Low-Profile & Shade-Loving Flowering Bushes

Hardy To Minus 30 Degrees Fahrenheit

• The Sixteen Candles summersweet clethra (Callicarpa dichotoma) is hardy in USDA zones 3 to 9 and thrives in partially shaded, moist sites. This dark, glossy shrub grows to 3 feet tall and blooms with aromatic white flowers that attract pollinators. The 4-foot-tall Nanus sweet mockorange blooms with fragrant, white summer flowers and grows well in partial shade. It is hardy in zones 4 through 8 and has dark, deciduous foliage.

Hardy To Minus 20 Degrees Fahrenheit

• Several low-growing cultivars of the wintercreeper euonymous (Euonymus fortunei) grow well in fully shaded sites and bloom with white-green flowers. These evergreens are hardy in USDA zones 5 to 8 and thrive in a variety of soils. Gold Spot grows to 3 feet tall and has dark leaves with a yellow center, while Harlequin grows to 2 feet tall and has variegated white-green foliage. The Pleasant White azalea (Rhododendron “Pleasant White”), hardy in zones 5 through 9, thrives in partial shade and rich, moist soil. It grows to 3 feet tall and blooms with large, white flowers.

Hardy to Minus 10 Degrees Fahrenheit

• Japanese hollies (Ilex crenata) are hardy in USDA zones 6 through 8 and thrive in partially shaded sites with moist, acidic soil. These evergreens bloom with white, bee-attracting flowers in spring. Low-growing cultivars include the 3-foot-tall Soft Touch, which has lustrous foliage, and the 4-foot-tall Bee Hive, which grows in a dense mound of olive-green leaves. The purple beautyberry (Callicarpa dichotoma), hardy in zones 5 through 8, grows to 4 feet tall and produces purple flowers and thrives in partial shade. This deciduous shrub grows quickly and prefers moist soil.

Hardy to 0 Degrees Fahrenheit

• The dwarf aucuba (Aucuba japonica “Nana”) grows to 4 feet tall in a compact form and is hardy in zones 7 through 10. They thrive in partial shade and rich soil. Male plants bloom with purple flowers and have glossy, evergreen foliage. The Bay Breeze yeddo hawthorn (Rhaphiolepis umbellate), hardy in zones 7b through 10, grows to 3 feet tall and produces dark-pink flowers. This evergreen has dark, glossy foliage and thrives in shade and moist, well-draining soil.