Visiting the Home to Proven Winners Color Choice Shrubs

We are in Western Michigan visiting Spring Meadow Nursery, home to Proven Winners Color Choice Shrubs, and we are giving you a look inside their beautiful display beds. @pwcolorchoice

🛍️ Join our FREE Loyalty Rewards Program here https://bit.ly/4gqWXeS
🌼 Shop Creekside’s Online Store https://bit.ly/3sSRiut
📩 Sign up for our emails here! https://bit.ly/3uXq6MB

🪴 Companies We Partner With 🪴
Power Planter Garden Augers & Drills http://bit.ly/3ZZ98GY
Hoselink https://bit.ly/3Cdb74L
Proven Winners https://www.provenwinners.com/

🪴 Stay Connected with Gardening with Creekside 🪴
https://linktr.ee/Creeksidenursery

⏰ Open Wednesday-Saturday 9 am-3 pm

Creekside Nursery
181 Pine Hollow Dr
Dallas, NC, 28034

Hello friends and welcome to Gardening with 
Creekside. Today we are at the beautiful nursery Spring Meadow Nursery here in Grand 
Haven, Michigan. Of course, Spring Meadow is the home to all of the Proven Winners Color Choice 
Shrubs. Jerry and I along with our Amber who’s our operations manager and Cece who runs the garden 
center. We are here for a couple of days attending uh their leaderboard event. So, this is an event 
uh that is an invitation only for growers and we get to come, we get to explore, we get to tour, 
we get to hear about grand uh new introductions that will be coming out in the line. So, what 
we’re going to do today is to give you a look at the beautiful plants that are here, both in 
the ground, and then we’re going to go back to their display area that they have set up for us 
where we can see uh just some gorgeous shrubs in all of their glory because uh most people are not 
going to make it to Western Michigan. Uh really, Spring Meadow is not open to the public as far as 
tours and all of that. So, we want to share this beautiful setting with you. So without further 
ado, let’s just come on in and get into it. Because even when you pull into the parking lot, 
the parking lot is a beautiful garden. Uh they are always constantly changing, adding uh you 
know pulling out different plants to highlight different things. So right now they are entering 
into their panacle hydrangeanger season. They’ve got roses here. Uh but they do have um like this 
is little lime punch. It is not yet blooming. So, just depending on the crop, right, because they 
are western Michigan, uh they’re a little bit more behind of where we are in North Carolina, 
obviously, but when we were walking through uh this morning, we were coming through the parking 
lot and I haven’t seen this garden uh by the parking lot and I wanted to kind of share it with 
you. Jerry hasn’t even seen it. And it was just an absolutely beautiful display of plants because 
they will put these plants in here as if they were a garden. And so if these plants can grow here 
in western Michigan like literally surrounded by asphalt and concrete then you know that they are 
tough and fantastic. So for example like here is a temple of bloom. All of the plants that are out 
here are already in the Proven Winners line. So I’m not giving you kind of a an exclusive as far 
as like new introductions. But like you can see the Temple of Bloom. Love this plant. It is going 
to be like a small tree. It’s getting ready to put on some of those flowers. really fun interest. 
Maybe you can’t grow a crepe myrtle because you’re not warm enough. H, but this will give you 
kind of that sameesque look of it because it will flower the bark peels. It’s a really fun one. And 
of course, they have like will through here. So, there’s two different ones here. Um, I don’t see 
the names that are on here, but we’re going to try to um tiptoe through somehow through to the garden 
because what I want you to see is really like uh this bed in through here. So, you have got um 
let’s just hop over there right quick. Hold on a second. All right, we hopped over the over into 
the sidewalk so we can come through here and you can actually see now. So you have got like some 
tough stuff top fun hydrangeas and it’s so fun to see how plants that we can grow in North Carolina 
how they perform here in western Michigan. Uh my seratas this like the tough stuff stop fun. I’m 
going to need some afternoon shade. It is actually 3:15 in the afternoon right now and these are in 
full sun. Uh there is no burn on them and they are doing just gorgeous. And then look also wee bit 
innocent. This is a macrofil hydrangeanger. Again, look at that beautiful foliage. Look at these 
massive blooms on it. Super tight. We’ve been innocent is going to be uh pH dependent. So, it’s 
going to have those um could be in the pinks. It could be in the blues, but a very nice pastel 
color. Again, in North Carolina, there’s no way I would put this in the full hot afternoon sun, 
but here it works really well. And then these two, like look at these. Essentially, we’re going 
for foliage here on these two guys. So, you have got the winecraft black smoke bush, 
which I am a huge fan of the smoke bush, whether it’s the winecraft black or the 
winecraft gold. It does really well in North Carolina. It does really well here in western 
Michigan. Beautiful plant. Uh it is deciduous, but who cares because you get this gorgeous deep 
deep dark purple uh near black foliage that does not fade. Even in North Carolina, it won’t fade. 
