Hearty Shrubs

Wind-Tolerant

• If you live in a state like North Dakota, wind is a constant companion, so select shrubs that can handle it. Your choices include the American filbert, a shrub that grows 6 to 12 feet tall and wide. It will tolerate full sun or partial shade and prefers moist, well-drained soil. The filbert offers green leaves in the summer and edible nuts in the fall. It assumes a rounded form. The American filbert is suitable for zones 3 to 8. If you’re looking for a smaller, wind-tolerant shrub, consider the Japanese spirea. It features pink flowers in the early summer with green foliage. The Japanese spirea grows 4 to 5 feet tall and wide and is suitable for zones 4 to 8. It needs full sun and likes moist soil but will endure dry sites.

Drought-Tolerant

• Shrubs that can handle periods of limited moisture include the bluebeard and the beautybush. Bluebeard grows 2 to 3 feet tall and wide in zones 4 to 8. The bluebeard produces blue or purplish-blue flowers in the late summer and fall on grayish-green foliage. It needs full sun or light shade and grows in a rounded pattern. This hearty shrub can also tolerate windy conditions. The beautybush is another option for zones 4 to 8. It grows 6 to 10 feet tall and 6 to 8 feet wide. This shrub needs sun or light shade and well-drained soil. It offers light pink flowers in the late spring and yellow to red foliage in the fall.

Salt-Tolerant

• Plants that offer good salt tolerance include the cranberry cotoneaster, which grows 2 to 3 feet tall and wide. This shrub shows its heartiness by also handling wind, alkaline soil and dry sites. It produces pink flowers on green leaves in the spring, then red fruit on reddish-purple leaves in the late summer and fall. The cranberry cotoneaster displays a low, spreading growth habit and is a fit for zones 5 to 7. Another salt-tolerant shrub is the five stamen tamarisk, which grows 10 to 15 feet tall and 8 to 12 feet wide in zones 4 to 8. The tamarisk produces sizable clusters of small pink flowers in mid-summer. It needs full sun and prefers acidic soil, but it will tolerate dry and alkaline soil.

Tolerant of Wet Sites

• If you have a spot in your landscape with poor drainage, check out the silky dogwood. It grows 6 to 10 feet tall and wide in zones 4 to 8. It provides white flowers in the spring, green foliage in the summer and reddish-purple leaves in the fall. This hearty shrub can tolerate wet sites, dry sites, compacted soil and alkaline soil. It likes full sun or partial shade. You can grow the American cranberry bush viburnum in wet sites found in zones 3 to 7. It grows 8 to 12 feet tall and wide and likes full sun or partial shade. The American cranberry bush viburnum has white flowers in late spring and red fruit in late summer and fall. Its green summer foliage turns reddish-purple in autumn. This hearty option will also tolerate alkaline soil and wind.