Shrubs Brighten Summer Landscape

Watch carefully for shrubs to help decide which might be an accent in your own back yard. A few of the most popular summer-flowering shrubs include Althea, Butterfly Bush, Hills-of-Snow Hydrangea, Glossy Abelia, Crape Myrtle, Blue Mist Spirea, Vitex and Potentilla. The best known of late summer flowering shrubs is the Althea, sometimes also called the Rose of Sharon. It is the only species of woody hibiscus that can be grown throughout most of the United States. It is available in white, pink, rose, blue and purple varieties, with either single or double flowers.

Transplants are sometimes slow to get established, but once adjusted they make a durable and easy-to- grow garden plant. They prefer good soil and moisture for best growth. Another long-time summer favorite is the butterfly bush, or buddleia. Not a plant for the small yard, it can grow 6 to 8 feet tall and just as wide in only one season. The long spikes of small flowers are attractive and have a mild fragrance.

Dead flower spikes should be kept cut to make the bush more attractive. It is available in purple, reddish purple, pink and white. In cold locations it may freeze back to the ground. But even when it does not, a severe cut back each spring will help develop a more compact plant. Hills of Snow Hydrangea flowers mostly during July, but there may be occasional blooms later in the summer. It is very popular and easy to grow.

In severe winters its tops may be killed back, but it will produce vigorous growth from the base. In mild areas or protected locations, the Glossy Abelia and Crape Myrtle are good summer-flowering shrubs. Abelia has small white to pinkish flowers that are produced from early summer until frost. Crape Myrtle produces large clusters of flowers in pink, red, white or lavender. Either of them may freeze back to ground level in severe winters. New growth, however, is able to produce flowers.

In cold climates a mulch over the base during the winter helps insure survival. Two shrubs to provide blue color in the August garden include the Blue Mist Spirea and Vitex. Blue Mist Spirea is not really a spirea, but Caryopteris. It is a fairly small shrub, normally dying back to the soil line each winter. However, it grows rapidly to form a new plant and abundant flowers each summer and fall. Its height is normally 2 to 3 feet. Vitex has attractive cut-leaf foliage and light violet flowers. It also usually dies back to the ground in colder climates. If it does not freeze back it may reach a height of 15 feet, but those that freeze back grow 3 to 5 feet tall during one season.

Bright yellow summer color is provided by the Potentilla, also called bush Cinquefoil. Its small yellow buttercup-like flowers are produced abundantly throughout the summer. It is a small shrub normally growing only 2 to 3 feet tall. White varieties are also available.

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