DIRT

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In early autumn, a profuse berrying happens, and the already prostrate flowing branches weep even more under their superabundance. Usually scarlet or a kind of orangey-red, the berries stand out among the darkening autumn leaves and persist and persist. Of course, there are also superb variations such as "Rothschildianus," which has bigger leaves and creamy-yellow berries (those Rothschilds always go the extra little bit), and C. lucidus, which is lustrous and black-fruited.

Linden viburnum, or V. dilatatum, is a four-season beauty. The various cultivars come in the perfect garden sizes of no smaller than five feet and no larger than 10 feet, which means they can fit in anywhere, as a specimen or a backdrop, to accentuate color. One of the great things about viburnum is that they are early to bloom and blanket their branches as soon as May with splays of creamy, white lacecap, hydrangea-like flowers. These are particularly showy and not wilty or dull as, for instance, forsythia. The summer leafy look is deep green and sturdy, and come autumn, the foliage takes on a brilliant red-purple tinge and creates a dramatic milieu for the wigged-out reddish berries. They perch on endless little stems like so many miniature Sputniks.

Then there is heavenly bamboo, which is not a bamboo at all but Nandina domestica, another of those terrific plants with tons of appeal that is seldom used. (It's one of those mysteries of the garden that continues to perplex me.) Delicately patterned branching and willowy oblong leaves suggest the grace of bamboo, but it's not even in the bamboo family, so don't worry about it spreading and overtaking your yard. The new growth, which occurs all summer-long, is an atypical pinky-bronze color, and the red autumn berries are arranged in a beautiful conical shape like a fat lilac. The Japanese, always ones to recognize the most charming of plants, place gracious nandina near the welcoming front door—and so should you.