And then what really spurred me on like to come down here, look at these Kinsley’s ghost. So, 
there’s actually three of them through here. Kinsley’s ghost is a type of honeysuckle. Y’all, 
this is one plant that has been growing here for several years. It is in an obelisk because you’re 
going to need to support it, but it is this very, very cool honeysuckle that the older leaves look 
like eucalyptus to me. Now, it doesn’t smell like eucalyptus. It just looks like eucalyptus. Earlier 
in the season, these little guys, these were the flowers. Very much reminds you of traditional 
honeysuckle, the white and the yellow. And then what they’re going to do is they’re going to turn 
to little berries. Look, we’ve got some that are already forming right here. These little berries 
are going to turn a really nice bright red. Now, you see what this leaf looks like, right? It’s a 
beautiful circular flower. However, I want you to look at the new growth. Because we’ve even had 
people say uh like if we they’ve ordered it and they got the quart size and they’re like this 
is not the right plant. It is sugar. Listen, the the leaves start out a different shape. 
They’re much more elongated. So your new growth is nice and tender, right? Um you’re going to 
have to help support it, help train it. But as these leaves mature, they will slowly begin to 
turn round. So here’s one that’s in kind of that in between stage, right? So it’s not nearly as 
elongated, but it’s not circular yet. It’s going to get there. So remember, gardening teaches you 
patience. So Kinsley’s ghost is a really fun one. I can do the full sun. Even in North Carolina is 
great. Coming down through here. So you have got like barberries, that Sunjoy mini saffron, nice 
pop of color, and it is mini, so it’s nice and stays in the front. You have got your pugster blue 
butterfly bushes. So you’ve got some deer proof plants right here. those deer proof plants that 
the deer are not going to be attracted to. Lovely. You’ve got boxwoods which also are going to be 
um in that deerroof line. Then you’ve got Yeah, these are sprinters. Then you’ve got your 
lilacs. This is one of the bloomerangs that is relooming. I’m trying to see if I can find 
to see exactly which one this is. This is Oh, it’s the new one. It’s the ballet. So ballet 
is that nice uh soft pale pink and it smells divine. So beautiful. So they’re just really fun. 
And you can see again like you have the other uh Kinsley’s ghost, you’ve got more barberries, 
you’ve got ailas. So just repeating. And so what they’re doing here is they’re showcasing these 
plants for us. Gorgeous hydrangeas. Is this little lime punch? It is little lime punch. One of my 
absolute favorites. So showcasing these plants so that um one when their employees come they 
have a beautiful display. Uh two visitors come and like you immediately know that you’re coming 
into something really amazing when you pull into this parking lot. And then third, even though 
these have been introduced into the Proven Winners line already, they’re still kind of putting them 
through their paces. Let’s see how do they do how do they perform um up against hot cars um up 
against, you know, uh the asphalt. Of course, here in Western Michigan, they get a lot of snow. 
So, in the winter time, how do these plants do if there’s salt put down on the sidewalk or in in the 
parking lot, so they still get put through their paces? Lots of fun to see them. Of course, end 
of July in Western Michigan is a great time to be here cuz everything is looking lush and beautiful. 
Speaking of lush and beautiful, let’s leave the front parking lot. Let’s head to the back uh and 
show you those gardens and the display back there. All right, so we have made our way uh it’s kind of 
between the offices and the production houses. So, this is the area again where when we come as 
guests, we get to have lunch or breakfast out here at the picnic tables. Uh but again, having more 
gardens right here and then have what they call like kind of the garden center uh for the plants 
that are displayed. Couple of things. Again, the panacles are blooming, beginning to bloom. 
Um, first off, we have a lovely uh hedge here, shall we say, of puffer fish. You know how much 
we adore puffer fish is one of the relatively new panacle hydrangeas from Proven Winners on the 
market. Has a very open uh blooms on it. So, you can see how like lacy they are. Once if you get 
rain, that water just goes right through it. Your pollinators love puffer fish and going to be in 
that kind of that five foot range. But one thing that I was like every time I come I always get a 
multiple nuggets of information or inspiration. But this particular one they they have really kind 
of trained it. It’s hard to see right here because you got a candy corn kind of up underneath it. 
