Flowers make the garden come alive, hardy shrubs are easy to care for and available at all heights that are needed for the respective garden - flowering shrubs are important elements of garden design; the most important design elements in the many gardens that do better without trees due to limited space. That's why it's worth looking for shrubs that aren't sold in every garden center. The article introduces you to 30 exceptional flowering shrubs that like sun and are certainly hardy:
From A to H
Aronia berry or black rowan (Aronia melanocarpa 'Nero')
- Final height approx. 1.50 m
- white flowers in spring
- red-violet-black berries in summer
- bright red leaves in autumn
The robust and pest-tolerant fruit shrub is an easy-care, very frost-hardy Russian variety; The black berries contain lots of he alth-promoting ingredients and can be made into jam.
Mountain lemon or bitter orange (Citrus triptera)
Final height about 2 m
the hardiest type of lemon (older plants can survive temperatures of -20 °C) is far too rare in our gardens, enchanting in April/May with large white, fragrant flowers and then with shiny, dark green foliage. Young plants should be grown in pots until they are “adult” (well rooted, strong).
Chinese spice bush (Elsholtzia stauntonii)
- Final height approx. 90 cm
- only develops beautiful flowers in late summer
- pink flower spikes
- which stay on the plant until autumn
The pretty little shrub looks a bit like a large sage, its leaves can also be used for seasoning and have a strong aroma somewhere between sage, caraway and mint (as versatile as Vietnamese lemon balm).
Chinese winterflower (Chimonanthus praecox)
Final height by 2 m
The creamy white to light yellow flowers appear before the leaves emerge in winter or early spring and smell strongly of violets. The fragrant shrub from the mountains of China grows slowly, is robust and frost-hardy.
Noble Laburnum (Laburnum waterei 'Vossii')
Final height around 5 m
It is a very richly flowering variety with 30-50 cm long flower clusters full of deep yellow, fragrant flowers in May. The tightly upright growing shrub can also be grown as a small tree, e.g. B. as a “golden house tree”.
Borse (Genista tinctoria)
- Final height approx. 1.50 m
- blooms yellow from June to August
- then brings another bloom in late autumn
It works as an individual plant and in a group, loves drought, is undemanding and easy to care for. Caution is only advised in households with children and/or pets because gorse is quite poisonous. By the way, the name says it all, yellow color can be obtained from the dyer's broom.
Franklinia (Franklinia alatamaha)
- Final height of approx. 10 meters
- a hardy tea bush
The natural occurrence of the tea bush, discovered in 1765 (and named “Franklin Tree” in honor of the American politician Benjamin Franklin), was eradicated around 1800 by fungal-infected cotton; The trees sold today all come from preserved breeding or cultivated specimens. It was definitely worth keeping: The large white flowers of the Franklinia have a sweet scent, the leaves make a tea that tastes like real tea, but is caffeine-free and has a rather relaxing effect.
Greek mountain tea (Sideritis syriaca)
- not huge with a final height of a good half a meter
- but the next very interesting tea plant
Its pretty yellow-green flower candles and gray felty leaves make a deliciously mild tea with a noble, cinnamon-like aroma. It is also sold as (one of the most expensive) herbal teas, but also likes to grow in free, open areas in German gardens, where the mountain tea is also completely hardy.
Honeysuckle, bush honeysuckle (Lonicera x purpusii)
Final height by 2 m
From April onwards, completely covered with small white flowers, which delight with a sweet violet scent and are followed by many bright red fruits (good food for birds). Undemanding and (wide) growing.
Autumn Fragrant Blossom (Osmanthus heterophyllus “Purpureus”)
Final height approx. 1.50 m
A robust variant of the well-known Japanese spring fragrant blossom, countless small white flowers with a peach-perfume scent, expressive leaves like holly.
Himalayan honeysuckle or caramel bush (Leycesteria formosa)
Final height approx. 2 m
Has creamy white flowers with burgundy red calyxes, deep brown, soft, juicy berries with a chocolatey caramel flavor, fruits and flowers appear simultaneously on drooping clusters, from July to autumn.
Elderberry (Sambucus nigra)
Final height by 5 m
It blooms from April to August, depending on the variety, cream, greenish, pinkish red and fragrant. An unjustly forgotten, indestructible classic, whose flowers and fruits can be used to prepare many delicious and healing foods.
Honeyberry, Siberian blueberry (Lonicera kamtschatica 'Blue Velvet')
Final height about 1.50 m
Has long, delicate yellow calyxes from March, he althy berries with an intense blueberry flavor in summer, also decorative in winter due to attractive red-brown bark.
From J to R
Judas tree (Cercis siliquastrum)
Final height around 6 m (can be kept small by cutting)
Beautiful pink flowers reminiscent of orchids in early spring (on the branches and trunk), golden yellow leaves in autumn: a truly extraordinary beauty whose young plants definitely need good winter protection.
