Even though summer is full of flowers, sometimes we just want more! If you’ve felt this itch, it’s time to consider adding some reblooming or continuously flowering shrubs. Here are our six favorite shrubs for getting a little extra goodness in your garden for the summer.
But first, what’s the difference between reblooming and continuous blooming?
Reblooming – flowers come first from last year’s growth and next on on new growth
Continuous – repeated flowering on new growth
Butterfly Bush
The king of easy care color. Over the span of a couple of months, a butterfly bush fills with tons of brightly colored, lightly fragrant blooms. Attractive to pollinators of all kinds – bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds! And best yet? All of our butterfly bushes continuously bloom without deadheading.
Each series:
Lo & Behold®
‘Miss’
Pugster® (pictured – Pugster Blue®)
Mountain Hydrangea
This delicate looking, lacy hydrangea is extremely cold hardy. Yes, really! All of our mountain hydrangeas are reliably hardy down to zone five, and don’t need to be covered like their relative, the bigleaf hydrangea. They rebloom, so even if you had a rough winter you should still get flowers!
The Tuff Stuff series:
Tuff Stuff Ah-Ha® (pictured)
Tuff Stuff™
Tuff Stuff™ Red
Tiny Tuff Stuff™
Rose
Elegant blooms from early summer into fall*! If a rose fits your style, you’ll love having old fashioned beauty with modern performance.
Meet our continuously blooming roses:
At Last®
Oso Easy Double Red®
Oso Easy® Double Pink
Oso Easy Hot Paprika®
Oso Easy Italian Ice®
Oso Easy Peasy®
Reminiscent series
Suñorita® (pictured)
Spirea
The checklist plant. Think of something you’d like from a flowering shrub and Double Play Doozie® spirea probably does it.
– Months of flowers (late spring into fall).
– No deadheading to promote continuous blooming.
– Attracts a wide range of pollinators.
– Great cut flower, works well when you cut-and-come-again.
– Colorful foliage (in spring, new growth in summer, and in fall).
– Naturally has a tidy, rounded habit with no pruning to shape.
– Drought tolerant and deer resistant.
Smooth Hydrangea
Where big, impactful blooms and an extended flower show meet. Get an impressive flush of hand-sized flowers in mid-summer and add a layer of complexity later on with fresh new flowers with:
Incrediball® Blush
Invincibelle Garnetta®
Invincibelle Limetta®
Invincibelle Mini Mauvette®
Invincibelle® Ruby
Invincibelle® Spirit II
Invincibelle Wee White® (pictured)
Sweetshrub
Sweetshrubs like Simply Scentsational® (pictured) add an element of unexpected elegance to the garden for months. Actual months! Its flowers look like a combination of a magnolia and a colorful tropical plant, but it’s much easier going than all of that.
– Large habit makes a great hedge or screen planting.
– Fast growing.
– Great cut flower, works well as a cut-and-come-again.
– Strangely delightful fragrance.
– On ‘Aphrodite’ you’ll get a lush, tropical look with massive leaves.
Don’t settle for a couple weeks of color when you can have a continuous flow of beauty! If you’d like to see these flowering shrubs in the garden, check out our video featuring them.
* Roses may take a break from flowering when it gets really hot, but the blooms will roar back as soon as conditions improve.