But this puffer fish, they really have trained it um in kind of that semi like standard form. So, 
I don’t know if Jerry can can kind of show you, but they’ve pruned it up. And so, again, you prune 
it up so that you can plant other things closer around it. So, I have that puffer fish in the um 
in the privacy berm, and I’m thinking I might want to start limming it up. It literally is you just 
go in and you begin snipping some of those stems. You find those main strong stems that you want 
to keep. This is a multi- trunk one. It is not a single standard. It’s probably got three or four 
uh main leaders in it. However, this one over here is in that single uh stem form. So, you can see 
that where they have trained it to come up. So, it goes up in that single stem for about 2 feet 
and then it branches out. So, you can absolutely as your hydrangeas grow, especially your panacles, 
if you want to create that standard form, you certainly can do that. Um it just takes a little 
bit of time, right? So, the little lime punch coming through here talking about how they’re 
constantly changing things out. Clearly, they have just recently within I would probably say this 
season have planted the paisley pup, right? So, paisley pup is new. It is that dog cobble. It is 
a native shrub. Again, here they have it in full hot afternoon sun. In the southeast, I’m going to 
need to give it some shade. Um, it is a fantastic evergreen shrub that really does change colors. 
Ours at the house have gotten nice and big. I have one in a container. She is stunning. She is 
gorgeous. I love this plant. Um, in fact, I was just talking to a another North Carolina grower. 
She’s a wholesaler that we get plants from. And I said, “Lisa, we need some paisley pup. The people 
want paisley pup. Huge.” So, uh, my customers that are coming to the garden center, I’m I’m working 
for you. Of course, we have those online. Um, and then they’ve got the roses of Sharon. Um, more 
of those little lime punches because of course, uh, those hydrangeas are this time of year are 
what are really stealing the show. But even in the winter, these gardens have interest. So, for 
example, I think this is maybe Jen Fizz. Yep, look at me. So, this is Jinfizz, a beautiful uh 
juniper that has that nice structure. They’re not pruning this, y’all. Beautiful structure to it. 
Has the berries. So, even in the dead of winter when everything else maybe your hydrangeas, of 
course, clearly are not looking beautiful. You have got gorgeous evergreen structure here that is 
doing really well. So, you’ve got uh derillas in here. You’ve got the Kodiak jet black. Uh this is 
one that we had just featured that’s going to go into our uh part of the signature garden. See 
that beautiful black foliage and those really bright yellow flowers. Gorgeous, right? Love 
this. So derillas, you’ve got barberries in here. Just tons of different things. Of course, 
the midnight express that red bud up there. So really fun to see how things that have been in 
the landscape for years like the red buds and then uh the newly planted hydrangeas that is the um uh 
like an invincibel here with the paisley pup all of those great plants. Now coming down here this 
is what they call the garden center and this is they set this up because uh really in the month of 
July they have a lot of events. They have a lot of um folks that are coming in, a lot of visitors. 