Magnolia (Magnolia)
- Final height up to 20 m depending on the variety
- but can be kept small by cutting
End of January/beginning of February beautiful flowers between white and pink. The most frost-hardy varieties are the white, pink and purple flowering tulip magnolia Magnolia soulangiana (up to approx. - 24 °C), the dark red flowering tulip magnolia 'Genie' (up to approx. - 24 °C), the purple magnolia Magnolia liliiflora 'Nigra' (up to approx. 24 °C), the purple magnolia Magnolia liliiflora 'Susan' (up to approx. -27 °C), both with purple flowers, and the star magnolia Magnolia stellata, which comes in different varieties up to approx.– withstands 30 °C.
Chasteberry (Vitex agnus-castus)
- Final height about 1.5 m
- long, blue-violet flower spikes from August to October
- small, spherical fruits
- are used as a pepper substitute in southern Europe
- very good bee pasture
- pretty yellow autumn colors
Pimpernut (Staphylea pinnata)
Final height approx. 3 m
In spring, white flower clusters that smell delicately of coconut and can be candied; the ripe fruits contain a pistachio-tasting nut that “pimpers” in the wind, which here means rattling noises.
Purple Hazel (Corylus maxima ‘Purpurea’)
- Final height by 3 m
- red flowers from March to April
- otherwise undemanding, easy to care for
- as vigorous as any hazel bush
Red summer tamarisk (Tamarix ramossima)
Final height approx. 4 m
The flower decorates like a kind of dark pink gypsophila from June to September, can be grown as a shrub and in mild areas also as a small tree with loose growth, very drought-resistant, spreads a Mediterranean flair.
Russian s altbush, silver s altbush (halli hallobush)
Final height about 2 m
A new shrub from Russia with delicate pink, fragrant labial flowers from June to July, whose silver-gray leaves develop wonderfully even without s alt in the soil. Deep root system, thorny shoots and foliage like the sea buckthorn, also just as undemanding as this one. Well suited as a privacy plant or hedge plant, as a single shrub and for securing embankments.
From S to Z
Snow Forsythia (Abeliophylumm distichum)
- Final height approx. 2 m
- white-pink almond-scented flowers March or April to May
- small, dark green leaves
- round, winged fruits with a diameter of 2.3 cm in summer
Judging by her unpretentiousness and uncomplicated nature, Korean beauty has been far too rare in our country.
Siberian ginseng, taiga root (Eleutherococcus senticosus (Acanthopanax senticosus))
Final height by 5 m
It has large spherical umbel flowers with expressive seed capsules on the individual rays, a bizarre, prickly shrub whose roots are used like ginseng and which is very hardy here because of its home in eastern Siberia.
Chestnut tree (Aesculus parviflora)
Final height approx. 4 m
With upright white chestnut flower candles that protrude above the foliage and appear in the summer months, golden yellow foliage in autumn, bright red shoots in spring.
Shrub vetch (Coronilla valentina ssp. glauca)
Final height by 1.50 m
With a beautiful shrub from Spain with lush, fragrant flowers in spring (and sometimes also in autumn), whose winter hardiness is stated to be -15°C despite its origin. So in most areas of Germany it is hardy in a protected location, in the rest of the country it is a great, easy-care shrub for cool winter gardens.
Shrub Lavender (Lavandula x allardii)
Final height up to 1.80 m
It is the only lavender that can be grown as a tree, variety with dark purple flowers and fairly large foliage with a serrated edge.
Mallow 'Barnsley' (Lavatera olbia 'Barnsley')
Final height approx. 1.80 m
A beautiful, well-growing shrub with large, delicate pastel pink flowers and a thick, woody trunk.
Devil's Bush (Physocarpus opulifolius)
Final height by 2 m
In the 'Diabolo' variety, beautiful white flowers from May to June, but dark red leaves. Grows evenly all year round.
Juniper (Juniperus communis “Meyer”)
Final height approx. 3 m
Another forgotten classic whose flowery design and color may not blow your mind, but whose berries you can do a lot with: Gin gets its aroma from juniper berries, young, green juniper berries flavor herbal cream cheese, older fish and grilled meat and roast game.
Magic hazel (witch hazel)
Final height about 4 m
With yellow flower spikes that look funny confused at the ends and spread their pleasant scent from December to March. Otherwise undemanding and easy to care for, yellow-red autumn color, upright growth.
Ornamental apricot (Prunus mume 'Beni-shidare')
Final height around 3.5 m
shows its beautiful, delicate pink-red flowers in the winter months and is also very undemanding and frost-hardy, only the flowers can suffer from late frosts.
Conclusion
These suggestions certainly include shrubs that cannot be found in the nearest garden center or hardware store, nor in the nearest well-stocked tree nursery or nursery that grows plants themselves.
But the search for garden centers and nurseries that offer very special plants is worth it, and not just because of a shrub that has aroused your interest in the list above.
But it is also worth it because the garden centers and tree nurseries that have such rare plants in their range that cannot be grown quickly and easily in masses are actually always owner-managed businesses that are run with passion. Shopping in such establishments is really fun and there is usually a lot to discover (and learn if you want).
