Shade Shrubs

AZALEAS

Rhododendron

Encore

Delaware Valley (White)

Formosa (Lavender)

Formosa (Pink)

Formosa (Red)

George Tabor (Pink/Lavender)

DAYLILIES

Hemerocallis

• Full sun, clump, perennial
• Thousands of cultivars: some rebloom, some fragrant
• Heat and drought tolerant

ELEAGNUS

Elaeagnus pungens (E.x ebbingei)

• Size: fast growing, large 12′ tall by 12′ wide) broadleaf evergreen; very wild habit unless pruned
• Flowers: extremely fragrant flowers in the fall, but not showy
• Fruit: not significant
• Fall color: none/broadleaf evergreen
• Culture: sun; very adaptable to soil type
• Disease/insect: none significant
• Use: must be sheared; good for screen/hedge
• Similar to E. x ebbingei

GRASS

Poaceae

Dwarf Hamelin

Acer Rubrum

Dwarf Maiden

Miscanthus sinensis

• Medium sized (4 to 5′), clump forming grass
• Cultivars: ‘Gracillimus’, ‘Zebrinus’, ‘Strictus’

Pampas

Cortaderia selloana

• Large (10′), clump forming grass
• Full sun
• Dramatic plumes
• Invasive in western U.S.

Pink Muhly

Muhlenbergia capillaris

Purple Fountain

Pennisetum setaceum rubrum

HAWTHORNS

Crataegus

Clara Dwarf (White)

Elizabeth (Light Pink)

HOLLIES

Ilex

Needlepoint

Ilex cornuta ‘Burfordii’ 

• Size: large (18′ tall by 8′ wide) broadleaf evergreen
• Flowers: not significant
• Fruit: showy, red berry; Unique in that fruit-set does not require pollination (parthenocarpic)
• Fall color: none/broadleaf evergreen
• Culture: sun or shade; moist soil best. Avoid poorly drained soils
• Disease/insect: none serious
• Use: hedge or screen

Dwarf Yaupon

Ilex vomitoria ‘Nana’

• Size: small (3′ tall by 5′ wide) broadleaf evergreen
• Flowers: insignificant
• Fruit: not overwhelming on this form, red
• Fall color: none/broadleaf evergreen
• Culture: sun or shade; rich, moist soil best
• Disease/insect: none serious
• Use: common in foundation plantings
• Many similar cultivars (‘Schillings’/’Stokes Dwarf’; Bordeaux™; ‘Straughan’s Dwarf’)

JAPANESE YEW

Taxus cuspidata

• Needle evergreen
• Culture: partial shade to shade; rich, moist soil best: Best suited to Northwest Arkansas (cooler)
• Cultivars: many for plant habit
• Trademark of landscapes in north
• Tolerates shearing

JUNIPER

Juniperus

Creeping Groundcover

Juniperus procumbens

• Size: low (1′ tall by 7′ wide) needle evergreen
• Needles: all juvenile (awl-shaped)
• Culture: full sun
• Use: Ideal for cascading over walls; Japanese gardens. Another good choice for Arkansas

NANDINAS

Firepower

Nandina domestica ‘Atropurpurea Nana’

• Size: Small (18″ tall by 18″ wide) broadleaf evergreen
• Group of dwarf forms; most have intense reddish foliage in winter; most lack significant flowers/fruits
• Includes selections such as Gulf Stream™, ‘Harbour Dwarf’, ‘Moon Bay’

Domestica

Nandina domestica

• Size: medium (5′ tall by 4′ wide) broadleaf evergreen
• Flowers: showy, white terminal panicles May
• Fruit: spectacular clusters of red fruit
• Fall/winter color: broadleaf evergreen, however, can take-on reddish/purple coloration in winter
• Culture: sun to shade; very drought tolerant once established
• Disease/insect: none
• Use: tropical look; short hedge, foundation; Almost a weed in some wooded areas in Arkansas
• Cultivars: many (most for smaller size: ‘Firepower’, Gulf Stream™ , ‘Moon Bay’, ‘Harbour Dwarf’
• ‘Bamboo-like’ stems

POMEGRANATE

Punica granatum

Fruiting

QUINCE

Cydonia oblonga

Red/White

Chaenomeles japonica

• Size: medium (5′ tall by 7′ wide) deciduous shrub; Thorns on stem
• Flowers: very showy. Very early spring flowering; pink/white/coral/orange
• Fruit: rare. Looks like a ‘Yellow Delicious’ apple
• Fall color: none
• Culture: full sun. Best in rich, moist soil. But generally tough
• Disease/insect: none significant
• Use: beds, low ground cover, foundations
• Cultivars: many, mostly based on flower color or plant size

ROSES

Rosas

Knockout (White, Red, Pink)

Drift

SPIRAEA

Spiraea japonica

Double White (Bridal Wealth)

Spiraea prunifolia

• Size: medium (6′ tall by 7′ wide) deciduous shrub
• Flowers: dramatic white flowers in early spring (March)
• Fruit: not significant
• Fall color: none
• Culture: full sun; adaptable to most soils
• Disease/insect: none
• Use: deciduous hedge, massed, mixed shrub border
• Prune after spring flower display

Gold Mound

Little Princess

Anthony Waterer

Spiraea x bumalda

• Size: low (3′ tall by 3′ wide) deciduous shrub
• Flowers: showy, pink/purple flowers several months during summer
• Fruit: not significant
• Fall color: none
• Culture: full sun; drought tolerant
• Disease/insect: none significant
• Cultivars: ‘Anthony Waterer’, ‘Froebelii’, and yellow/green foliage forms ‘Goldflame’ and ‘Limemound’

SWEETSPIRE

Itea

Henry’s Garnet

Itea virginica

• Size: medium (4′ tall by 9′ wide) deciduous shrub
• Flowers: significant, white, terminal racemes, May/June
• Fruit: not significant
• Fall color: reliable, spectacular maroon fall color
• Culture: sun to partial sun; moist soil
• Disease/insect: none significant
• Use: mass, spreads by rhizomes
• Cultivars; ‘Henry’s Garnet’; ‘Saturnalia’; ‘Merlot’

VIBURNUM

Viburnum rhytidophyllum

Snowball Macrophyllum

Viburnum plicatum

• Sized: large (10′ tall by 10′ wide) deciduous shrub
• Flowers: snow white ‘snowballs’ of sterile flowers; mid-April
• Fruits: none (sterile)
• Fall color: maroon
• Culture: sun to partial shade; fairly adaptable once established
• Disease/insect: none serious
• Use: large shrub beds
• This is an anomaly since a botanical species should be able to reproduce by seed and this does not. It is the Doublefile Virburnum (var. tomentosum) that produces seed!!!