Are you a shrubbery sucker ?

I can't help but think of Monty Python when it comes to the word "shrubbery" .. I wonder who else is out there that laughs every time that word is used ? I can't be the only one right ?

Gardens and shrubs ... I can't imagine having a garden without a variety of shrubs dotting the different beds.
I never imagined I would spend so much money on one particular "shrub" though .. I still have a mini heart attack when I think of what I did last year ...
A word of advice to when ever you have some landscaping done .. DEMAND the price of a plant before you agree to purchase it no matter how excited you are about said plant .. believe me, it is vital to your mental health over the winter and following Spring seeing those dollar signs flickering over that plant!

Having said that ? .. it is a gorgeous hemlock with an air of mystery .. it will pan out eventually but while some areas are still not quite up to snuff yet .. it is lost in the jumble of "what was I thinking ???"
"Cole's Prostrate Hemlock"  ... OK ... there are so many jokes and not enough time so we will skip that part alright ? "A beautiful low growing evergreen garden shrub with dense, cascading branches and a fine textured appearance, excellent for garden detail use" .. I fell in love with this description and that was that.

This picture was taken a few days ago and does no justice to the shrubs that are present.
The hemlock is at the bottom , there are two false cypress "Gold Mop" on either side of my very naked but gorgeous Japanese Maple just behind the basalt stone water feature.
Further on each side are some beautiful "Goldflame Spirea" one of my favorite shrubs and I have quite a few of them dotting the gardens.
I also love elderberry and train them to be trees when I can. I have Black Lace sambucus along with
Golden Glow and  Sutherland Gold ... these elderberry are very cold tolerant so even if you are in a lower zone they will work for you !
Here is a picture of my Golden Glow just leafing out now ...

There are Pinot Gris heuchera for some contrast colour later in the season.

I began to add more ever greens for winter interest as well .. this Blue Star juniper is a pretty little one to off set hosta and assorted perennials.
Cedars as well ... even though they are as common as can be ... I still find them pretty in the winter.

I know ... this picture looks too SAD .. it is not a dead shrub (it is sleeping ... you can hear the snoring in fact!) .. it is Dream Catcher Beauty Bush Kolkwitzia a gorgeous gold in season .. I have spent a few years training it to become a mound like this .. now I am just waiting for it to grow taller.
It is between eupatorium Chocolate Joe Pye weed to the left, with dicentra Gold Heart spectabilis ,to the right, plus another amazing Japanese maple ... yes I do have a thing for them .. is that addiction if you have more than three?
In any case the combination when all of them are in season is gorgeous !
So blending shrubs in with perennials and annuals is a GOOD thing .. it breaks up the different textures and colours of other plants and you do find that some of them really become favorites to you !

 One more "shrub" for this post was another "eeekkk!" from last year's landscaping adventure.
Truth be told I can sincerely say these were for my husband since he loves the flowers of azalea and rhododenron ... this one (of two that I have) is called Ramapo , a dwarf cutie ..
 I think I have a thing for "dwarfs" as well (some very Freudian aspects to my garden personality?)  ..
 It may not look like much at the moment ... but ? when it decides it is happy and wants to flower .. I am expecting big things from this little character .. and of course more pictures to follow !