Flowering Shrubs to Punch Up Your Landscape

Maybe it has been a while since you went shopping for some new flowering shrubs. Maybe the last time you looked for any new flowering shrubs was at one of the big box stores that seem to roll out the same old plants from the same old growers year after year.

Now is a great time to browse Nature Hills Nursery for some of our great, new, dwarf and reblooming shrubs from the comfort of your own home!

Perhaps it’s time to cut out those old, tired, overgrown shrubs and revive your landscape. There is no reason you must be stuck looking at old overgrown shrubs for another year when you can easily transform your landscape with some of these incredible new and reblooming plants. These new options offer color for extended periods, and many are much smaller growing - reducing the need for pruning as they age in your landscape.

Here are a few “gotta have” new shrubs that you may not have been exposed to before.

Small Re-Blooming or Extended Blooming Hydrangeas

Wee White and Limetta re-bloomers offer lime green blooms that mature to classic white before drying and remaining on the plant for winter interest. Fire Light, Little Lime, Little Quick Fire, Diamond Rouge, and Bobo are all super hardy, start out white, and age to pink flowers (some to reds) before drying and remaining on the plant for the winter. 

The Cityline Hydrangea is a whole series offering dwarf selections that don’t need pruning and have pink, blue, red, fuchsia, and purple colors. The Everlasting series is also dwarf, and the blooms transform themselves through white, pinks, blues, purples, and greens. 

Getting only three to five feet tall and wide, Little Hottie® Hydrangea is the new kid on the block at First Editions®. Try it out as an easy-to-grow foundation plant or the centerpiece that completes your landscape design. 

There are plenty of options for those looking for something more unique. How about our favorite Cherry Explosion, which offers amazing red flowers that cover the plant? 

NatureHills.com also offers Grape Explosion, a new, purple, version of Cherry Explosion. You won’t be able to find it at the box stores!

Add Excitement with Azaleas and Rhododendrons

The new re-blooming Azaleas are absolutely incredible in the spring, summer and again in the fall. What more could you want? Check out the Bloom-A-Thon Series:

• Bloom-A-Thon® Pink Double Reblooming Azalea
• Bloom-A-Thon® Lavender Reblooming Azalea
• Bloom-A-Thon® White Reblooming Azalea
• Bloom-A-Thon® Hot Pink Reblooming Azalea
• Bloom-A-Thon® Red Reblooming Azalea

And let’s not forget the new dwarf Encore Azalea Series with over 30 color options, including pinks, whites, reds, oranges, salmon, purples and various shades of these colors. Our availability of the series changes as they are hard to keep in stock.

Create Textured Color With Crape Myrtles

The Black Diamond series of Crape Myrtle offers a rainbow of colors for the more southern states. The flowers come in white, pink, purple, and red, and they have amazing deep purple-colored foliage as a backdrop. These are big shrubs for screening and massive color displays that last and last. You may not be able to grow Lilacs in the south, but you are lucky to have Crape Myrtles that offer color for a much longer period of time.

The newly introduced Greatmyrtle™ collection now lets those as far north as zone 5 grow crape myrtles! They’re great for small outdoor spaces as they’ll only grow to be two to three feet tall and wide. Hurry, these will sell out fast!

Gorgeous Butterfly Bushes

 

Butterfly Bushes love the heat and sun, are dwarf, and have tremendous color summer into fall - and many of the new ones produce no seed. A simple no-brainer to grow for sure. Many purples, pinks and whites dominate this group and are the flowers are huge magnets for pollinators. Simply cut these down each spring and sit back and watch them pop into action for summer and fall color.

 

Pugster Pinker™ is a gardener's favorite flowering bush for its huge panicles of flowers while staying a compact 18-24 inches tall and wide. Use at the front of flower beds or as a focal point in pollinator gardens. 

The Proven Winners series also comes in White! Pugster White® stays small as well so the only time you’ll have to worry about pruning is in the early spring before new growth starts. 

Weigelas are Always Winners

 

Weigela shrubs have had the interest of plant breeders and the new selections bloom with a heavy bomb of flowers in June, as well as a recurrent bloom later in summer into fall. Check out our vast assortment in white, pink, purple, red, and even yellow. The new selections have deep purple foliage as a great backdrop to the flower color. New selections are much smaller. 

 

Go with My Monet® Weigela for pink flowers and bright green variegated foliage or Tuxedo™ Weigela for white blooms against dark green leaves. 

Large Shrubs Like Rose of Sharon

How about the showiest woody shrub for summer into fall? Rose of Sharon is a woody Hibiscus that has the interest of the breeders for double flowers and for being sterile plants. The flowers resemble carnations on a larger shrub. Amazing blue, purples, pinks, white, and bicolor plants are showy and hardy. 

There are so many to choose from but you can’t go wrong with a Lavender Chiffon® Rose of Sharon Shrub for more petite flowers or Aphrodite Rose of Sharon for larger tropical looking flowers. 

You could even try a tree form rose of sharon with Azurri Blue Satin® Rose of Sharon Tree Form!

The Crowd Favorite: Lilacs

 

Lilacs galore! Nature Hills has some beautiful, colorful and fragrant shrubs in many sizes for those of you who can’t plant Crape Myrtles in the north. Lilacs rock and come in blue, lavender, pink, purples of many shades, white, and even a pale yellow.

 

You can’t beat the Common Purple Lilac and its classic purple form and lilac fragrance but don’t be afraid to branch out. Persian, Yankee Doodle, and Scentara® are all unique and offer the same attributes. 

Now, for those of you looking for a show-stopping addition, Dwarf Korean Lilac Tree has your name written all over it! Just look at that Tree form!

Check out everything that we have to offer, if you’re unsure of what will work in your area, check out our Growing Zone Map. Punch in your zip code to find out which hardiness zone you are in so you know which plants will work for your home.