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PLEASE NOTE: In the autumn of 1995, we hatched the idea for a free, local gardening publication. The following spring, we published the first issue of Michigan Gardener magazine. Advertisers, readers, and distribution sites embraced our vision. Thus began an exciting journey of helping our local gardening community grow and prosper.
After 27 years, nearly 200 issues published, and millions of copies printed, we have decided it is time to end the publication of our Print Magazine and E-Newsletter.

Archive for the Website Extras department

Website Extra: Janet’s Guide to Shrubs

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Shine even in shade

Although these perform best in sun or part shade, in the shade they still manage to please:

  • Chinese spicebush
  • Dwarf white pine
  • Fragrant honeysuckle
  • Laceleaf red elder
  • Leatherleaf viburnum
  • Panicle hydrangea
  • Spring witch hazel
  • Ural false spirea
  • Ward’s yew

Notable spring flowers: Showy before summer solstice

  • Chinese spicebush
  • Chokeberry
  • Fragrant honeysuckle
  • Koreanspice viburnum
  • Laceleaf red elder
  • Quince
  • Sargent viburnum
  • Slender deutzia
  • Snowmound spirea
  • Spring witch hazel

Summer pick-me-ups: Blooms in late June and later

  • Blue mist spirea
  • Bottlebrush buckeye
  • Dwarf spirea
  • Kalm St. John’s wort
  • Leatherleaf viburnum
  • Panicle hydrangea
  • Seven-son flower
  • Summersweet
  • Ural false spirea

Fragrant

  • Blue mist spirea
  • Fragrant honeysuckle
  • Koreanspice viburnum
  • Laceleaf red elder
  • Seven-son flower
  • Spring witch hazel
  • Summersweet

Great fall color

  • Chinese spicebush
  • Chokeberry
  • Sargent viburnum
  • Spring witch hazel
  • Virginia sweetspire

Bait for birds and butterflies

  • Bottlebrush buckeye
  • Chokeberry
  • Laceleaf red elder
  • Quince
  • Snowmound spirea
  • Summersweet
  • Ural false spirea

Winter interest

  • Bird’s nest spruce
  • Blue star juniper
  • Chinese spicebush
  • Chokeberry
  • Dwarf white pine
  • Goldthread falsecypress
  • Hinoki falsecypress
  • Leatherleaf viburnum
  • Panicle hydrangea
  • Seven-son flower
  • Variegated redtwig dogwood
  • Ward’s yew
  • Weeping hemlock

Effective screen or hedge

  • Barberry (larger varieties)
  • Chinese spicebush
  • Chokeberry
  • Dwarf spirea
  • Dwarf white pine
  • Leatherleaf viburnum
  • Quince
  • Snowmound spirea
  • Ward’s yew

Color from fruit

  • Beautyberry
  • Chokeberry
  • Laceleaf red elder
  • Leatherleaf viburnum
  • Sargent viburnum
  • Seven-son flower
  • Ward’s yew

Colorful foliage in summer

  • Barberry
  • Blue mist spirea
  • Blue star juniper
  • Dwarf spirea
  • Goldthread falsecypress
  • Variegated redtwig dogwood

Long-lived without pruning

  • Barberry
  • Bird’s nest spruce
  • Blue star juniper
  • Chinese spicebush
  • Chokeberry
  • Creeping cotoneaster
  • Dwarf white pine
  • Goldthread falsecypress
  • Hinoki falsecypress
  • Leatherleaf viburnum
  • Sargent viburnum
  • Seven-son flower
  • Spring witchhazel
  • Summersweet
  • Ward’s yew
  • Weeping hemlock

Hardiest

All the shrubs grow well in USDA hardiness zone 5. These can go north into zone 4:

  • Barberry
  • Bird’s nest spruce
  • Blue star juniper
  • Bottlebrush buckeye
  • Chokeberry
  • Dwarf spirea (to zone 3)
  • Dwarf white pine
  • Fragrant honeysuckle
  • Kalm St. John’s wort
  • Laceleaf red elder
  • Onondaga viburnum (to zone 3)
  • Panicle hydrangea (to zone 3)
  • Slender deutzia
  • Snowmound spirea (to zone 3)
  • Spring witch hazel
  • Summersweet
  • Ural false spirea (to zone 3)
  • Variegated redtwig dogwood
  • Ward’s yew
  • Weeping hemlock

Hidden garden in the woods

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Editor’s Note: The following are bonus photos from a profile of Tim and Dawn Condon’s garden featured in the May 2023 issue of Michigan Gardener. To read the full story, pick up a copy of Michigan Gardener in stores or see it in our Digital Edition, which you can read for free at MichiganGardener.com.

