When we think of adding color to a landscape, we usually think of flowers. But including shrubs with foliage in attention-grabbing shades of red, gold, and purple can be just as beautiful as any bloom – especially in times when the flowers have gone quiet for a while. Here we’ve gathered a few of our favorite shrubs with the power to bring on the non-stop color all through the season.
Ninebark
Ninebark is a beautiful North American native that thrives in even the hottest Nebraska summers. It’s a shrub that requires very little maintenance to keep it looking its best – those cascading branches give it a natural, informal style that you won’t even want to shape. Ninebark’s textured foliage looks like maple leaves and comes in colors from rich burgundy to almost neon yellow, depending on the cultivar. If you can’t decide which color you love, go with ‘Amber Jubilee’ ninebark – a naturally rounded variety that displays a glowing combination of orange, gold, and yellow all at once. Most ninebarks get pretty big, but there are several dwarf varieties – like ‘Little Devil,’ ‘Tiny Wine,’ and ‘Lemon Candy’ – to choose from too.
Weigela
However you want to pronounce it – why-jee-la, why-gee-la, wah-guh-la – weigela is another shrub that brings bright color through the entire growing season. A smaller shrub, weigela cultivars stay anywhere from two- to five-feet-tall and wide so they fit nicely into small spaces and along borders. In addition to the classic green, the foliage also comes in deep shades of bronze-green, reddish-green, burgundy, and purple. And although the foliage provides a ton of color, the late-spring blooms are gorgeous too. They’re tube-shaped and vividly colored – a favorite for those brilliant hummingbirds and butterflies.
Barberry
If you’ve ever admired a shrub that’s glowing like the sun in your neighbor’s landscape, it might be a barberry. Some cultivars – especially the fiery ‘Orange Rocket’ or ‘Golden Ruby’ – are so brilliant, you almost need sunglasses to look at them. Barberries come in neon shades of chartreuse too – like ‘Limoncello’ or ‘Gold Pillar.’ If you’re into a more formal look, barberry’s dense foliage can handle some shaping, but you’ll have to be mindful of the plant’s sharp little barbs. Fortunately cardinals and other birds don’t mind – you could find a nest or two hidden among those protective thorns.
Smokebush
For a really special addition to your landscape, try smokebush. It’s a large shrub – sometimes grown as a small tree even – with long petioles holding distinctive oval leaves in beautiful shades of coral, burgundy-purple, or chartreuse. After its open clusters of tiny flowers fade in the spring, the flower stalks continue to lengthen and later become covered in colorful hairs. The wispy plumes that result hover above the foliage like clouds of smoke – hence the name – and give smokebush its distinctive appearance.
Spirea
Spirea is tough enough to handle any weather or soil type, so it’s no wonder it’s a favorite for both residential and commercial landscapes. Spirea is as pretty as it is reliable too. On many of its cultivars, you’ll enjoy beautiful color changes throughout the season – like the foliage of ‘Gold Flame’ spirea, which emerges russet orange in the spring, blends to a golden-yellow in the summer, and ends a bronzed red in the fall. The leaves of spirea cultivars come in different shapes too. You’ll find rounded ovals like ‘Glow Girl,’ pointier shapes like ‘Gold Mound,’ and even very narrow foliage like ‘Mellow Yellow.’
Elderberry
If you’re looking for a shrub to add not only color but also distinctive texture to your sunny landscape, then you’ll love elderberry. Both cultivars in our collection – ‘Lemony Lace’ and ‘Black Lace’ feature deeply dissected foliage that gives them a fine-textured, almost fern-like appearance. Birds and landscapers alike love this shrub for its showy fruit too.
False Cypress, Spruce + Juniper
For warm color that extends even into the winter months, take a look at our assortment of glowing yellow evergreen shrubs. ‘Golden Mop’ false cypress is a low-growing evergreen with narrow, whip-like foliage that gives it a light, airy look. ‘Sea of Gold’ juniper has similar lacy foliage but in a more compact package. And you’ll find bright golden versions of spruce too – like ‘Firefly’ and ‘Skylands.’
Tips for Landscaping with Colorful Shrubs
Nursery Yard team leader Tom Anderson has a few tips for maximizing the color in these beautiful shrubs.
- Match the right plant with the right place. These shrubs tolerate all kinds of conditions, but the happiest shrubs produce the most color. For the best display, plant them in a spot with the sun, soil, and moisture they love most.
- Don’t forget green. Plant what you love, but keep in mind that a few classic green varieties gives the eye a place to rest and provides a backdrop for your brightly colored plants to shine. And as Tom says, with so many beautiful shades – from lime to blue or gray – green shrubs can create an interesting landscape all on their own too.
- Yellow evergreens like a little sunscreen. While most colorful shrubs thrive in full sun, golden evergreen varieties can sometimes burn if they get too much direct sunlight in the heat of the day. For the best results, plant them where they can get a little afternoon shade.
Bring on the Color
Who needs blooms when you’ve got colorful foliage like this? When you visit the Nursery Yard, it won’t be hard to spot our favorite brightly colored shrubs. In addition to these, we have gorgeous varieties of euonymous, daphne, deutzia, sumac, and even a sweet little ginkgo shrub too. Not sure which one to pick? Just talk with our team to find the perfect plants for your space – we’d love to help you create a landscape that pops with season-long color.
