As winter casts its icy mantle and spring bursts forth in its annual, ritual dance, folks are itching to dust off a lawn chair, fire up the barbecue—and watch as neighbours and loved ones get their hands dirty making mudpies and such.

If you're in the latter group, and re-evaluating the bones of your garden design, consider adding shrubs to create contours or add accents. They tend to get short shift, literally, as short or squat trees, but shrubbery pleasures are many.

In our upcoming May/June issue, gardening guru Jodi Delong talks about how to choose and care for shrubs, and best bets for Atlantic Canadian conditions. To entice you, spring-flowering shrubs soon in your sightlines include: Hamamelis (witch-hazel); Forsythia; Chaenomeles (quince); dappled and blue arctic willow.

Summer bloomers: Physocarpus (ninebark); weigela; roses; Sambucus (elder); hydrangeas.

Fragrant stars: Roses such as 'Snow Pavement,' 'Hansa' and 'Polareis;' all types of lilac; Philadelphus, mock orange; some of the azaleas.

Great pollinator plants: Berberis (barberry); ninebark; lilac; lacecap hydrangea; sumac, willow.

Fall colour: Any of the sumacs, especially 'Tiger Eye' and the unusual 'Gro-low' fragrant sumac; ninebark; hydrangeas; royal Azalea (Rhododendron schlippenbachii).

Winter interest: Any evergreen, whether broadleaf or needled. Microbiota (Russian cypress); Chamaecyparis 'Filifera Aurea', golden threadleaf falsecypress; Thuja 'Sunkist' and 'Rheingold'(cedar or arborvitae.