The pond adds soothing sound to Tim and Dawn Condon’s garden.
The pond adds soothing sound to Tim and Dawn Condon’s garden.
Dawn Condon uses found items and antiques to decorate the garden, including these antique tractor grills, which are brought inside for the holidays and used to hide the tree stand.
Dawn Condon uses found items and antiques to decorate the garden, including these antique tractor grills, which are brought inside for the holidays and used to hide the tree stand.
This outdoor fireplace is a cozy place to sit any time of the year.
This outdoor fireplace is a cozy place to sit any time of the year.
This round artwork frames a lovely scene.
This round artwork frames a lovely scene.

Website Extra: Reviving a historic home and garden

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Editor’s Note: The following are bonus photos from a profile of Shane Eason and Jac Blanco’s garden featured in the June 2022 issue of Michigan Gardener. To read the full story, pick up a copy of Michigan Gardener in stores or see it in our Digital Edition, which you can read for free by clicking on “Digital Edition” in the upper right corner.

The walk leading to the welcoming yellow front door.
This greenhouse door opens into the yard.
A raised bed garden produces the veggies and herbs.
An antique gazebo dome was the finishing touch to the pergola.
Pink phlox and orange daylilies provide a burst of front yard color.

Website Extra: Borrowed landscapes between friends

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Editor’s Note: The following are bonus photos from a profile of the Greanya and Byler gardens featured in the May 2022 issue of Michigan Gardener. To read the full story, pick up a copy of Michigan Gardener in stores or see it in our Digital Edition, which you can read for free at MichiganGardener.com.

photos by Lisa Steinkopf

A mix of choice hostas, conifers, and small trees call this Greanya planting bed home.
‘White Wall Tire’ hosta emerges pure white in the spring. Then the veins turn green, and the leaves are all green by summer.
Siberian iris (foreground) and gas plant (Dictamnus, background).
Alpine baby’s breath (Gypsophila aretioides).
‘Bartzella’ tree peony is even more lovely with an allium (Allium siculum) growing up through it.
Lady’s slipper orchid.
This collector hosta bed at the Greanyas also contains the dwarf ginkgo ‘Troll.’
The Bylers had enough room to add a weeping katsura tree (left) and a tricolor beech (right), which are well on their way to becoming statuesque specimens.
Skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) is one of the first plants to bloom in the spring. Then a rosette of large basal leaves emerges after the flower.
The Greanya house and garden from the driveway entrance.

Website Extra: Serenity in the shade

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Editor’s Note: The following are bonus photos from a profile of Jim and Kathy Mikuska’s garden featured in the July/August 2021 issue of Michigan Gardener. To read the full story, pick up a copy of Michigan Gardener in stores or see it in our Digital Edition, which you can read for free at MichiganGardener.com.

When arriving at the Mikuska home, the first thing you see is this serene view into the woods from the top of the driveway.
Jim and Kathy love to collect unique stones for their garden.
Most of the garden is a woodland, where Kathy has added ferns, rodgersia, Japanese forest grass, and many more shade-loving plants.
Natural stone stairs blend into the landscape.

Website Extra: A lovely mixed garden

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Editor’s Note: The following are bonus photos from a profile of Sally and Jim Jarvey’s garden featured in the June 2021 issue of Michigan Gardener. To read the full story, pick up a copy of Michigan Gardener in stores or see it in our Digital Edition, which you can read for free at MichiganGardener.com.

