Question: I grow redtwig dogwood and love its bright red stems in winter. Are there other shrubs with bright winter stems?
Answer: Yes. Just when cold-climate gardeners are desperate for something green, certain shrubs fit the bill. And believe it or not, they're deciduous, not evergreen. Like redtwig dogwood, these shrubs provide interest with their colorful stems.
One such shrub is also a shrubby dogwood, Cornus sericea. Like your redtwig dogwood (C. sanguinea), most cultivars of C. sericea have red stems, but look for 'Flaviramea', a selection with greenish yellow stems, and 'Nitida', one with darker green stems. Full sun, damp soil. Spreads by root suckers; remove these if you don't want a colony to form. USDA Zones 2–8.
Kerria japonica provides a dense screen in winter with its bright green stems that grow straight up then arch over. Grow it in shade or sun and make sure it has good drainage. Zones 4–9.
On the above plants, young stems are usually the most colorful, so remove oldest stems every other year, in early spring, to encourage new growth.
Winter jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) is a scrambling shrub that can be trained as a vine. It looks wonderful spilling over a gray stone wall in winter. Its slender stems are green, and as a bonus at winter's end they pop with bright yellow flowers. Tolerates poor, dry soil. Flowers best in full sun but tolerates some shade. Zones 6–10.
Winter jasmine may root wherever its branches touch the ground. Be warned that it grows fast and can become weedy.
Trifoliate orange (Poncirus trifoliata) can succeed as far north as Zone 6, though it will produce fewer flowers and bitter-tasting fruit the farther north it grows. Regardless, this small citrus tree's trunk, branches and thorns make a bright green splash in the winter landscape.
Find more woody plants for winter in "Deciduous Trees With Outstanding Winter Interest"
Image credits: Cornus sericea ‘Flaviramea’ by Plant Image Library/CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED; Kerria japonica by Plant Image Library/CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED; Jasmine nudiflorum by Amanda Slater/CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED; Poncirus trifoliata ‘Flying Dragon’ by Malcom Manners/CC BY 2.0 DEED
