low’ fragrant sumac (Rhus aromatica) offers beautiful fall color and a lush bright green color during the summer. ‘Gro-Low’ is a low-growing selection, yet may need some cutting back every few years. Tolerant of poor soils and part shade. Insignificant yellow flowers in the spring are followed by small catkins and fuzzy, red berries.
Autumn Amber sumac has glossy, bright green leaves with a amber to reddish fall color. Much shorther than ‘Gro Low’, it is ideal for cascading down boulder retaining walls.
Dwarf Smooth Sumac, Rocky Mountain Sumac
Rhus glabra var. cismontana
Water Use: Very Low - Low
Rhus glabra var. cismontana is a sub-species of Rhus glabra that is native to the Rocky Mountian region. Fast growing and spreading via roots, this plant is best for naturalistic areas, as suckering will always be an issue. Femal plants have plumes of white flowers in the spring that turn to fuzzy berries in the fall and stay on through the winter.The fruiting head is a compact cluster of round, red, hairy fruits called drupes.
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Banana Yucca
Yucca baccata
Water Use: Very low - Low
The wide blue-green leaves of the banana yucca are quite stiff and edged with shredded white fibers that shimmer in the light or with frost and snow in the winter. This yucca is named for its banana-like fruit that forms from creamy white flowers, which was used by Native Americans.
With year-round appeal, the stiff blue-green leaves of banana yucca are a foil for softer plantings, such as airy ornamental grasses. Tall spikes of creamy white flowers emerge from the sword-like foliage in early summer. Yuccas require no supplemental irrigation once established.
Adam’s Needle
Yucca filamentosa
Water Use: Very low - Low
Stemless evergreen shrub though it fits in more with perennials. Long threads or filaments (where ‘filamentosa’ comes from) form along the margins of the sharp, sword-shaped leaves. Leaves are not very rigid and tend to flop over. There is a variegated form that has been commonly used in the landscape. Native to the south-east where it is found in shallow, sandy soils.
Pale Leaf Yucca
Yucca pallida
Water Use: Very low - Low
This yucca has more flexible leaves than most yuccas with a pale margin that glows when back-lit. Pale-leaf yucca forms a low clump of blue-green leaves. Though the leaves have finely serrated edges, they are not as ‘armed’ as many of the sharper and stiffer yuccas. Large white flowers are on tall stalks held well above the foliage. Native to north-central Texas.
Yuccas are generally slow-growing. Yuccas require no supplemental irrigation once established.
