10 Superbly Satisfying Summer Flowering Shrubs

By Jaye Lewis

Summer. Breathe it in. It is the delight of the eye and the music of the soul. Bees buzz merrily, as hummingbirds slip from flower to flower gathering nectar as they go. Summer celebrates the fullness of life. Birds flock to feeders and visit blessings upon us with an unmatched kaleidoscope of multicolored hues. Water gardens speak to us with bubbling laughter, and time stands still as the voices

of summer resonate within us in a melodious symphony of sight, scent, and sound. Nothing shouts “Summer is sweet!” quite like the sublimely sweet summer flowering shrubs. These are some of my favorites:

Bottlebrush Buckeye (Aesculus parviflora): This handsome bush is a popular landscaping shrub for specimen or mass plantings, especially on difficult banks. Mounding foliage produces beautiful white summer blooms up to a foot long. Fall foliage is yellow to light orange. Disease resistant, it grows well in full sun or light shade. Zone: 4-9
Hardy Beauty Berry (Callicarpa bodinieri var. giraldii ‘Profusion’): is simply one of the most graceful, carefree shrubs. Covered in late summer with dense cymes of charming pink flowers, it is followed by masses of iridescent violet-purple berries that last through winter, if you can keep the birds away. Loved by cardinals and mocking birds, it is easy to grow and care for. Beauty Berry flowers and fruits on new growth, so cut it to the ground in early spring. Plant in sun or light shade. Can grow to 10 feet tall and 6 feet wide. Zone 5-9.
Hardy Summersweet (Clethra alnifolia) is a carefree shrub that no garden should be without. One of the best native American shrubs, Summersweet has everything. Carefree, with sweet smelling summer blooms of pink, white, or deep-rose, Summersweet is pest and disease free. Beautiful when planted in mass or as a foundation plant. Prefers slightly acid, sandy soil and full sun, but tolerates clay and dense shade. Late summer/early fall bloom. Zone: 3-9. Height: 4-6 feet.
Mophead Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla): Also known as Lacecap, Bigleaf, or French hydrangea, this Japanese transplant is a most popular and easy to grow summer flowering shrub. With its huge, leathery leaves and abundance of showy flowers, the big leaf hydrangea is a sight to behold in the heat of summer. From early blooming 'Forever Pink' to unbelievably hardy (to zone 4) 'Endless Summer,' the blooms of this breathtaking shrub keep on cranking out all summer long. Hydrangeas love acid, moist, loamy soil which will produce deep blue flowers; however the mophead will also grow well in alkaline soil, producing pink flowers. White blooms remain white, no matter the soil pH. There are also new cultivars, such as 'Lemon Daddy' which sports leaves of bright chartreuse, and 'Little Honey' bursts from the ground with radiant gold leaves in summer, which turn scarlet in fall. Hydrangea macrophylla comes in a variety of sizes from 3 feet, for the little garden, all the way up to 6 feet for the larger garden. Disease free and lovely, no garden needs to be without the mophead hydrangea. It is a plant that will make your summer garden the talk of the town. Part shade in the south, to full sun in the far north. Zone: 4-9.
Oak-Leaf Hydrangea (H. quercifolia ‘Snow Queen’): What is not to like about the Oak-Leaf Hydrangea? Dark green leathery leaves and huge 12 to 15 inch panicles of snow-white blooms just begin to appear when the summer garden is beginning to look spent. A vigorous grower to 10 feet high, it is highly pest and disease resistant, and thrives in full sun or deep shade. In fall, foliage turns a deep rich burgundy, and in winter, the exposed bark and dried flower heads are eye-catching. For the smaller garden consider H. quercifolia ('Pee Wee'), which grows a mere 4 feet high and 3 feet wide. Plant in mass, about 4 feet apart. Zone: 5-9.
Kerria Japonica: (K. Japonica): If you have a wooded lot with dense shade, this is the summer shrub for you. This tough, disease free, small woody plant bursts into a mass of golden blooms in early summer, continues intermittently all summer, then explodes again in fall. Looks lovely under the trees in a woodland garden. A real show-stopper, the Kerria Japonica will give you years of pleasure, as it slowly grows to a mere 5 feet. Kerria Japonica is evergreen all year, in all but the most northern gardens. Zone: 5-8
Butterfly Bush (Buddleia): Nothing beats the beautiful butterfly bush for constant summer blooms. Often called the 'summer lilac' buddleia's honey-scented, long bloom panicles are a source of enjoyment, for the vase, or simply for the never-ending show of hummingbirds and butterflies, which find this shrub irresistible. From the new 'Strawberry Lemonade' (to zone 4) with its variegated foliage and deep, strawberry shaded blooms, to the much loved 'Black Knight,' with its foot-long, blue-black, heavenly scented panicles, no garden should be without at least one Butterfly Bush. B. alternifolia 'Fountain,' a weeping variety is so hardy, it does not die back to the ground (merely trimmed after bloom to retain weeping shape), even in the zone 5 garden, and it blooms as early as late spring. B. 'Peacock' is compact enough for the smaller garden, and it can even be grown in containers, with heavy blooms all summer. Untouched by disease and extremely pest resistance, the Butterfly Bush has something for everyone, and it should not be overlooked for the summer garden. Cut back to the ground in late winter for a flush of healthy foliage that will shoot out from the roots, giving more lush blooms year after year. Full sun. Zone: 4-9.
Blue Mist Shrub (Caryopteris): This small, aromatic, deciduous (dropping leaves in winter) shrub is perfect for low hedges or the sunny edge of the woodland garden. Almost unreal in its visual impact, when planted 'en masse' (in groups) the breathtaking varieties of the blue mist shrub include 'Summer Sorbet' with variegated foliage, 'Sunshine Blue' with a deeper blue bloom and golden foliage, and even a pink called 'Pink Chablis.' Blue mist shrub is heat and drought tolerant, once established, and it blooms from summer through fall in full sun to part-shade. Not fussy about soil, this breathtaking shrub is a magnet to butterflies. Height 2-3 feet with late summer to fall blooms. Zone varies: 4-8
Royal Purple Smoke Bush (Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple'): This fast growing, disease free, out of this world shrub is without peer. It’s foliage is unsurpassed for its early burgundy color that warms to a deep purple in summer and ends a blazing orange in fall. In mid-summer 'Royal Purple' Smoke Bush bursts forth with feathery purple blooms that eclipse the leaves and hang on for weeks. This magnificent shrub must not be missed. Plant en masse. The most disease-resistant of all the Smoke shrubs, this unusual plant loves poor, gravely soil and laughs at mildew. Zone: 4-8
Hardy Fuchsia (Fuchsia magellanica): For the hummingbird lover, this is a hardy shrub that should not be overlooked! A relative of the tropical fuchsia, the summer blooming Hardy Fuchsia has tear-drop shaped blooms of pink, purple, and white that envelop the bush all summer long. These extremely ornamental plants grow 6 feet tall. Hardy Fuchsia is evergreen in the South and deciduous in Northern gardens, but it rises from the ground year after year. It is irresistible to hummingbirds and butterflies. Blooms in sun or light shade. Mulch heavily in colder climates. Zone: 3-10.

All of these lovely summer-blooming shrubs can be under planted with your favorite perennials and annuals. Each is forgiving of the inexperienced gardener and will make your yard bloom for many weeks, with some blooming until heavy frost. It does not take a master gardener to have a gorgeous yard. All it takes is a little faith and some courage, and these shrubs will do the rest. Leave plants in place for three years, no matter what. In the third year, you will be the envy of the neighborhood. So go ahead, take that leap, then stand back and enjoy the show.

- Back to Top -