Yellow twig dogwood is a shrub you plant for winter: once the leaves drop, its stems glow bright golden yellow against gray skies and evergreens. Spring brings flat clusters of small white flowers, then whitish berries the birds clean up, on a shrub reaching 6 to 8 feet.

It thrives in sun to part sun and takes damp ground and clay happily. The color is brightest on young wood, so remove a third of the oldest stems at the base each late winter. Mass it where low winter sun can light it up.