Color, ease and reliability! People often contact us here at Nature Hills asking for ways to bring color into their garden. More often than not they come with a preconceived idea that flowers are the only ways to bring vibrant color and reliable interest to the landscape. Then they also go on to want the plant to work in any setting, have leaves all year, never need pruning, not get too big or stay too small and not need a lot of attention while bringing a lot of attention to wherever they put it. Oh, can it work in a container too?We smile when we get these calls and point them to this little gem of a plant. Little Flames Leucothoe (LEUCOTHOE FONTANESIANA ‘LEAFSCAPE™ LITTLE FLAMES’)This little evergreen shrub is impressive. It is native to America, so it is reliably hardy and is very adaptable. It keeps its lovely green foliage all year long, and twice a year (in spring and again in fall) it lights up with new growth than turns as red as an iron brand. It completely energizes the garden when it changes colors.Little Flames only grows 2 feet high and wide and keeps a nice compact round shape that doesn’t require any pruning.Low maintenance. Great color shifts. Beautiful form. Works anywhere (even in containers!) This might just be the perfect plant for your garden. You can call us if you want, we love to talk! But it might be quicker to go ahead and order this little beauty today. (Then you can call us and tell us how much you love it!)* Low maintenance* Fast Growing* No pruning needed* Showy color in spring and fall* Great for containers* Sun or part*shade* Evergreen.
Category: Hedges
White Rugosa Rose Shrub
Easy to Grow Hedge RoseWhite Rugosa Rose, Rosa rugosa alba, is like Rosa rugosa, but this white rose adapts to a variety of conditions, including where salt tolerance is a concern. It is useful in northern climates along roadside or driveways that are being deiced regularly with salt.Its pale blush pink buds open to highly fragrant snow-white blooms with creamy yellow stamens.In fall, the disease resistant foliage takes on shades of orange and scarlet to accompany the large orange red hips. This Rugosa develops 1 inch orange/red hips in August which last through the winter to provide food for wildlife.This rose has its own root. The advantage of own root roses is that once established they are very resilient. If winter’s freezing breezes kill the top growth, the rose will grow back in the spring, and the recovered rose will look the same as the one you purchased.It grows 3 to 6 feet, depending on how you prune and its access to full sun, but it will tolerate partial shade.White Rugosa is quite drought resistant once established. This easy to grow hedge rose is completely winter hardy.* Salt and Drought Tolerant* Fall and Winter Color* Attracts WildlifeRose Hips.
Green Mound Alpine Currant
Extremely Hardy and Adaptable ShrubGreen Mound Alpine Currant is a deciduous shrub with a particularly hardy nature. Plant several for an excellent small hedge that is both carefree and easy to care for. If you’re seeking a reliable, hardy shrub then look no further! Your Green Mound leafs out in early spring so you won’t have to wait long for its vibrant presence in your yard. The 5-inch leaves are rounded and lobed with a vibrant, bright green hue that assumes spicy tones of yellow for autumn. The autumn leaves drop to reveal brown stems with an exfoliating tendency (which provides added decorative appeal as the shrub ages). Some currant bushes bear masses of messy fruit, but your Green Mound is a male cultivar so you won’t have to deal with the clean-up from the tiny, red berries. It’s an easy-to-care-for, neat and orderly shrub for your landscape. Green Mound Alpine Currant will grow up to 4 feet tall with a 3-foot spread. It is a multi-stemmed dwarf shrub with a mound-forming habit and dense nature. Green Mound is adaptable to a variety of soils and conditions and adjusts very well to pruning. It’s even long-lived. In fact, under optimal conditions Green Mound will live up to 30 years. There are so many choices in shrubs for the landscape, so it’s important pick one that can meet your needs every year. Green Mound Alpine Currant will out-perform many other shrubs. It’s a perfect addition to your yard for some vibrant green color and exceptional texture. You won’t miss when choosing Green Mound Alpine Currant for your yard this year!* Bright green foliage * Dwarf * Cold hardy * Shade tolerant * Adaptive to a variety of conditions or soils.
Alpine Currant
Dependable Shrub with Reliable ColorAlpine Currant (Ribes alpinum) is the shrub you need when you want a super-hardy, totally dependable, tough-as-nails, doesn’t care about the soil or light or air kind of shrub.Whether you plant this as a specimen or better yet as a hedge, Alpine Currant will work for you.Full sun? Great!Lots of shade? Not a problem.Clay soil? Who cares?Urban street side? Doesn’t matter.Heavy pruning? Bring it on!Alpine currant is one tough cookie. It forms a thick shrub with branches all the way to ground level. In the fall it drops its leaves without much fanfare, and in the spring it greens up again in the blink of an eye. Alpine Currant will occasionally set small currant-like fruit, but not consistently enough to consider it an asset. And they aren’t edible currants, so they taste pretty nasty to humans, but the birds go CRAZY for them should you get a crop.Alpine Currant is a landscaper’s standby for a carefree shrub you can count on to provide reliable green color spring through fall and is a must-have for those landscape spots where you could use something simple and dependable. * Very adaptable to a variety of conditions * Shade tolerant * Drought tolerant* Urban tolerant* Tolerant of a variety of soils* Adaptable to pruning.