Hi, all!

Happy and prosperous New Year to you from Connecticut.

Very dear friend of mine live in North East Ukraine, where winters are as cold as in MN and summers are as hot as in IO. He ask me to compose for him a list of ORNAMENTAL shrubs and small trees that doing good here, in US.

I live and gardening in a much warmer zone than you are, therefore I'm not familiar with yours realities.

It would be great if you could help me, since the only thing I could think right of the bat is PG and 'Annabelle' hydrangeas.

Some hint about their soil, to the best of my knowledge their soil is a rich loam, neutral to slightly alcaline and underground water contains a lot of iron, though rainwater is acidic.

I don't know if it will be of any help, but say Lilacs and Peonies are growing there as a weeds, though Rhododendrons and Azaleas (even the hardiest one) are exotic plants and could not be grown in open grounds.

Thank you very much in advance.

George.