These hardworking shrubs offer spectacular blooms or colorful berries—and sometimes even both.
Some shrubs don’t lose their leaves for the winter, so they provide color in the landscape year-round. To really up the ante, several of these beautiful, hardworking plants either offer spectacular blooms or colorful berries—sometimes even both.
Azalea
Simply spectacular! That’s the only way to describe a bed of azaleas in their spring finery. Available in a variety of shapes and colors, azaleas thrive in part shade where they are sheltered from the hot afternoon sun. Use them to line a walk or camouflage your home’s foundation. They can even be grown in containers. Some newer varieties of azalea also rebloom, producing smaller but more frequent flushes of flowers from spring to fall. Some species in northern climates are deciduous.
Season of Bloom: Spring
Growing Conditions: Part to full shade in slightly moist, acidic, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 6 feet tall
Zones: 4-8
Boxwood
Traditionally used in formal gardens, boxwood can play a starring role in any backyard. That’s because this adaptable shrub is easily shaped or pruned into a hedge, topiary, specimen, or container plant. Boxwood does produce small but not showy flowers. It is prized more for its small, bright green leaves that retain color all year long. It’s relatively slow growing, so buy the largest plants you can afford if you want immediate impact.
Season of Bloom: Spring
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in average, medium, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 3 feet tall
Zones: 5-8
Camellia
The queen of the Southern garden, camellia blooms in an array of single, double, or semi-double flowers. Colors include pink, lavender, white, salmon, red, yellow, and bicolor. Once established, a camellia can last for generations, growing bigger and better every year. To increase its flower size, remove all but one bud from each of its bud clusters. Be sure to prune this shrub immediately after flowering to stimulate more branching.
Season of Bloom: Fall to winter, or winter to spring, depending on variety
Growing Conditions: Part shade in moist, acidic, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 12 feet tall
Zones: 7-9
Cotoneaster
Where space is limited, try adding cotoneaster to your landscape. This low, spreading shrub is covered in small, shiny, dark green leaves and generous clusters of bright red berries in summer and fall. Use cotoneaster as a groundcover on a slope or hillside or try flanking a walk or drive with this hardy ground hugger. Some cotoneaster varieties are deciduous, so read the plant label before you buy if you are looking for an evergreen one.
Season of Bloom: Late spring
Growing Conditions: Full sun in average, medium, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 3 feet tall
Zones: 4-7
Daphne
Sometimes the smallest shrubs pack the biggest impact in the landscape. Daphne, for example, only grows 2-3 feet tall and wide, yet its profusion of sweetly scented white flower clusters will perfume your entire garden. Plus, daphne provides two seasons of bloom: A big show in the spring and another in the fall. The plants are deciduous if winter temperatures happen to drop below 0˚F.
Season of Bloom: Late spring to fall
Growing Conditions: Part shade in moist, sandy, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 3 feet tall
Zones: 5-9
Gardenia
For adding fragrance to your backyard, gardenia is hard to beat. This blooming evergreen shrub has shiny, dark green leaves and deliciously scented single or double white flowers that appear in the spring and early summer. Gardenias do well in containers and can be kept indoors over the winter in northern climates where they are not hardy. Feed once a month during the growing season with an acidic fertilizer or fish emulsion.
Season of Bloom: Seasonal bloomer
Growing Conditions: Part shade in well-drained acidic soil
Size: Up to 6 feet tall
Zones: 8-11
Holly
Prized for their shiny green or variegated leaves and clusters of red or yellow berries, holly shrubs make a colorful addition to any landscape. To enjoy a plentiful supply of berries, you’ll need to have at least one male holly plant nearby (yes, these plants are either male or female). Check the plant label before you buy because it will note which variety works best as a pollinator for your particular holly. The plants require little pruning, and they can be sheared into a hedge or topiary.
