Add Color with Low-Maintenance Flowering Shrubs

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By Patricia Vecchio Color · Low-Maintenance · Shrubs ·

Shrubs, even deciduous ones, help create structure in the garden and provide a visual flow between the trees and smaller plants for a complex but natural look.

Depending on attributes like their size, form, color, and texture, shrubs can be chosen to serve a certain purpose. They can provide a subtle background, highlight an important part of the landscape, direct you to a location, frame a view and create continuity through your design. Flowering shrubs provide even more opportunity to enliven your landscape. Color can be used to create a mood and to affect how you see the landscape. Vibrant colors, warm colors (especially red) and darker colors will appear to advance. Cool colors like blue, dull and paler colors will appear to recede. So, like viewing a painting, you can use color in your garden to enhance the feeling of space or make objects more noticeable.

Below is a list of flowering shrubs with information to help you choose the right shrub for your needs. These shrubs are all also considered to be low maintenance. If a plant appears to be potentially invasive in much of its gardening range, it was not included. In some cases, cultivars may be listed with their specific information as an example of a whole group (such as Crape Myrtle) which would make a good choice. Other examples in a group, even within a genus, may be good choices for low maintenance flowering shrubs, but their size, form, or flower color etc. may be different.

Deciduous Shrubs

1. Oakleaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia).

USDA Zones: 5-9
Height: 6-8’
Width: 6-8’
Full Sun to Part Shade
Form: Upright, broad-rounded, suckering and multi-stemmed
Flower Color: White changing to purplish pink
Flower Season: Early summer (May to July)
Soil: Organically rich
Moisture: Medium; well-drained
Use: Informal hedge, naturalized, cut flower, good fall color, specimen, accent, foundation, massed, shrub border, open woodland

2. Snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus).

USDA Zones: 3-8
Height: 3-6’
Width: 3-6’
Full Sun to Part Shade
Form: Bushy, rounded
Flower Color: Pink (Showy ½” white berries later)
Flower Season: June to July
Soil: Average; adapts to a wide range of soils including poor ones
Moisture: Medium; well-drained; tolerates some drought
Use: Hedge, screen, shrub border, naturalized, open woodland, erosion control

3. Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis).

USDA Zones: 5-9
Height: 5-12’
Width: 4-8’
Full Sun to Part Shade
Form: Open rounded
Flower Color: White
Flower Season: Early to mid summer (June)
Soil: Humusy; adapts to wide range except dry soils
Moisture: Medium to wet
Use: Naturalized, rain garden, pond margin, fragrant flower, woodland areas, shrub border, wildlife garden

4. Shrubby St. John’s wort (Hypericum prolificum).

USDA Zones: 3-8
Height: 3-4’
Width: 3-4’
Full Sun to Part Shade
Form: Mounded, round, upright multi-stemmed
Flower Color: Yellow
Flower Season: June, July, August
Soil: Tolerates wide range including rocky, sandy, alkaline and clay
Moisture: Prefers moist, well-drained; tolerates some drought
Use: Hedge, massed, shrub border, stabilize embankments

5. Sweet Pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia).

USDA Zones: 3-9
Height: 3-8’
Width: 4-6’
Full Sun to Full Shade
Form: Rounded, suckering, densely branched
Flower Color: White
Flower Season: mid to late summer (July to August)
Soil: Average, often sandy; tolerates clay
Moisture: Medium to wet
Use: Hedge, naturalized, rain garden, fragrant flower, good fall color, late summer bloom, massed, foundation, shrub border, wildlife garden

6. Weeping Forsythia (Forsythia suspensa).

USDA Zones: 5-8
Height: 6-10’
Width: 6-10’
Full Sun to Part Shade
Form: Upright, arching; may be trained on support structure
Flower Color: Golden
Flower Season: Late winter to early spring (March to April)
Soil: Wide range of soil types including clay
Moisture: Medium; well-drained
Use: Informal hedge, specimen, accent, early spring flowers, border, massed, slopes, naturalized, open woodland, soften walls when planted above

7. Bellini Raspberry Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica ‘Conlagras’).

USDA Zones: 5-9
Height: 3-4’
Width: 3-4’
Full Sun
Form: Compact rounded, mounding
Flower Color: Bright rose
Flower Season: Summer and fall; reblooming
Soil: Adaptable to clay, loam or sandy; somewhat acidic; adaptable to poor soils
Moisture: Medium; well-drained
Use: Foundation, low border, accent, tolerates urban pollution, small garden

