What Kind of Shrubs & Flowers Look Good Around an Inground Pool?

Evergreen Shrubs

• Evergreen shrubs keep their foliage all year, making them a natural choice for poolside plantings. Choose drought-tolerant, sun-loving varieties for the best results. The pineapple guava (Feijoa sellowiana) tolerates drought, clay, sand and salt. This evergreen grows to 10 feet tall with a similar spread and has gray-green foliage. It flowers with red-white flowers and produces edible, yellow fruits. Heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica) grows to 8 feet tall with a narrow spread. This glossy evergreen produces white flowers, followed by long-lasting red berries. It tolerates drought and sun and comes in cultivars that range from 30 inches to 9 feet tall. Other choices include rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) and lavender cotton (Santolina chamaecyparissus).

Deciduous Shrubs

• Deciduous shrubs lose their leaves in winter, so for lower maintenance, choose species that drop their leaves all at once rather than slowly losing foliage through the fall. Common lantana (Lantana camera), which grows quickly to 5 feet tall with a similar spread. This sun-loving shrub blooms with aromatic red, orange, yellow and multicolored flowers, followed by blue-black berries, and tolerates heat and drought. The cape honeysuckle (Tecomaria capensis), a climbing shrub, tolerates heat, sun, drought, sand and salt. It climbs up to 20 feet tall with support and blooms with fragrant, orange-red flowers from summer through autumn. Other deciduous shrubs for poolsides include yellow bird of paradise (Caesalpinia gilliesii) and pine leaf milkweed (Asclepias linaria).

Perennial Flowers

• Perennial flowers grow back year after year. Choose species that bloom at different times during the growing season for continuous color. For early color, choose moss verbenas (Verbena tenuisecta), 12-inch-tall perennials that produce purple spring blossoms and thrive in sunny, well-drained sites. Showy primroses (Oenothera speciosa) bloom in summer with white-pink blossoms. These 2-foot-tall perennials thrive in sun and dry soil. Late-blooming species include velvet or Mexican bush sage, which produces fuzzy, maroon-white flowers from summer through fall. These 3-foot-tall perennials thrive in sunny, well-drained sites.

Annual Flowers

• Annuals only live for one growing season, but they tend to bloom much longer than perennials. Most annuals need moist, well-drained soil, but a few species thrive in sunny, dry sites. Gazanias (Gazania rigens) grow to 12 inches tall and bloom from summer through fall with pink, copper, white and red-orange flowers. Melampodium (Melampodium paludosum) bloom from spring through fall with bright yellow, 11-petaled flowers. Golden fleece (Dyssodia tenuiloba) also does well in dry, sunny sites.