Trees and shurbs available in bare root

Midwinter is the ideal time to purchase and plant deciduous plants, especially if you can obtain what you want in bare-root form. Bare-root stock is almost always less pricey than the same plants in containers. In addition, many plants are available ONLY as bare root -- they become impossible to find once bare-root season has ended.

If you are new to the term bare root, it applies to deciduous material that is dug from the field by the grower, then shipped to the retail nurseries without being potted up. Once arrived at the nurseries, the plants are then usually heeled in, into beds filled with sandy soil, or occasionally into pressed peat pots, to keep the roots moist and protected, before being sent home with the buyer. Since deciduous plants are completely dormant in winter, they suffer no ill effects with this treatment.

Many gardeners think of trees when bare root is mentioned, but many shrubs, both ornamental and food producing, are sold as bare root as well. What might you find in the garden centers now that is worth considering for your own garden?

Pomegranates produce fruit that is both delicious and decorative, as well as displaying lovely flowers. They are available as bare root and sleeved (in long slender containers intended to be a temporary home). Cultivars include Granada, Eversweet, Kashmir, Red Silk, Sweet and Wonderful. All need decent drainage and a sunny site to bear well.

Blueberries are producers of high-quality healthy fruit and are wonderfully ornamental, too, sporting dainty flowers in spring followed by the attractive blue fruits. An added bonus: Autumn leaves turn vibrant colors. Most are 4 to 6 feet tall at maturity, available both as bare root and in containers. (Surprisingly, container blueberry plants are often no more expensive than bare root.)

Buy two or more cultivars and plant them within bee flight range for good cross-pollination. A few are self-fruitful and nearly evergreen -- ask for a nursery professional's help if you only have room for one plant. They all need sunshine, acid soil high in organic matter and regular irrigation.

A few genetic dwarf fruit trees can be found in bare-root form. Though they are actually tiny trees, they can easily be used in place of shrubs in the landscape or in permanent containers. Lovely pastel-colored flowers in early spring are followed by mouth-watering fruit. Try nectarine NectarBabe or peaches El Dorado, Honey Babe and Pix Zee.

A new option is Spice Zee NectaPlum. This cross between nectarine and plum produces abundant fruit with spicy sweet flavor. The little tree also has tremendous spring bloom followed by dark-red spring leaves that mature to rich green-red in late summer, making it an excellent ornamental. It is self-fruitful as well.

Look also for gooseberries and currants now. While neither is ornamental enough to plant in a highly visible spot, both produce abundant small fruits that can be dried, preserved or added to various dishes. These are tough, cold-tolerant shrubs.

Among strictly ornamental shrubs, a curiosity is Corylus avellana 'Contorta' (Harry Lauder's Walking Stick). In winter, when its artistically contorted and curled branches and twigs are bare, the silhouette of this shrub is a bold and fascinating statement in the landscape. Even the leaves are somewhat contorted. Graceful catkins dangle from the branches most of the winter. Growing up to 8 feet tall, though extremely slowly, this shrub is usually available as bare root or in containers.

-Sharon Hull