8. Dwarf Korean Lilac (Syringa meyeri ‘Palibin’).

USDA Zones: 3-7
Height: 4-5’
Width: 5-7’
Full Sun
Form: Compact rounded
Flower Color: Pale lilac to violet-purple
Flower Season: April to May
Soil: Average; prefers organically rich slightly acidic to slightly alkaline soil
Moisture: Dry to medium; well-drained; drought tolerant
Use: Hedge, fragrant flower, erosion control, tolerates urban conditions, specimen, massed, shrub border, foundation, screen, wildlife garden

9. Virginia Sweetspire (Itea virginica ‘Henry’s Garnet’).

USDA Zones: 5-9
Height: 3-4’
Width: 4-6’
Full Sun to Part Shade (Tolerates Heavy Shade)
Form: Erect arching, rounded, broad-spreading
Flower Color: White
Flower Season: May to June
Soil: Average soil; tolerates wide range of soils including clay; prefers humusy
Moisture: Medium to wet; well-drained
Use: Specimen, massed, groundcover, good fall color, fragrant flower, rain garden, erosion control, shrub border, open woodland, foundation, hedge, naturalized

10.Magic Carpet Spirea (Spiraea japonica ‘Walbuma’).

USDA Zones: 4-9

Height: 18-24”

Width: 24”

Full sun

Form: Neat, compact, mounded

Flower Color: Pink (color also in new red leaves which turn gold)

Flower Season: June

Soil: Chalk, loam, sand; any pH; tolerates clay; prefers rich loam

Moisture: Medium; well-drained

Use: Hedge, good fall color, erosion control, tolerates air pollution, specimen, massed, rock garden, low border for pathways, low hedge, foundation

11.Bridalwreath Spirea (Spiraea x vanhouttei).

USDA Zones: 3-8

Height:5-8’

Width: 7-10’

Full Sun (tolerates Light Shade)

Form: Vase-shaped with arching branches

Flower Color: White (solid flower sprays can turn whole shrub white)

Flower Season: April to May

Soil: Average; tolerates wide range of soil types

Moisture: Medium; well-drained; tolerates some drought

Use: Hedge, specimen, border, sunny woodland margin, accent

12.Ozark Witch Hazel (Hamamelis vernalis).

USDA Zones: 4-8

Height: 6-10’

Width: 8-15’

Full Sun to Part Shade

Form: Upright rounded with crooked stems

Flower Color: Yellow and red

Flower Season: January to April

Soil: Average, acidic, organically rich; some tolerance for clay as long as drainage is good; rocky/gravelly is native habitat

Moisture: Medium; well-drained with consistent moisture best

Use: Winter flowering, shrub border, rain garden, good fall color, erosion control, woodland garden, hedge, screen, specimen, wildlife garden

13.Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus)

USDA Zones: 5-8
Height: 8-12’
Width: 6-10’
Full Sun to Part Shade
Form: Upright, vase-shaped, multi-stemmed
Flower Color: Pink with red centers
Flower Season: June to October
Soil: Average; tolerates poor soils but prefers organically rich
Moisture: Medium; well-drained
Use: Massed, specimen, border, hedge, screen

14.Winter Jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum).

USDA Zones: 6-10
Height: 10-15’ as vine; 4’ as shrub
Width: 3-6’
Full Sun to Part Shade (will tolerate Heavy Shade)
Form: Trailing viny shrub that grows from a central crown; sprawling mound with arching branches; can be trained up a structure as a vine
Flower Color: Yellow
Flower Season: March to April
Soil: Tolerant of wide range of soil conditions; best in sandy loam
Moisture: Medium; well-drained, even moisture
Use: Groundcover, naturalized, slopes and terraces, trained on a structure

