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Sun Shrubs

SHRUBS fit for YOUR ENVIRONMENT

Our pro’s can help you select the ideal shrub to thrive in the conditions around your home or business.

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ABELIAS

Abelia x grandiflora

Dwarf Edward Goucher (Pink)

Kaleidoscope (White)

  • Size: medium shrub 5′ tall by 5′ wide; often wild sprays of stems
  • Flowers: May to fall, white/pink tubular flowers
  • Fruit: not significant
  • Fall color: broadleaf evergreen. Sometimes winter foliage is a deep maroon
  • Culture: full sun. Adaptable to most soils. Tough
  • Disease/insect: none significant
  • Use: foundations, masses
  • Cultivars: many including ‘Sherwood’, Confetti™, Sunrise™. (‘Edward Goucher’ is a hybrid)
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ALTHEA

Hibiscus syriacus

Rose of Sharon

  • Size: large (9′ tall by 9′ wide) deciduous shrub
  • Flowers: known for significant summer flowers (white, pink, purple)
  • Fruit: not significant, woody capsule
  • Fall color: none
  • Culture: full sun; tolerates most soils. Drought tolerant once established
  • Disease/insect: none significant
  • Use: specimen, back of mixed shrub border
  • Cultivars: many. Mostly for flower color or type (single/double)
Close-up of a green shrub with oval leaves against a clear blue sky background.

BOXWOODS

Buxus

Wintergreen

  • Size: large (12′ tall by 12′ wide) broadleaf evergreen
  • Flowers/fruit: not significant
  • Fall color: none/broadleaf evergreen
  • Culture: best in rich, moist soil, partial sun, but more tolerant of sun and heat than Littleleaf Boxwood (B. microphylla). Better suited to south/central Arkansas than Littleleaf Boxwood (B. microphylla)
  • Disease/insect: none significant
  • Use: screen/hedge
Burning bush with vibrant red leaves, dense foliage, and thin branches against a green background.

BURNING BUSH

Euonymus alatus

Burning Bush

  • Size: medium (7′ tall by 7′ wide) deciduous shrub
  • Flowers: yellow/green, not showy
  • Fruit: brilliant orange, can be significant after foliage drops and if in sufficient numbers
  • Fall color: exceptional, pink
  • Twigs: distinctive ‘wings’
  • Culture: best in rich, moist soil; best in partial sun to shade. Very shade tolerant
  • Disease/insect: none significant
  • Use: individual plant, naturalizing, deciduous hedge
  • Cultivars: ‘Compactus’ (red fall color; similar size) more common in trade
Purple butterfly bush flower with green leaves and a blurred green background.

BUTTERFLY BUSH

Buddleia (Buddleja) davidii

Butterfly Bush

  • Size: medium to large deciduous shrub (10′ tall by 10′ wide)
  • Flowers: spectacular. Significant summer flower display. Flower colors white, pink, purple, yellow. Attracts butterflies
  • Fruit: not significant
  • Fall color: none
  • Culture: full sun. Soil adaptable. Drought tolerant. Tough
  • Disease/insect: none significant
  • Use: fast growing and large to requires space. Back of mixed shrub border. Low maintenance areas
  • Cultivars: many depending mostly on flower color
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CAMELLIA JAPONICA

Camellia japonica

Pink Perfection

  • Size: medium (8′ tall by 8′ wide)
  • Flowers: very showy. Flowers variable (single/double; white,
    pink, red); flowers typically January thru March. More likely to
    see flower bud damage on this than Sasanqua Camellia (C.
    sasanqua)
  • Fruit: not significant
  • Fall color: none/ broadleaf evergreen; Coarser leaves
    thanSasanqua Camellia (C. sasanqua)
  • Culture: best in rich, moist soil; partial sun; Best in cold
    hardiness zones 7 & 8
  • Disease/insect: none significant
  • Use: screen, back of mixed shrub border
  • Cultivars: many for variation in flowers (color, single/double)

Kramer Supreme (Red)

