Having a ball in your garden.

• Position: WHAT'S NEW? - Ball Horticultural Company

After enduring a seemingly never-ending winter, we couldn't wait to get our hands dirty and begin our spring planting. A sight for sore eyes, the early blossoms have renewed our spirits, but they've also revealed a few bare spots in our landscape. With an exciting line of woody ornamentals, Ball Horticultural Company, West Chicago, Ill., has just the shrub to fill every niche on our property.

For a low-maintenance choice, the fragrant Abelia Sunshine Daydream produces white, trumpet-like flowers in the spring, which eventually turn a pink-rose color. With orange, red, and bronze foliage, this evergreen shrub blooms all summer, attracts butterflies, and is great for container gardens, patios, foundations, and borders. Heat- and humidity-tolerant, the plant requires six hours of sun a day and will grow 36"-48" tall and spread 36"-48" wide.

With huge, blue-gray flowers that fade to yellow-orange throughout the season, the Buddleia Flutterby Grande Blueberry Cobbler Nectar is adaptable to a wide range of soil types and growing conditions. Needing six hours of daily sun and little to no pruning, the bush will grow as large as 72" tall by 72" wide, and will bloom from early spring through late summer.

The Buddleia Flutterby Lavender Nectar Bush produces densely branched plants with two-tone, lavender blooms: darker prior to opening and richly colored with lighter centers in summer. This compact-growing series features gray-green foliage and continuous blooming from early summer until frost. Drought- and heat-tolerant, it can reach up to 60" in height and width. The Flutterby Petite Lavender groundcover will grow up to 36" high.

The Buddleia Flutterby Petite Blue Heaven, with its fuzzy silver foliage and beautiful blue flowers, blooms from early spring until late summer. This spreading groundcover requires six hours of sun and will grow to a height and width of 30".

The Double Delights Perfection Hydrangea displays colorful blooms from summer to fall. With beautiful pink-rose to blue flowers against dark green foliage, the mounded plants require partial sun and are suitable in landscapes or containers. They will achieve a height of 24"-36" and a width of 36"-60".

The Double Delights Star Gazer Hydrangea offers a collection of double blooms for more flower power. This lacecap hybrid has large flowers with blue centers and white picotee edges against dark green to green foliage. Requiring less pruning, this low-maintenance plant is suitable for...