15.Shrub Roses (Rosa). Roses are such an extensive group they require a little more discussion. The native Rosa rugosa is an original low-maintenance rose. It is tolerant of salt conditions, poor soils, high winds and drought. It is also disease-resistant and a repeat bloomer. Before 1867, cultivated roses were generally disease and pest-resistant, grew in a variety of soils, didn’t need significant pruning and were quite cold hardy. But around 1867, rose fanciers (generally the rich) began hybridizing to create the modern rose because they desired more showy, refined flowers that would last as cut flowers and have a broader color range. So, the attributes of a low-maintenance rose were overlooked and ‘divas’ were developed. Today, there has been a revival of the low maintenance rose which has also taken advantage of the developments in the “modern day” rose. Low-maintenance roses today have disease and pest resistance, tolerate drought, heat and are more cold tolerant (cold hardiness was not an attribute I used for the other shrubs in this list, relying instead on your observance of the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone for your area), have a long bloom time and need little dead-heading. Here is a list of just some of the now many roses that fit that description:

Knock Out series, Drift series, Oso Happy series, Flower Carpet series, Lady Elsie May, At Last, Snowdrift, Paint the Town, All the Rage, Bonica, Firecracker, Grandma’s Blessing, Mystic Fairy, Superhero, and Sweet Fragrance.

USDA Zones: Most 4 or 5 - 9
Height: Most between 3 and 5’
Width: Most between 3 and 5’
Full Sun (Some to Part Shade)
Form: Compact prostrate, rounded to upright
Flower Color: All except blue or black
Flower Season: summer; reblooming
Soil: Loam is best
Moisture: Moist; well-drained
Use: specimen, border, groundcover, container, accent, hedge, cottage garden

16.Flowering Quince (Chaenomeles speciosa).

USDA Zones: 4-8
Height: 6-10’
Width: 6-10’
Full Sun to Part Shade
Form: Dense, broad-rounded
Flower Color: Scarlet to red
Flower Season: March to April
Soil: Average; adapts to wide range of soils but prefers loam; tolerates clay soil
Moisture: Medium; well-drained; tolerant of some drought
Use: Hedge, screen, barrier, specimen, border, cottage garden, espalier

17.Koreanspice Viburnum (Viburnum carlesii).

USDA Zones: 4-7

Height: 4-6’

Width: 4-7’

Full Sun to Part Shade

Form: Upright rounded

Flower Color: Pink changing to white (buds are red)

Flower Season: March to April

Soil: Average

Moisture: Medium; well-drained

Use: Border, foundation, hedge, fragrant flowers, wildlife garden

18.Redvein Enkianthus (Enkianthus campanulatus).

USDA Zones: 4-7

Height: 6-10’

Width: 4-6’

Full Sun to Part Shade (Best in Part Shade)

Form: Upright

Flower Color: Creamy yellow to orange

Flower Season: May to June

Soil: Average acidic (pH below 6), organically rich, peaty

Moisture: Medium; well-drained

Use: Specimen, massed, shrub border, foundation

19. Carolina Allspice (Calycanthus floridus).

USDA Zones: 4-9

Height: 6-10’

Width: 6-12’

Full Sun to Part Shade

Form: Dense rounded with a suckering habit

Flower Color: Mahogany

Flower Season: April to July

Soil: Average; tolerant of a wide range of soils but prefers rich loam

Moisture: Medium; well-drained

Use: Fragrant cut flower, naturalized, specimen near living area, shrub border, foundation, native plant garden

20. Dwarf Fothergilla (Fothergilla gardenii).

USDA Zones: 5-8

Height: 1.5-3’

Width: 2-4’

Full Sun to Part Shade

Form: Compact mounded

Flower Color: White

Flower Season: April to May

Soil: Acidic, organically rich; does well in sandy loams; avoid heavy soil

Moisture: Medium; well-drained

Use: Low hedge, fragrant flower, good fall color, massed, compact specimen, accent, shrub border, foundation, open woodland

21. Bluebeard (Caryopteris x clandonensis ‘Blue Mist’)

USDA Zones: 5-8 (stems die to ground in winter in zones 5 and 6)

Height: 2-3’

Width: 2-3’

Full Sun

Form: Low mounded

Flower Color: Powder blue

Flower Season: July to September

Soil: Average; prefers loose loams

Moisture: Medium; well-drained; tolerates some drought; intolerant of wet soil

Use: Perennial border, shrub border, massed, fragrant flower, low hedge, late

flowering when few other shrubs are in flower, wildlife garden

22. Bottlebrush Buckeye (Aesculus parviflora).

USDA Zones: 4-8

Height: 8-12’

Width: 8-15’

Part Shade to Full Shade

Form: Dense, mounded, suckering, multi-stemmed

Flower Color: White with red anthers

Flower Season: June to July

Soil: Average; prefers rich loams

Moisture: Medium; evenly moist; well-drained; intolerant of dry

Use: Naturalized, woodland, rain garden, good fall color, lawn specimen,

massed, shrub border, wildlife garden

23. Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana).