Season of Bloom: Spring
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in average, medium moisture, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 50 feet tall
Zones: 7-9
Japanese Pittosporum
One of the best blooming evergreen shrubs for milder climates and coastal locations, Japanese pittosporum is a low-maintenance option for hedges, foundation plantings, or privacy screens. The plants sport eye-catching dark green or green-and-white foliage as well as small, intensely fragrant white flowers in the spring. Japanese pittosporum is easily pruned to any height, and it will tolerate sandy soil and salt spray in seaside gardens.
Season of Bloom: Spring
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in slightly acidic, medium moisture, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 15 feet tall
Zones: 9-10
Mahonia
Mahonia, often called Oregon grape holly, develops large clusters of fragrant yellow flowers in the spring, followed by rich, blue-black berries in the summer, and purplish-red foliage in the fall. As a bonus, the new growth in spring starts out bronze-red. Use mahonia as a hedge or grouped in a shrub border or woodland garden. There are also several dwarf and groundcover varieties of this shrub.
Season of Bloom: Early spring
Growing Conditions: Part to full shade in moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 10 feet tall
Zones: 6-8
Nandina
Commonly called heavenly bamboo, nandina is an easy-care evergreen shrub grown for its fine-textured, bamboolike foliage and large sprays of red berries. It is drought resistant and will naturalize well on a slope or hillside. Be aware that this shrub is considered invasive in several southeastern states, so check local regulations before planting it, or look for varieties that don’t produce seeds.
Season of Bloom: Summer
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in well-drained soil
Size: Up to 8 feet tall
Zones: 6-9
Pieris
Long trusses of sweetly scented white or pink flowers that appear in early spring have earned pieris its common name of lily-of-the-valley shrub. Pieris is taller than it is wide, so it’s easy to tuck into tight spots in your landscape. It can eventually grow 8-12 feet tall, but dwarf varieties are also available if space is limited. Mulch with pine needles, shredded pine bark, or leaves to maintain consistent soil moisture.
Season of Bloom: Spring
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in acidic, medium moisture, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 12 feet tall
Zones: 5-8
Pyracantha
Eye-catching clusters of orange, red, or yellow berries make pyracantha a popular plant. This blooming evergreen shrub has an upright growth habit that allows plants to be easily trained against a wall or fence. Because it’s a member of the rose family, pyracantha has thorny branches, so wear gloves when pruning. In spring, it develops big clusters of white flowers that turn into the colorful fall berries that songbirds, such as waxwings and mockingbirds, love to eat. Pyracantha is prone to both scab and fire blight, so look for disease-resistant cultivars.
Season of Bloom: Late spring
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in dry to medium moisture, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 18 feet tall
Zones: 6-9
Rhododendron
If you love a big spring color show, plant rhododendrons. These gorgeous evergreen shrubs form huge mounds of pink, white, rose, purple, yellow, or bicolor blooms atop dark, leathery green leaves. Rhododendron shrubs look terrific planted singly near an entry or lined up to create a spectacular flowering hedge. These beauties thrive in a shade garden if they are protected from extreme summer heat and drying winter winds.
Season of Bloom: Early spring
Growing Conditions: Part to full shade in acidic, medium moisture, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 6 feet tall
Zones: 4-8
Rosemary
Known for its fragrance and flavor, rosemary is a popular herb in the kitchen. But this small evergreen shrub is also useful in the landscape as an ornamental plant. It has a tidy shape and is covered with evergreen, needle-like leaves. Many varieties also have small but colorful blue, purple, or white blooms that attract pollinators. Containers filled with rosemary make an attractive addition to patios and decks.
Season of Bloom: Summer
Growing Conditions: Full sun in light, slightly acidic, dry to medium, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 6 feet tall
Zones: 8-10
Wintercreeper
Often sold as a groundcover, wintercreeper will form low, shrublike mounds that will sprawl over boulders and low fences. This ground-hugging charmer is a snap to grow and makes a colorful addition to foundation plantings, rock gardens, and containers. Depending on the variety, the foliage color is solid green or splashed with yellow, white, or silver. Wintercreeper has a slow, but steady growth rate so it won’t encroach on its neighbors.
Season of Bloom: Summer
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in average, medium moisture, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 2 feet tall
Zones: 5-8
