Denny's Soapbox

Continue Summer Color with Shrubs

June is just around the corner. Summer flowers, both annual and perennial will continue to bloom the balance of this growing season. Have you ever thought of getting lots of summer bloom color from your shrubs?

There are many shrub varieties that give you limited bloom color in the spring. Now, let’s look at what’s now available for bloom color during the summer. Let’s start off with a family of shrubs that the whole family will enjoy.

Butterfly Bush – Comes in two growing sizes, standard that grows 6 ft. high and wide and petite that grows 3 to 4 ft. high and wide. This shrub with it’s lilac sized flower clusters comes in many colors including white, yellow, red, purple, blue and others. They grow and bloom best in ½ to a full day of sun. Keep spent flowers pruned off to encourage more bloom, check out the new varieties that go by the names of “Attraction” a great new red, ‘Purple Emperor’, a purple bloomer on a compact shrub, and “Adonis Blue”. These plants will provide lots of color and attract a lot of butterflies too.

HYDRANDEAS – There are three summer blooming families of hydrangeas.

The Paniculata Family

This family of hydrangeas bloom on this years new growth, guaranteeing flowers each and every late spring and summer. The Paniculatas have mostly white flowers in June changing to purplish pink from mid-July into September. They are available in bush form, growing 6 to 8 ft. high and wide. And tree form (standard) that grows 4 ft. high and wide on top of 3 to 4 ft. trunks.

The Oak Leaf Family

This is another great family of hydrangeas. ‘Quereifolia’ is the fancy name. This hydrangea grows 4 to 6 ft. high and wide. All Oak Leaf’s thrive in full sun to half day of shade. The large dark green leaves are oak-like, hence its name, and turn a brilliant shade of red in the fall. This family sets its bloom buds in the fall for the next summer. Very cold winters can cause the bloom buds to freeze and not bloom the following summer. Even without flowers, this is an outstanding shrub. Only prune your Oak Leafs with-in a month after they bloom to avoid hindering next year’s blooms.

The Macrophylla (Large Leaf) Family

This is the family of hydrangeas that have caused me to be asked hundreds of times “Why won’t my hydrangea bloom?” These are the ones that have 6” bloom balls of pink or blue depending on your soils acidity. The more acidic, the bluer the flowers you’ll have. Unfortunately, until recently, the only varieties of large leaf hydrangeas that were available all set their bloom buds in the fall and those buds were not very cold hardy, hence causing your hydrangeas not to bloom. We’ve now been saved with the addition of two new varieties.

‘Endless Summer’ – This is the first macrophylla variety to bloom on both old and new growth. This assures you of pink or blue flowers each and every year. They also grow in full sun to light shade.

‘Big Daddy’ – Here is a macrophylla variety that has blooms 12 inches in diameter.

ROSE OF SHARON - another family of great summer blooming shrubs

Hibicus – Rose of Sharon is a tough adaptable shrub or small tree that starts to flower in mid summer. Numerous cultivars provide a variety of colors in double or single blooms. Adaptable to numerous conditions, but does not tolerate extreme moisture. Can reach 8-12’ height and 6-10’ width at maturity. Blooms best in a half day of sun or more.

• ‘Lavender Chiffon’ – Single, Lavendar flowers. Proven Winner (PW)
  
• ‘Rose Satin’ – Deep rose pink with a red center. (PW)
  
• ‘White Chiffon’ – Pure white flowers with a lacy center. (PW)
  
• ‘Blue Satin’ – Single, royal blue flowers. (PW)
  
• ‘Peony Florus Tree’ – Double pink flowers on standard (grafted to a tree trunk).
  
  

CRAPE MYRTLE - The last family of summer blooming shrubs I’d like to introduce is Crape Myrtle, a great shrub or small tree that grows best in a sunny location. Here’s two great varieties.

‘Hopi’ – Semi-dwarf, multi-stemmed small tree or large shrub with bright pink flowers in late June to late September. Foliage is dark green, turning bright orange-red to dark red in the fall. A great small specimen multi-stemmed tree. Does require winter protection in the first two years.

‘Zuni’ – A special introduction featuring larger, dark lavender flower trusses in summer. Improved hardiness and handsome peeling bark. Excellent fall color from orange-red to maroon.