USDA Zones: 6-10

Height: 3-6’

Width: 3-6’

Full Sun to Part Shade

Form: Loose, open

Flower Color: June to August

Flower Season: Lavender, pink (but fairly insignificant). (Berries are showy,

long-lived into winter, bright violet)

Soil: Clay or sand enriched with organic matter

Moisture: Medium

Use: Back of shrub border, massed, naturalized, along fenceline, wildlife garden

24.Yellowtwig Dogwood (Cornus sericea “Bud’s Yellow’).

USDA Zones: 3-7

Height: 5-8’

Width: 5-8’

Full Sun to Part Shade

Form: Erect, multi-stemmed but unbranched, suckering

Flower Color: Yellowish-white (fairly ordinary)

Flower Season: May to June

Soil: Best in organically rich, fertile; tolerant of wide range of soils

Moisture: Medium to wet

Use: Valued for its bright yellow stems in winter, hedge, rain garden, good fall

color, massed, specimen, naturalized, erosion, plant with evergreen background

Evergreen Shrubs

1. Abelia (Abelia ‘Rose Creek’). (Semi-evergreen to deciduous in zone 6)

USDA Zones: 6-9

Height: 2-3’

Width: 3-4’

Full Sun to Part Shade

Form: Compact, dense, low-mounded

Flower Color: White (Color also from red stems and new leaves tinted pink)

Flower Season: May to September

Soil: Average, organically rich

Moisture: Medium; well-drained

Use: Informal hedge, good fall color, erosion control, specimen, shrub border, mixed border, foundation, along walkways, massed, slopes, groundcover

2. Indian Hawthorn (Rhaphiolepis indica)

USDA Zones: 8-10

Height: 4-6’

Width: 4-6’

Full Sun

Form: Dense, mounded

Flower Color: White to pale pink

Flower Season: April to May

Soil: Most soil types; slightly acidic to moderately alkaline; tolerates salt

Moisture: Medium; well-drained

Use: Hedge, border, foundation, container, wildlife garden

3. Chinese Fringe Flower (Loropetalum chinense f. rubrum ‘Razzle-Dazzle’)

USDA Zones: 7-10

Height: 3-8’

Width: 3-6’

Full Sun to Part Shade

Form: Rounded, multi-stemmed

Flower Color: Deep pink

Flower Season: March to April

Soil: Rich, humusy, acidic, somewhat gritty

Moisture: Medium; well-drained

Use: Specimen, small group, foundation, hedge, screen, border, open woodland, accent

4. Cigar Plant (Cuphea ignea)

USDA Zones: 10-12

Height:1.5-2.5’

Width: 1.5-2.5’

Full Sun (tolerates Part Shade)

Form: Rounded, densely branched, bushy

Flower Color: Bright red

Flower Season: All year

Soil: Average

Moisture: Medium; well-drained

Use: Wildlife garden, container, raised planter, specimen, border, mailbox

5. Mexican Heather (Cuphea hyssopifolia)

USDA Zones: 9-11

Height: 1-2’

Width: 1-2.5’

Full Sun

Form: Rounded, densely branched

Flower Color: Lavender

Flower Season: Summer to frost

Soil: Average

Moisture: Medium; well-drained

Use: Container, bed, border, massing, groundcover, edging along walkways/paths, wildlife garden

6. Oregon Grape (Mahonia aquifolium)

USDA Zones: 5-9

Height: 3-6’

Width: 3-6’

Full Sun to Part Shade

Form: Irregular, upright

Flower Color: Yellow (followed by blue berries)

Flower Season: Spring

Soil: Tolerates a wide range of soil types; best in humus rich, slightly acidic

Moisture: Evenly moist; well-drained

Use: Massing, screen, hedge, barrier, accent, narrow areas, wildlife gardens, fronting fences or walls, border, container, firewise

7. Crimson-Spot Rock Rose (Cistus ladanifer).

USDA Zones: 7-10

Height: 3-5’