And so this is where they kind of set up like a a mock um got had a little wreck over there. They 
had to toot their horn. Um they set up like a mock garden center. It’s not a garden center. It’s not 
open for public. It is just kind of a display. So if you have not heard, uh Let’s Dance Sky View 
is going to be uh really really uh talked about a lot. This is from our sweet friend Megan Matai 
and it is what they are calling the continuous blooming hydrangea. Okay, so this is a big leaf a 
macrofil hydrangea. It is a fantastic continuous blooming hydrangea. So, if you have been played 
with your hydrangeas, your max that will not bloom. Either it’s because you pruned it at the 
wrong time, the weather is crazy, whatever it may be, I want you to look into Sky View. So, Sky 
View blooms on old growth, new growth, and just constantly um is is going to bloom. So, you’ve got 
these beautiful blooms for case in point, right? You’ve got these beautiful blooms right here, and 
then look what’s what’s next door. That’s right, my friends. You have got a bud. So, these are 
just going to continuously bloom throughout the entire growing season. Um, let me find a tag so 
I can give you exactly all the details because I do know how much y’all love the details. Hardy 
in zones 4 to 9, uh, 3 feet tall, 4t wide. So, um, if you’re if you’re in western Michigan 
or if you’re in those cooler zones, you could probably put this out in the full sun. If you’re 
in the southeast or those warmer zones like I am, this is going to need morning sun, afternoon 
shade. Okay, so let’s dance the sky view. Gorgeous. It is pH dependent. So if you want 
those um the blue flowers, if you have don’t have acidic soil, you’re going to need to add 
to your soil to get that blue. But there you go. So you’ve got the sky view, you’ve got the 
puffer fish. Um this is an absolutely gorgeous specimen of the Oo Easy in Fuego, of course, that 
beautiful uh rose. Like look right here. Look at all And it smells I just got to whiff. It smells 
divine. Um, look at the color on that. Right. So, you’ve got this beautiful continuous display of a 
myriad of colors. Just fabulous. And I say if I’m going to grow a rose, I want it to smell like 
a rose. This smells like a rose. And again, talking about continuous blooms. So, you have 
got older blooms. You’ve got some that need to be deadheaded. We deadhead our roses. Those are 
fresh new blooms. And then look, you’ve got a whole section of all these buds appearing right 
here. So, you’re going to get great display, beautiful fragrance in the garden. Um, native 
native shrubs are definitely um all of the buzz. So, you hear about native. So, we’re going 
to be talking about more of solutions with the um in the Proven Winter Color Choice shrub line. 
So, you’re going to talk about um native shrubs. We’re going to talk about um shrubs that are the 
deer proof, right? You’re going to talk about um what do we say? Oh, the in check. That’s a 
new thing that they’re doing also. So, let’s see uh over here like with the deer proof right here. 
So, you have got sections right here of you’ve got your barberries, you’ve got your vitex, you 
have got um let’s see what else do we have. Yeah, the barberries. All of those fun things. In fact, 
y’all remember I just did trying them out, potting up some new plants. This is the new uh that Sunjoy 
Neo, that fast fast Neo. So, remember I potted them up as a quart. And then this is a onegon. 
So, you can see how it’s growing. That fast neo is part of that deer proof line. They’re hardy in 
zones 4 to 9. They need the full sun. If you want to get that really bright bright red color, you 
need to have the sun on them. and they’re going to be uh three to five feet tall, three to four 
feet wide. So, lots of different options for you if you have deer that is a problem for you. Going 
to have solutions for sure. And then, of course, uh the Hollywood hibiscus. So, they’ve got those. 
These are great tropical, beautiful hibiscus that um they are tropical. If you wanted to overwinter 
them, if you’re especially if you’re in the warmer zones, pull them inside, see how they’ll do. 
Uh, but really this is meant to be kind of a one season plant on that. Um, let’s see. 
Let me see what else we can get into. Okay, remember when I was telling you about the uh the 
different solutions, the different programs that Proven Winners is really going to be focusing on 
with their color choice shrubs. So, one of those is going to be what they call in check. And these 
are uh plants that historically maybe um are not so well behaved in certain gardens. for example, 
uh sh your rose of Sharon, your barberries, your uh spyas. So now what they’re doing is going to 
really focusing on if you have an area like if you live in an area where your rose of Sharon maybe 
can be a problem. So you can go and we can talk about those plants that are in check that are 
going to be sterile, seedless, and non-invasive because the Proven Winter Color Choice Shrubs 
really trying to uh find solutions for folks that have problems in their garden. So, this is going 
to be a really fun fun one uh because uh with us having our YouTube channel and our platform that 
we do, of course, we’re in North Carolina in zone 8A. So, I can plant barberries um and they’re 
not an issue for me in North Carolina, but you go somewhere else in the country and they could 
be a huge problem. So, knowing and understanding your garden is step one. Step two is finding those 
plants that have been bred to have these uh the that they are seedless, that they are sterile, 
that they’re not invasive, because as gardeners, we want to be responsible and be good stewards of 
the land that has been given to us and so to take care of it. So, as a side note, look at the El 
Nino. Look how beautiful they are. These are just um in a twogallon container. They are blooming. 
