Expert Picks You Can Plant Right Now

By Ava Green

Looking for a flowering shrub that delivers season after season? We asked our experts at Eising Garden Centre to share their top picks, the ones that customers and staff love most, and they delivered. Whether you’re looking for spring blooms, fall colour, wildlife and pollinator value, or a shrub to suit your space, there’s something on this list for every garden.

Fuji Cherry ‘Little Twist’, Prunus incisa ‘CarltonLT’

As an accent in a small garden, or planted in a grouping in a larger garden, this multi-stemmed shrub is a gem! 

In early spring, crimson buds emerge before the leaves appear. Little Twist then produces clusters of lightly scented white, bell-shaped flowers with soft pink centres that grow along its stems, a stunning early-season display. It is a deciduous shrub, and leaves begin as green before shifting to coppery-bronze, then deepen to a rich burgundy in fall. Smooth, dark red bark adds interest in the winter once the leaves are gone.

This slow-growing, multi-stemmed shrub makes a striking feature in your garden.

Best for: Small gardens, accent planting, four-season interest. | Sun: Full sun | Mature size: 6 ft. tall × 6 ft. wide

Downy Serviceberry, Amelanchier canadensis

One of the most rewarding native shrubs you can plant, Downy Serviceberry earns its place in the garden from spring right through to fall. Showy clusters of fragrant white flowers in early spring, followed by small, sweet, edible purple-blue berries in early summer that are wonderful for making jam and an absolute favourite for birds. Come fall, the foliage puts on a spectacular show in shades of yellow, red, and orange.

As a bonus, choosing a native plant like Serviceberry supports local pollinators and wildlife, making it as ecologically valuable as it is beautiful. It works well as a specimen plant on it’s own, in a grouping or hedge, or naturalized in a larger landscape.

Best for: Wildlife gardens, naturalized areas, multi-season interest | Sun: Full sun to part shade | Mature size: 20 ft. tall × 10 ft. wide

Amur Privet, Ligustrum Amurense

Amur Privet

When fast growth and privacy matter, Amur Privet is one of the best choices available. This dense, dark green shrub produces white flower panicles in late spring and small black berries in fall. It responds exceptionally well to pruning after it blooms, making it an ideal candidate for a formal or informal hedge. If you need to fill a space quickly and create structure in your garden, this is a reliable, low-maintenance option. 

Best for: Hedging, screening, fast coverage | Sun: Full sun to part shade | Mature size: 12–15 ft. tall × 8–15 ft. wide

Viburnum ‘Fragrant Snowball’, Viburnum Opulus ‘Roseum’

Few shrubs stop people in their tracks quite like Fragrant Snowball Viburnum in full bloom. Large, rounded clusters of sweetly scented white flowers cover the plant in spring, creating a display that’s hard to match. While it doesn’t produce fruit, it earns its place again in the fall when the foliage transitions to rich shades of purple. 

Pruning after it blooms will help to keep it a manageable size and encourage healthy new growth. It’s also available as a standard, or tree form, which matures to a more compact 6 to 8 feet tall.

Sun or part shade are best for this deciduous shrub, a beautiful, solitary accent plant for the garden growing 12 feet high and 10 feet wide. As a standard, it is smaller, maturing at 6 to 8 feet tall and 5 to 6 feet wide.  

Best for: Specimen planting, cottage gardens, fragrance | Sun: Full sun to part shade | Mature size: 12 ft. tall × 10 ft. wide (shrub); 6–8 ft. tall (standard)

Snowbelle Mockorange, Philadelphus ‘Snowbelle’

Don’t let its compact size fool you; when Snowbelle Mockorange blooms in early summer, it puts on a big show. This dense, mounded shrub is blanketed in sweetly fragrant double white blooms that are absolutely irresistible to bees and butterflies. Once the flowers fade, its rich, dark-green deciduous foliage makes it a lovely backdrop for other blooming plants in the border.

Growing just four feet tall and wide, it’s one of the best choices for smaller beds, borders and foundation plantings. It prefers full sun but handles part shade as well.

Best for: Small borders, foundation planting, fragrance | Sun: Full sun to part shade | Mature size: 4 ft. tall × 4 ft. wide

More Flowering Shrubs Worth Exploring

This is just the beginning! At Eising Garden Centre, we also carry a wonderful selection of Azalea, Eastern Redbud, Kwanzan Flowering Cherry, Hydrangea, Dogwood, Butterfly Bush, Beauty Bush, Lilac, Rose of Sharon, Forsythia, and Potentilla, to name a few. 

The best way to find the right flowering shrub for your garden is to come in and see them in person, and right now is the perfect time to plant. Stop by and chat with Zach or Donna, who are always happy to help you find exactly what you’re looking for, based on your space, soil, and vision. We’re here to help you make the most of every corner of your garden!

By Ava Green

There’s a truth we all learn over time: good quality makes a big difference. Not buying more, buying smarter.

But how do you hold on to great pieces and make them look fresh and current? Start by getting yourself the perfect pair of jeans for the season. Great jeans work wonders to update your look. The right cut, the right wash, the right fit. It’s the closest thing to a style superpower you can own.  

To show you what we mean, we picked a pair of white Lois jeans from Sassyfras, and created four completely different looks.

Crisp Black and White

There is something timeless about a black-and-white outfit. Timeless made current with a new jean style. The printed scarf ties it all together and adds just enough personality to keep it from feeling too minimal.

Tie the scarf loosely around your neck, or loop it through the handle of your bag to pull the colours together. White-on-white (sweater and jeans) works beautifully, and varying the textures (knit vs. denim) keeps it interesting.

Sun-Kissed Orange

Orange and white is one of summer’s most joyful combinations. This outfit shows that beautifully. Playful, casual, and sunny. Tying a sweater around your waist or resting on your shoulders adds a relaxed, effortless layer that’s handy when you need a little extra warmth. 

Classic Blue and White

This is the most polished of the four looks. A white blouse paired with a fine-striped blue jacket feels relaxed and also put together. This is the kind of outfit that works equally well for a casual lunch or an afternoon of errands. The multi-coloured scarf, which introduces a bit of pink and orange, pulls all the elements together beautifully and adds a little bit of playfulness.  A blue bag grounds the colour palette.

The Colourful One

This look is so much fun. A multi-coloured sweater or blouse in bright, happy shades paired with white jeans is bold without trying too hard. White keeps it cohesive while the top gets to be the star. The woven macrame handbag adds texture and an artisan quality that feels intentional and individual. This outfit says: I’m having fun. The baseball cap is the punctuation mark! Vibrant, creative and completely at ease.

The Key to Making it Easy

Styled with intention and a little creativity, a single great piece, like our Lois jeans, can carry you through every mood and occasion. Wearing what brings you joy is always the right answer, and we have an inspiring selection at Sassyfras to make choosing easy. Stop by the boutique and see for yourself! 

Sassyfras Boutique is located inside Eising Greenhouses and Garden Centre.