Compact Blooming Shrubs

Bluebeard

• Also called “blue mist shrub,” bluebeard (Caryopteris clandonensis) has dark leaves and deep purplish-blue blooms. Growing three to six feet tall, it blooms from late summer to early fall. Bluebeard is also drought and heat tolerant. Plant bluebeard in USDA Plant Hardiness zones 5 through 9.

Scotch Heather

• This compact shrub grows one to three feet wide and equally as tall. It features leaves edged in orange, red and cream. Scotch heather (Calluna vulgaris) produces pink blooms in the summer, attracting many bees. In the autumn, the leaves turn shades of purple and bronze. Plant Scotch heather in well-draining soil in full sun in zones 5 through 7.

Mountain Sweet

• Also known as New Jersey tea, redroot, and wild snowball, mountain sweet (Ceanothus americanus) grows about three to six feet wide and just as high. A deciduous bush with dark green foliage, mountain sweet features clusters of white flowers. The shrub prefers full sun and well-draining soil and lives up to 10 years. It does well in zones 4 through 8.

Flowering Quince

• Chaenomeles superba grows three to six feet tall and produces an abundant, two-week display of red flowers in the late spring or early summer. In the fall, edible green fruit, which turns yellow when ripe, appears. Plant the shrub in full sun or part shade in zones 5 through 9.

Japanese Barberry

• A tidy shrub growing three to six feet tall, Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii) grows yellow flowers in the summer and red berries in the winter. Because it’s not picky about where it grows (enjoying full sun to part shade and nearly any type of soil), Japanese barberry spreads easily by seed and is invasive in some areas. It prefers zones 5 through 8.

Sun Rose

• Also called Rock Rose, Cistus albidus grows one to three feet high and just as wide. It is a casual evergreen with light green foliage and cheerful lilac-colored flowers in the summer. Each bloom lasts just one day, but the bush is so prolific it flowers for months. Plant it in full sun with well-draining soil in zones 8 through 10.

Daphne

• Growing 3 to 6 feet high, daphne (Daphne sp.) is a highly fragrant bush featuring pink flowers in the spring, summer, and fall, depending upon the variety. The leaves are trimmed with white. Plant the shrub in well-draining soil in full sun to part shade in zones 5 through 9.