Tall Shrubs for Moist Soil in Sunny Locations

USDA Zone 3 and 4

• Brilliant red stems in winter highlight the red twig dogwood (Cornus sericea), giving this 10-foot tall shrub its name. Red twig dogwood is cold hardy into U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zone 2, so growing in zones 3 and 4 is no problem for this deciduous plant. It possesses colorful fall foliage and generates white berries in a full sun situation. Create hedges and screens with European cranberrybush (Viburnum opulus), a shrub for damp soil. It grows to 15 feet high, generates white spring flowers and edible, but bitter tasting, berries in fall.

USDA Zones 5 and 6

• Highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) is a multi-stemmed shrub that grows between 6 and 12 feet in USDA zones 5 and 6. It has a reputation for affording excellent fall color, with leaves that turn orange, yellow and red. Highbush blueberry’s white May blooms turn to edible berries in July and August. This shrub thrives in sunny, wet soils with an acidic tendency. Drooping clusters of white flowers offer nectar to butterflies and bees, making Japanese clethra a fine addition to a sunny, damp setting. It grows to 20 feet and this shrub lacks any serious bug pests or inclination to suffer from disease.

USDA Zones 7 and 8

• Opt for the male individuals when using pussy willow (Salix discolor) in the landscapes of USDA zones 7 and 8. The male shrubs, growing to 15 feet and sometimes to small tree size, display large, pearl-colored silky flowers. Pussy willows do best in full sun. Use them to spice up pond and swamp edges. Little King is a shrubby cultivar of the river birch (Betula nigra). It grows to 15 feet high and has many of the same pleasing ornamental aspects as the parent species, including exfoliating and colorful bark. It has dense branches that grow all the way to the ground in wet scenarios in full sunshine.

USDA Zone 9

• Corkwood (Leitneria floridana) can form colonies in wet soil in full sun in USDA zone 9, even tolerating seasonal flooding, notes the Missouri Botanical Garden. Corkwood grows to 25 in a wild setting, but to 12 feet in cultivation as a privacy screen or wetland border. Corkwood’s leaves grow at the tips of the branches, staying green well into autumn. Winter Red, a winterberry (Ilex verticillata) cultivar, is a female shrub known for producing copious amounts of attractive red fruits. Winter Red grows to 8 feet. One male specimen may pollinate up to a dozen female shrubs. The berries stay on into winter, giving a zone 9 landscape some needed color.