How2Day: Westland Michigan Plants & Shrubs

Cardinal flowers are fire engine red. Stockbyte/Stockbyte/Getty Images
Southeastern Michigan's town of Westland sits in U.S. Department of Agriculture Plant Hardiness Zone 6a, and in American Horticultural Society Heat Zone 3. Low winter temperatures average from minus 5 to minus 10 degrees. High summer temperatures exceed plant-stressing 86 degrees F an average of one to two weeks annually. Westland is ideal for plants and shrubs that like cool summers, tolerate subzero winters and thrive in sandy or coarse, loamy soils.

Sundial lupine (Lupinus perennis) grows in Westland's Wayne County and across Southern Michigan. Tolerating winter temperatures to minus 40 F and colonizing readily in sandy, sunny spots, sundial lupine is a natural for Westland gardens. Standing from 4 to 6 feet high, sundial lupine has attractive, compound leaves with between seven and 11 leaflets. Each rapidly growing perennial can spread as much as 2 feet, functioning as a small shrub, reports the Georgia Wildlife Federation website. In early to midsummer, sundial lupine's upright, red-tinged stem bears a 1- to 2-foot spike of densely clustered, bright-blue pea-like blooms. These plants are the only food for the endangered Karner butterfly's caterpillars. They also attract hummingbirds. Susceptible to rot when crowded, sundial lupine benefits from adequate air circulation. Note that large numbers of its seeds are potentially toxic.

Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) brightens Michigan's stream banks, prairies and meadows with scarlet blooms between midsummer and autumn. The up-to-8-inch spikes of blooms top multiple stems lined with bright-green, lance-shaped leaves. The tubular flowers' nectar is a hummingbird and butterfly's favorite, according to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. In ideal conditions, cardinal flower can reach 6 feet tall. Tolerant of sun or shade, it flourishes in moist, loamy soil. Plants appreciate winter mulch in Michigan. Ingesting large amounts of any part of cardinal flower is toxic.

Red osier dogwood (Cornus sericea) is an extremely cold-tolerant, 6- to 10-foot high and wide shrub. It's hardy to USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 3, where winter temperatures can plunge to minus 40 degrees F. The plant's most appealing ornamental feature may be green spring bark that deepens to red in fall and winter. Some cultivars, including Silver and Gold, develop bright yellow bark. In late spring to early summer, the dogwood's slender stems bear small, flat clusters of white flowers. The modest blooms give way to much showier clusters of white or light blue, late summer berries. Oval, dark green leaves become rich purple in fall, notes the University of Connecticut Plant Database. Red osier dogwood is attractive in shrub borders or mass plantings -- although large plantings of yellow-barked plants can be gaudy. The shrub performs equally well in full sun and partial shade. Not fussy about soil type, it appreciates consistent moisture.

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