Choose hardy shrubs for Montana gardens
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Flowering shrubs brighten our home gardens. They bring beauty and fragrance while providing cover and nesting places for birds. Here are a few shrubs welladapted to Montana: —Lilacs, especially the common and French lilac hybrids (Syringa vulgaris) appreciate our climate. The flowers of common lilacs are soft, pale purple. The bushes are tall, up to 20 feet when aged. Once established, lilacs can really take care of themselves, tolerating cold winters and dry summers without care. They flower more heavily if old bloom spikes are trimmed off, and plants are fertilized in the fall with bone meal, wood ashes and a light dusting of compost or manure. Lilacs make a great hedge and deer tend to leave them alone, as the leaves have a bitter taste.
—Shrub roses are terrific, hardy plants for our area. The relatively new Canadian hybrid shrub roses are excellent. Two Canadian-bred climbers, growing 10 to 12 feet, are “Henry Kelsey” with double red flowers and “Champlain” with bright pink flowers. Both of these will not winter kill here and are hardy to USDA zone 3, so can be grown all over Montana. Another repeat-blooming Canadian rose, growing 3 to 4 feet tall is “John Davis” with double red blooms. It makes a good bedding rose and is hardy to zone 4. “John Davis” would not require protection in Western Montana. It is important to remember that most roses prefer regular water and full sun.
—Silver Buffalo Berry (Sheperdia argentea) is a tough, drought tolerant native shrub growing 6 to 12 feet tall and wide. It can spread by suckers, so give it room. This sunloving shrub is a good food plant for wildlife, providing red berries and protective cover for birds. Buffalo Berry makes a sturdy hedge or windbreak requiring no care once established. It is also very winter hardy, to USDA zone 2. The shrubby Potentillas (Potentilla species) are drought tolerant, colorful shrubs frequently seen in public landscapes. They are hardy native shrubs, growing 3 to 4 feet tall, available in several colors.
—Potentillas tolerate drought and heat, but best of all, bloom all summer. Full sun is best for them. It is easy to shape your plants in the fall, trimming off the oldest stems.
—Two native shrubs that prefer moisture and part shade are mock orange (Philadelphus lewisii) and Rocky Mountain maple (Acer glabrum). Mock orange grows 8 to10 feet tall and produces deliciously scented flowers in late spring. Rocky Mountain maple is a beautiful, small maple growing 6 to 10 feet tall, with dark red wood and golden fall color. Both of these plants could be placed on the north side of a building where their roots would be in shade and tops in sun. Be sure to leave 3 to 4 feet or more between the shrubs and the building.
