Arctic Fire is a red-twig dogwood scaled for real yards: 3 to 4 feet instead of the 8-foot thicket the species makes. Clusters of white flowers come in spring and berries feed the birds in summer, but the reason to plant it is winter, when the bare stems turn deep red against evergreens and gray skies.

It grows in sun or part shade and is one of the few shrubs happy in wet clay. Stem color is on young wood, so cut a third of the older stems to the ground each late winter.