A Shrub To Love, Just In Time For Valentines

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Bright scarlet red against the stark white snow. While winter isn't the best season for most plants, some special ones really stand out – like our native redtwig dogwood. These easy-to-grow shrubs have big green leaves in summer that turn pretty colors in the fall before they drop, leaving just the bare branches.

And the colder it gets in winter, the redder the twigs become. They look stunning in the snow, and since they don't have leaves in winter they don't get all bent over like evergreens do.

Red twig dogwood branches are perfect for Valentine's Day – just the right shade of red, they look great, even all alone in a vase. Or use them as the start of a centerpiece – intersperse a few white roses or calla lilies; decorate them with white paper snowflakes or hearts; or bake some homemade heart-shaped cookies and dangle them with ribbons from the sturdy branches of your red twig dogwood bouquet.

Reported By Phran Novelli, KYW Newsradio