Let’s face it – most of our flowering shrubs are showy in spring.  Viburnum, dogwood, spirea, forsythia and lilac sport hues of yellow, white, pink and purple in April, May and June.  While this is a welcome change from the drab grey of March, once the color is gone in spring, we’re left with a mass of green leaves and nothing more.  Fortunately, some of the spring flowering shrubs also produce colorful fruit, but not until fall.

In order to avoid the lack of color, interest and appeal, incorporation of summer/fall flowering shrubs such as rose of Sharon will infuse color as well as an interesting arching architectural structure to the landscape.  Rose of Sharon is available in the pastel colors of pink, purple, rose as well as white.

In addition to rose of Sharon, consider other summer/fall bloomers such as mockorange, dwarf blue mist spirea and beautyberry.

John Fech

Horticulture Extension Educator at Nebraska Extension

John Fech is a horticulturist with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and certified arborist with the International Society of Arboriculture. The author of 2 books and over 200 popular and trade journal articles, he focuses his time on teaching effective landscape maintenance techniques, water conservation, diagnosing turf and ornamental problems and encouraging effective bilingual communication in the green industry. He works extensively with the media to extend the message of landscape sustainability, making over 100 television and radio appearances each year.