They are gorgeous. Of course, uh, El Nino is a chalpa. It is a desert orchid. Basically, it 
looks like a really large snapdragon. I mean, they are beautiful. They have a nice fragrance to 
them. These have been uh pruned as far as like you can see because they bloom on new growth. So, they 
have been pruned here. They have three stalks that have come up. You can like this one has been has 
kind of started again. And it’s going to be kind of that multi- trunk small tree. So your El Nino 
is going to be hardy in zones 6 to 9, about 5 to 8 ft tall, 4 to 6 wide. I’ll say if you’re in North 
Carolina like I am, mine is already every bit of 8t tall. So we might be on the uh definitely 
going to be on the upper end, but covered in these beautiful uh pink flowers. Definitely going to be 
a full sun to part sun. I would say a minimum of 5 hours of sun for these guys. And then look at this 
gorgeous uh rock steady vitex. So Vitex chase tree uh rock steady is new on the market uh within the 
last year or so. Even in Michigan, you can grow a vitex. It’s going to be more like a a shrub for 
you. It’s not going to get as tall because the winters are um definitely harsher than they are 
in North Carolina. In North Carolina, the warmer states, the southeast, the south, because this 
is hardy all the way up from a 5B to a 9. This is going to be in that small tree form. It is going 
to get that 12t tall, 5t wide. Here in Michigan, it’s going to stay about a 4×4. So, it it’s in 
a pot obviously. So, it’s probably about 3 feet tall, 4t wide right now. But what makes the rock 
steady so different is that it blooms for much longer than your traditional vitex. Vitexes, of 
course, we love because they have that beautiful kind of that green um blue foliage to it, kind of 
that silvery color. Gorgeous uh blue flowers on it that your pollinators absolutely adore. They will 
love this plant. So, if you’re trying to bring in those pollinators, this is a great option for you. 
um that is going to be a really nice addition to your garden. We have them both in the signature 
garden and at the garden um at the house. So um roses, of course, Proven Winners is really 
trying to bring um these gorgeous roses, these shrub roses back to the market that are disease 
resistant but also have good fragrance. Because again, like I said, if I’m going to uh grow a 
rose and go to the trouble of growing a rose, I want it to smell uh delicious and divine. And 
not only do they have roses that smell delicious, but they also have roses that taste delicious. So, 
they have the flavorette series, which is a really interesting concept. So, if you are a foodie, you 
love to create fun dishes and try new things, then the Flavorette series is going to be a great one 
for you. So, there is the Flavorette Honey Apricot and the Flavorette paired. And they’re both over 
here. They have very nice soft pastel uh flowers on them, but these are edible. So, if you don’t 
want to eat them, you don’t have to eat them, but they are edible. So you can take them and you 
can eat them. You can put them in in your salads. You can put them in desserts. However you sweet 
foodies want to use them, you absolutely can. Has a nice little like the paired obviously has that 
kind of that light pear essence to it. And then the apricot um will have that flavor as well. So 
there you go. There is something for everybody as I’m trying to chew and swallow a rose petal. Um, 
so there are tons of things that they are coming out with. We’re not going to be talking about the 
new introductions today. We will do that because Proven Winter Color Choice Shrubs, they like to 
keep it under wraps until their catalog releases, which will be sometime end of August, beginning 
of September. So once they release them, then we will come back um and do a video, not come back 
here. We will come back to you and do a video on um those new introductions because there are some 
fantastic ones. We already know what they are because we just had a great uh afternoon session 
talking about all these new ones. There are gonna be some that you’re going to be so excited about. 
So, there’s a lot of great new introductions coming. Uh, of course, Creekide will have them 
available for you, but they you will start to see them next year. So, in 2026, um probably 
the earliest would be late spring into summer that you’re going to actually see these on the 
market in those smaller sizes like the quart-siz containers. Uh but we will do a whole spread for 
you on all of those great new introductions. So, again, a huge thank you to our friends at Spring 
Meadow, the home of the Proven Winners Color Choice Shrubs for being great hosts as you always 
are. We are getting ready to once this is done, we are actually headed over to the gardens at the uh 
founders’s home, which we have been there several times before. We’re going to do a video tomorrow 
at the gardens, which is always such a fun thing to do. So, make sure you stay tuned for that. That 
should be coming out tomorrow or the next time that a video comes out because I have no idea when 
this video is going to be coming, like what day it is. It’s going to be soon. Um, so we’re going to 
have a lot of fun. Thank you all the staff here at Spring Meadow. Y’all are always fabulous. If you 
have found this fun, informative, inspirational, we would love it if you would like and subscribe. 
That way you don’t miss those five videos that we do each and every week. Make sure you tune back in 
because you’re not going to want to miss a tour of these gardens. They’re amazing. Y’all have a great 
day. See you in the next video. Bye, friends.