The shady side yard is filled with hostas, Japanese maples, and ferns.
A clematis-covered, metal arbor leads to the perennial garden.
A perfectly shaped paperbark maple specimen.
Nestled in this mixed border, the blue container remains outside throughout the winter to add color. It sits on a cement base and does not contain any soil—the flowers are planted in plastic pots that are lifted out at the end of the season.

Website Extra: Old Home and New Garden

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Editor’s Note: The following are bonus photos from a profile of Carol Gagliardi and Dave Flesher’s garden featured in the May 2021 issue of Michigan Gardener. To read the full story, pick up a copy of Michigan Gardener in stores or see it in our Digital Edition, which you can read for free at MichiganGardener.com.

The sunroom in the house is a wonderful place to enjoy the garden views. (Photo: Lisa Steinkopf)
Mulched trails make it easy to wander through the four acres of garden and natural areas. (Photo: Carol Gagliardi and Dave Flesher)
The children’s playhouse in the woods is a dream play place for kids. (Photo: Carol Gagliardi and Dave Flesher)
This stone fountain even has glass fish swimming around the base. (Photo: Carol Gagliardi and Dave Flesher)
A panoramic view of Carol Gagliardi and Dave Flesher’s gorgeous garden. (Photo: Carol Gagliardi and Dave Flesher)

Website Extra: A country retreat

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Editor’s Note: The following are bonus photos from a profile of Vivienne and William Young’s garden featured in the June 2020 issue of Michigan Gardener. To read the full story, pick up a copy of Michigan Gardener in stores or see it in our Digital Edition, which you can read for free at MichiganGardener.com.

Found in the barn, this Stroh’s water trough is filled with sedums and a reading gnome—naturally, it is now part of the reading garden.
A beautiful stone arch frames this quaint seating area adjacent to the barn.
An antique stove is covered with pans and drawers full of succulents.
With its green wicker furniture, the gazebo is a relaxing place to pass a lazy afternoon.
What a perfect spot for afternoon tea!

Website Extra: Finding their garden theme

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After experimenting with various styles, Mark and Carolyn Resch settled on a gorgeous Asian garden

Editor’s Note: The following are bonus photos from a profile of Mark and Carolyn Resch’s garden featured in the May 2019 issue of Michigan Gardener. To read the full story, pick up a copy of Michigan Gardener in stores or see it in our Digital Edition, which you can read for free at MichiganGardener.com.

Japanese lanterns nestled among the ivy groundcover bring added interest to an otherwise all green area.
Japanese lanterns nestled among the ivy groundcover bring added interest to an otherwise all green area.

The koi pond is nestled between the deck and the pavilion. The koi fish add color to the garden while the bubbler adds soothing sound.
The koi pond is nestled between the deck and the pavilion. The koi fish add color to the garden while the bubbler adds soothing sound.

Against a green shrub backdrop, the red torii gate is a striking focal point in the Resch’s Asian-themed garden.
Against a green shrub backdrop, the red torii gate is a striking focal point in the Resch’s Asian-themed garden.

Website Extra: The Rubinstein garden

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Editor’s Note: The following are bonus photos from a profile of Beth and Richard Rubinstein’s garden featured in the September/October 2018 issue of Michigan Gardener. To read the full story, pick up a copy of Michigan Gardener in stores or see it in our Digital Edition, which you can read for free at MichiganGardener.com.

The lawn is framed by a mixed border of perennials, grasses, and shrubs, designed by Beth Rubinstein.
The lawn is framed by a mixed border of perennials, grasses, and shrubs, designed by Beth Rubinstein.

A weeping Norway spruce accents the landscape at the beginning of the stream. Beth collects frog statuary and this frog couple at stream’s edge is enjoying the soothing sounds as they relax on a bench.
A weeping Norway spruce accents the landscape at the beginning of the stream. Beth collects frog statuary and this frog couple at stream’s edge is enjoying the soothing sounds as they relax on a bench.

The stream is still running in late fall.
The stream is still running in late fall.

A new 10,000-gallon pond is being built for some new fish, which will be arriving from Hawaii.
A new 10,000-gallon pond is being built for some new fish, which will be arriving from Hawaii.

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