Enjoy flowers all summer long when you add a few low-maintenance, easy-growing blooming shrubs. Most of these gorgeous, yet undemanding plants will also attract birds and butterflies, turning your green space into a wildlife haven.
Bluebeard
Airy clusters of beautiful blue blooms give bluebeard its name. The flowers appear in late summer, just when many other shrubs and perennials are fading. This shrub is easy to grow and will take all but the worst heat and drought. In addition, all kinds of pollinators, including hummingbirds, love the flowers—but deer leave it alone. Bluebeard makes a great cut flower, too.
Growing Conditions: Full sun in moist, well-drained soil
Size: To 4 feet tall
Zones: 5-9
Butterfly Bush
Think of a butterfly bush as a summer-flowering lilac. Its blossoms appear in similar colors (purple, lavender, blue, pink, and white) and are deliciously fragrant. Butterfly Bushes will bloom from summer into autumn, especially if you deadhead the old flower clusters as they start to fade. This also will prevent them from self-seeding everywhere, especially in regions where they are invasive.
Growing Conditions: Full sun in moist, well-drained soil
Size: To 10 feet tall or more
Zones: 5-9
Carolina Allspice
This underused gem offers beautiful deep red flowers from late spring into midsummer. Carolina allspice flowers may not be very showy, but they do have a powerful, spicy fragrance you can enjoy throughout the yard. It's also a tough, low-care plant native to areas of North America.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in moist, well-drained soil
Size: To 8 feet tall
Zones: 5-9
Japanese Spirea
There's a good reason that Japanese spirea is a common sight in city plantings, at restaurants, and even gas stations: It's a super low-maintenance shrub. And spirea produces clusters of raspberry-rose flowers in late spring into early summer. 'Little Princess', shown here, is a compact variety that gets about 2.5 feet tall.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in moist, well-drained soil
Size: To 4 feet tall
Zones: 3-9
Oleander
An exceptionally easy to care for subtropical shrub, oleander produces summertime flowers in shades of pink, red, purple, lilac, yellow, and white. In fact, it's so foolproof that in many warm-weather areas, it's grown along the sides of highways. Take care if you grow it in your garden, though, especially if kids or pets are around: Oleander is extremely poisonous if eaten.
Growing Conditions: Full sun in well-drained soil with regular moisture
Size: To 10 feet tall, depending on species
Zones: 10-11
Panicle Hydrangea
One of the easiest hydrangeas to grow is the panicle hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata). In late summer and autumn, this rugged shrub produces fluffy clusters of white flowers that fade to shades of dusky pink and green. There are several popular varieties to choose from such as 'Limelight' that turns more green and 'Vanilla Strawberry' that have a pretty pink color.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in moist, well-drained soil
Size: To 10 feet tall and wide
Zones: 4-8
Potentilla
Grown for its cheery yellow, orange, red, or white flowers, the potentilla is one of the most common and easiest shrubs to grow. It's not picky about soil and can tolerate drought well. Its blooms start opening in late spring and continue through autumn, drawing numerous pollinators, like butterflies.
Growing Conditions: Full sun in dry to moist soil
Size: To 3 feet tall
Zones: 3-7
Reblooming Hydrangea
While most bigleaf hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla) flower on last year's branches (leaving them susceptible to injury from cold winter temperatures), reblooming varieties, such as 'Endless Summer,' produce flowers on fresh growth. This ensures lots of blooms throughout the summer.
Growing Conditions: Part shade in evenly moist, well-drained soil
Size: To 5 feet tall
Zones: 5-9
Rock Rose
As its name implies, the rock rose has rose-like flowers that bloom throughout the summer in a wide range of colors, from pink to purple, to lavender and white. Because it tolerates drought so well, this shrub is easy to grow in warm climates.
Growing Conditions: Full sun in well-drained soil on the dry side
Size: To 5 feet tall
Zones: 8-10
Rose of Sharon
You can rely on a rose of Sharon to provide lots of color during the hottest months. From midsummer to early autumn, this shrub erupts in tropical-looking blooms in shades of pink, lavender-blue, and white. 'Sugar Tip' (shown here) also offers pretty variegated foliage with its double pink blooms.
Growing Conditions: Full sun in dry to moist, well-drained soil
Size: To 10 feet tall and wide
Zones: 5-9
When shopping for rose of Sharon, look for sterile varieties, such as 'Minerva,' that won't fill your garden with a ton of weedy seedlings.
Shrub Rose
Not all roses are finicky, high-maintenance plants. Modern shrub roses flower all summer long and into autumn on disease resistant, easy to grow plants. The flower colors differ by variety, but you'll most commonly see shrub roses in shades of pink, red, white, and yellow.
Growing Conditions: Full sun in moist, well-drained soil
Size: To 6 feet tall and wide, depending on type
Zones: 3-9, depending on type
Even modern shrub roses have thorns, so plant them away from sidewalks and pathways.
Smoke Bush
While the smoke bush blossoms in pretty pink plumes all summer, it's the foliage that's really spectacular. Most common types have dark purple leaves that in fall turn colorful shades of yellow, orange, and red.
Growing Conditions: Full sun in moist, well-drained soil
Size: To 10 feet tall
Zones: 5-8
Summersweet
Grown in partial shade, the summersweet lights up in summer, when its pink or white flowers appear. The fluffy-looking blooms also have a wonderful fragrance. Add to these attributes the summersweet's golden leaf colors in fall, and you have an ideal shrub.
Growing Conditions: Part to full shade in evenly moist, well-drained soil
Size: To 5 feet tall
Zones: 3-9
Look for cultivars, such as 'Ruby Spice', that offer an extra-long bloom season.
