When eyeing open spaces in your yard, think first of flowering shrubs.

Planning shrub purchases.
Before purchasing blooming shrubs, determine what role you want them to play in your landscape. Do you need fall color or winter interest? Perhaps you need more abundant bloom for vases than your perennials can supply?

Are you plotting a privacy hedge, hiding a foundation, softening a corner, or marking a pathway? Shrubs can meld wild and well-groomed spaces, direct traffic, filter noise, and create "walls" to separate garden areas. After planning, choose appropriately sized shrubs well suited to your region's climate and soil type.

Planting pointers.
It's usually best to plant deciduous shrubs in spring or fall, evergreens in spring (to allow them ample time to settle before colder temps arrive).

Dig a hole only slightly larger than your shrub's root mass. Remove the plant from its pot. Shallowly slice through constricted exterior roots, then loosen them.

On the wild side.
Backyard environmentalists will be pleased to know that flowering shrubs contribute to a healthy environment. They temper the air around a home's exterior, thus reducing heating and cooling bills. And, many provide food and shelter sources for wildlife.

For birds, plant beautyberry, Carolina allspice, dogwood, elderberry, honeysuckle, mahonia, pyracantha, ribes, species roses, and viburnum. Attract butterflies with deciduous azaleas, buddleia, buttonbush, ceanothus, clethra, pussy willow, and lilacs.

Long on looks.
Small gardens and high-profile niches near doorways, decks, and patios call for shrubs that are showy for at least two seasons. Try abelia, beautybush, buckeye, dogwood, oakleaf hydrangea, mountain laurel, nandina, pieris, serviceberry, rhododendron, viburnum, or witch hazel.