Width: 3-5’

Full Sun

Form: Dense, upright, spreading

Flower Color: White with crimson spots

Flower Season: Spring

Soil: Chalk, clay, loam or sand; any soil pH; tolerates salt

Moisture: Low; well-drained; tolerates drought

Use: Slopes, bed, border, groundcover, gravel or rock garden, Mediterranean or cottage garden, low hedge, wildlife garden

8. Hardy Fuchsia (Fuchsia magellanica ‘Thompsonii’). (Semi-evergreen)

USDA Zones: 6-10

Height: 3-5’

Width: 2-3’

Full Sun to Part Shade

Form: Fairly upright, arching

Flower Color: Red and purple

Flower Season: Early summer to frost

Soil: Chalk, clay, loam or sand; any soil pH

Moisture: Medium; well-drained

Use: Bed, border, hedge, screen, specimen, in small group, wildlife garden

9. David Viburnum (Viburnum davidii). (Semi-evergreen to deciduous in northern part of range)

USDA Zones: 7-9

Height: 2-3’

Width: 3-4’

Full Sun to Part Shade

Form: Compact, rounded

Flower Color: White (berries change from green to pink, red, then metallic turquoise)

Flower Season: April to May

Soil: Average

Moisture: Medium; well-drained; consistent and even moisture

Use: Informal hedge, foundation, border, open woodland, massed, wildlife garden

10. Princess Flower (Tibouchina urvilleana).

USDA Zones: 9-11

Height: 6-8’

Width: 6-8’

Full Sun

Form: Dense rounded but sprawling

Flower Color: Purple

Flower Season: Potentially sporadic year-round

Soil: Acidic, organically rich, fertile

Moisture: Medium to wet; well-drained

Use: Accent, small groups, train as a vine on a structure, container

Medium Maintenance Plants which make this List

Some plant groups are just not possible to ignore. These groups include many species and cultivars with a wide range of attributes, making them very useful in the landscape, and they are very popular. Camellias are one of these - they have considerable potential for leaf, petal and root fungal problems, and insect pests, most notably scale. But when they are sited and cultivated well they are long-lived and can provide color when few other plants are flowering. Their evergreen nature provides interest all year. The following are examples of the 2 types grown in cultivation:

Shishi Gashira Camellia (Camellia sasanqua ‘Shishi Gashira’). (Sasanqua type)

USDA Zones: 7-9
Height: 4-5’
Width: 6-8’
Full Sun to Part Shade (Full sun only if mature enough to shade roots or don’t allow soil to dry out)
Form: Open, spreading
Flower Color: Dark pink, semi-double
Flower Season: Fall through winter
Soil: Acidic, organically rich
Moisture: Medium, evenly moist; well-drained
Use: Colorful low hedge, specimen, mass, border, container, foundation, espalier, cut flower, woodland garden

Kramer’s Supreme Camellia (Camellia japonica ‘Kramer’s Supreme’). (Japonica type)

USDA Zones: 7-9
Height: 6-8’
Width: 6-8’
Part Sun to Shade
Form: Compact upright, rounded with age
Flower Color: Red
Flower Season: January to March
Soil: Adaptable to most acidic types
Moisture: Medium, evenly moist; well-drained
Use: Hedge, screen, mass, specimen, border, bed, woodland, container, cut flower

Rhododendrons and azaleas are also designated as medium maintenance plants as gardeners may need to periodically acidify their soil and carefully watch soil moisture. They also benefit from occasional mulching. Although they are susceptible to many insect and disease issues, these can often be avoided if grown in the proper environment with appropriate care. North American deciduous azaleas should be easily grown in their native range if their needs are met on site. The American Rhododendron Society keeps “Good Performer Recommendations”, in-depth lists by region of the U.S. of rhododendrons and azaleas which have proved to develop nice form, foliage and flowers, are hardy in each area and resistant to pests and disease. As the information is quite extensive, this is the best way for you to find a rhododendron or azalea that will work for you in your area. Go to rhododendron.org/performers_intro.htm.

What are you waiting for?

Whether your garden is big or small, rural or urban or you desire a formal or informal look, this list of flowering low-maintenance shrubs should help you find a mix of plants that will suit your needs. If you’re not an avid gardener, you can start small with a couple of shrubs and add to your mix over time.

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