  • Size: medium (8′ tall by 8′ wide)
  • Flowers: very showy. Flowers variable (single/double; white,
    pink, red); flowers typically January thru March. More likely to
    see flower bud damage on this than Sasanqua Camellia (C.
    sasanqua)
  • Fruit: not significant
  • Fall color: none/ broadleaf evergreen; Coarser leaves
    thanSasanqua Camellia (C. sasanqua)
  • Culture: best in rich, moist soil; partial sun; Best in cold
    hardiness zones 7 & 8
  • Disease/insect: none significant
  • Use: screen, back of mixed shrub border
  • Cultivars: many for variation in flowers (color, single/double)
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CAMELLIA SASANQUA

Camellia sasanqua

Yuletide (Red)

  • Size: medium (8′ tall by 8′ wide) broadleaf evergreen
  • Flowers: very showy. Flowers late fall (Oct. thru Dec.). Typically flowers before Japanese Camellia (C. japonica)
  • Fruit: not significant
  • Fall color: none/broadleaf evergreen. Leaves more refined than Japanese Camellia (C. japonica)
  • Culture: same as above. Best in rich, moist soil, partial sun
  • Disease/insect: none significant
  • Use: screen, back of mixed shrub border

Cultivars: many. Similar flower choices as Japanese Camellia (C. japonica)

Close-up of a white flower with raindrops on petals, set against a blurred background of lush green leaves and overcast sky.

GARDENIAS

Gardenia jasminoides

August Beauty

  • Size: medium (5′ tall by 5′ wide) broadleaf evergreen
  • Flowers: fragrant flowers; pure white flowers in summer, fade yellow
  • Fruit: not significant
  • Fall color: none/broadleaf evergreen
  • Culture: best in rich, moist soil, acid soil; partial sun or shade; Best in zones 7 and 8
  • Disease/insect: scale, whitefly
  • Use: specimen near entry-ways
  • Cultivars: few for increased cold hardiness (‘Kleim’s Hardy’

Frost Proof (Dwarf)

Close-up of lush green leaves with white edges, featuring water droplets on the surface, arranged in a visually pleasing pattern.

HOSTAS

Hosta kiyosumiensis

Green

  • Shade perennial; requires constant moisture
  • Grown mostly for foliage
  • Hundreds of cultivars
  • Flower spikes white or blue-purple
  • Loved by slugs

Varigated

Close-up of pink and green hydrangea flowers, showing a dense cluster with soft pastel petals and tiny central blooms.

HYDRANGEAS

Oak Leaf

Hydrangea quercifolia

  • Size: medium (5′ tall by 7′ wide) deciduous shrub
  • Flowers: known for significant white panicles in early summer
  • Fruit: not significant
  • Fall color: dramatic, maroon; ‘oak-like’ leaves
  • Culture: best in rich, moist soil; shade or sun
  • Disease/insect: none significant
  • Use: foundation, specimen
  • Cultivars: ‘Alice’, ‘Sikes Dwarf’, ‘Harmony’, ‘Snow Queen’ and more

Limelight

Hydrangea paniculata

  • Size: large (9′ tall by 9′ wide) deciduous shrub
  • Flowers: known for dramatic, white, terminal panicles in summer, fade to pink
  • Fruit: not significant
  • Fall color: none
  • Culture: moist soil; tolerates full sun
  • Disease/insect: none significant
  • Use: specimen, back of mixed shrub bed. Has lost favor with introduction of white crapemyrtles
  • Cultivars like ‘Grandiflora’, ‘Floribunda’, ‘Unique’, and ‘Tardiva’ have showier flowers with more sterile flowers

Macrophyllia

Hydrangea macrophylla

  • Size: medium (4.5′ tall by 5′ wide) deciduous shrub
  • Flowers: known for spectacular flowers in early/mid summer (pink or blue; mopheads or lacecaps); most flower on old wood so don’t prune severely in early spring
  • Fruit: not significant
  • Fall color: none
  • Culture: best in rich, moist soil; partial sun or shade
  • Disease/insect: none significant
  • Use: specimen, foundation, mixed shrub beds
  • Cultivars: hundreds for flower type and flower color

Bemis Tree Farm