Susan is also blogging at GardenRant.More Favorite Shrubs from other Writers
As other garden writers offer lists of their favorite shrubs, I'll include them here because you can never have too many great plant suggestions.
Adrian Higgins
Primary garden writer for the Washington Post and widely admired, Higgins profiled large shrubs in January of 2006 in an article called "Think Big for the Year Ahead: Stout Shrubs Can be the Building Blocks of a Landscape." Darn right they can.
Large-shrub Favorites
- Acuba, camellias, hollies, osmanthus and mountain laurel for brightening up dark spots.
- Singled out by the hort community for excellence are the five-leaf aralia and the 'Limelight' panicle hydrangea.
- Tardiva (top photo), another excellent panicle-type hydrangea, which Higgins thinks is underused. Lacecap and mophead hydrangeas are terrific and Higgins suggests multiplying their effect by planting three, five or even seven together. YES! He also likes the smooth hydrangea 'Annabelle.'
- Roses meriting a recommendation as shrubs are the large, hardy rugosas and the old-fashioned 'Alba Maxima' and 'Charles de Mills'.
- "Bush clover" or Lespedeza (a favorite of mine, too) Higgins calls "perfect." It grows fast — full size in 2-3 years — and stays put. Good varieties are 'White Fountain,' 'Summer Beauty,' and the one I can vouch for, 'Gibralter.'
Not so much
- Hybrid lilacs are spelndid for two weeks but "don't do much except get powdery mildew and cause a great deal of anxiety if they stop blooming, as they often do."
- Flowering quince is also blooms awfully briefly and needs "artful pruning to avoid twigginess."
- Mock orange may be delightful and fragrant but Higgins says it's "too large and too dull for the rest of the year to warrant planting in all but the largest places." Well, I have to agree but LOTS of gardens have big empty spots that could use a nice mock orange.
- Few varieties of rhododendrons do well here and those that do take a long time to "attain any size."
Erica Glasener on Shrubs for Shade
Horticulturist and host of "Gardener's Diary" on HGTV recommends some less common shrubs for Fine Gardening Magazine:
- Oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) Well, that's SO popular it can hardly be called less common these days. She suggests an underplanting of creeping phlox and evergreen Christmas fern.
- Carolina Allspice (Calycanthus floridus) is native to the American Southeast and blooms in spring and then intermittently through the season. Fragrant, and highly resistant to pests and diseases. Prefers moist soil. Hardy in Zones 5-9. It can grow to 6-9 feet tall and 6-12 feet wide. Glasener suggests an underplanting of Japanese painted fern or purple heucheras. Photo right by Missouri Botanic Garden.
- Prostrate Japanese plum yew (Cephalotaxus harringtonia 'Prostrata'). This evergreen always looks good, grows to only 2-3 feet high and wide and unlike common yews, is deer-resistant. Hardy in Zones 5-8.
- Aucuba is another evergreen that's common as crabgrass in my neighborhood — but much better looking, and because people want it. This shrub-for-shade is also happy in sun.
- Black jetbead (Rhodotypos scandens) is one I'd never heard of. It grows to 6 feet tall by 9 feet wide, is hardy in Zones 5-8, and also thrives in both shade and sun. Has small white flowers in spring and black fruit that persist through the winter.
- Florida leucothoe (Leucothoe populifolia) is native to the Southeast but in Mid-Atlantic gardens I have to say it fairs poorly. SO poorly I've had to get rid of the 5-6 I once grew. Clients regularly ask me what's wrong with theirs and I suggest choosing a better-performing plant instead. The problem? Winter dieback AND fungal diseases — not a pretty sight.
- Bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora) is another native shrub but this one IS a winner in my book.
- Variegated fiveleaf aralia (Eleutherococcus sieboldianus 'Variegatus') grows to 8 feet high and wide and is hardy in Zones 4-8. Great in sun or shade. Glasener recommends pairing it with some large blue hostas.