List of Shrubs

The first 9 bushes on my must-have list of shrubs all merit inclusion based on the color they bring to the yard during a particular season (although some offer multi-season interest). I've placed witch hazel at the beginning of this list of shrubs, because it ushers in the growing season -- at least in my own zone 5 landscape, where it is the earliest plant to bloom. Flowering as it does in March, my witch hazel gives me the jump on everyone else in the neighborhood, in terms of having something in bloom in the yard.

Witch hazel (above) beats forsythia to the punch in blooming, but it is not nearly as common. I'm the only one in my neighborhood to grow witch hazel, whereas several of my neighbors grow forsythia. Common or not, forsythia still belongs on a list of shrubs that are must-haves. Not only is forsythia a vigorous, beautiful bush, but it is also an early bloomer (next in line among bushes to bloom in my yard, after witch hazel).

Lilac's blossoms pick up where forsythia's leave off. This May-flowering bush has one of the yard's most fragrant flowers. Although various cultivars are now marketed (I, myself have grown 'Bloomerang' and 'Miss Kim'), I prefer the smell of the old-fashioned lilacs.

As a summer-flowering bush with a long blooming period, rose of sharon occupies something of a strategic spot on this list of shrubs: it helps bridge the gap in yard color between the spring displays put on by flowering shrubs and displays offered by shrubs with fall color.

Speaking of shrubs that offer fall color, I've seen some knockout autumn displays put on by fothergilla. And it is, indeed, fothergilla's fall foliage that earns it inclusion on this list of shrubs. Fothergilla does, however, provide interesting "bottle-brush" flowers in spring, too.

Like fothergilla (above), oakleaf hydrangea is a shrub that boasts multi-season interest. But while its flowering period is in the summer, oakleaf hydrangea really comes into its own in autumn, when its leaves turn beautiful colors. For good measure, this shrub's exfoliating bark adds winter interest to the yard.

The 'Elegantissima' cultivar of red twig dogwood outdoes even oakleaf hydrangea (above). A titan of four-season landscaping, this shrub offers year-round visual interest. But despite bearing spring blossoms, variegated leaves in summer, and berries from summer to fall, clearly this plant's common name explains the main reason people grow it: namely, the bush's red twigs, which are brightest in winter.

No list of shrubs would be complete without including an evergreen or two. Hollies are broadleaf evergreens, famous for the bright red holly berries with which they festoon the winter yard.

Gold Mops is one of the popular falsecypress evergreen shrubs. Bearing golden foliage, these evergreen shrubs are especially useful when used in conjunction with plants with so-called "black flowers" (really a deep purple, in most cases) and/or dark leaves to create striking landscaping color schemes. As evergreens, shrubs such as Gold Mops offer year-round color for the yard.

Hardy hibiscus is the one plant I'm including on this list of shrubs not so much for its ability to help bring year-long color to the yard, as for its novelty (at least in northerly climes). For hardy hibiscus shrub sports one of the largest blossoms you'll find among hardy plants in northern climates, earning it the nickname, "dinner-plate hibiscus."