27 hardy flowering shrubs for the sunny location

Forsythia (Forsythia x intermedia ‘Lynwood Gold’)
The hardy forsythia is a classic among the early flowering, hardy shrubs. It grows broadly upright, later overhanging and is profuse. This early bloomer reaches heights of up to 300 cm. From April to May it is covered with golden yellow, bell-shaped flowers. Its leaves turn bright yellow in autumn. It grows in sunny and partially shaded places.

Almond
tree (Prunus triloba) The early flowering almond tree grows as a densely branched, undemanding shrub with heights of up to 200 cm. Its pretty, double, delicate pink flowers usually appear before the leaves shoot from April to May. The flowers are particularly profuse in a sunny spot. The oval leaves are dark green and are shed in autumn.

Common hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna)
This large hardy shrub is often used as a hedge plant because of its dense and impenetrable growth. It is strongly scented and can reach heights of between 200 and 500 cm. It presents the simple, white and umbel-shaped flowers from May to June. The foliage is dark green, turning yellow towards autumn.

Fragrant farmer’s jasmine (Philadelphus coronarius)
The up to 300 cm high farmer’s jasmine is highly valued thanks to its fragrant individual flowers. They show up from May to June and form a striking contrast to the green foliage. The hardy and richly flowering shrub initially grows upright and laterally overhanging when old. It feels equally at home in sunny and partially shaded locations.

Kolkwitzia mother-of-pearl shrub (Kolkwitzia amabilis)
With its overhanging, dissolute growth, the Kolkwizie sets unusual accents during flowering. The simple, pink to white, umbel-shaped and sweetly scented flowers appear from May to June. These plants, which are up to 350 cm high, are deciduous and can withstand periods of drought without any problems.

Real rock pear (Amelanchier rotundifolia)
The rock pear presents itself from April to May in an abundance of pure white flowers. It grows upright at first, later overhanging, with heights between 150 and 300 cm and thrives in sunny and partially shaded locations. After flowering, it develops black edible berries. In autumn it impresses with its attractive leaf color.

Frühlings-Tamariske (Tamarix parviflora)

• Large shrub grows quickly, loosely spreading and broadly bushy
• Forms slightly overhanging shoots
• Grows in sunny and partially shaded locations
• Reaches heights of 200 to 500 cm
• Makes innumerable small, pink flowers
• Flowering time from May to June
• The needle-like leaves are also decorative
• Bark initially dark to red-brown, in winter almost black

Ivory gorse (Cytisus praecox Allgold)
Ivory gorse is a small shrub with a height of up to 150 cm. It sheds foliage, grows bushy and loose, with many shoots, some of which overhang to the ground. Its golden yellow flowers are most abundant in full sun. They show up from May to June and give off an intense scent.

Mountain Laurel Carousel (Kalmia latifolia Carousel)
This slowly growing Kalmia is only 150 cm high. It is evergreen with an upright, broad, bushy habit. From May to June they show their full splendor when the rosy-white buds transform into beautiful star-shaped flowers and reveal a color combination of pinkish red and white. They form a nice contrast to the dark green laurel-like foliage.

Red-leaved Weigelia (Weigela florida Purpurea)
This weigela catches the eye with its dark pink flowers. This shows up from the end of May to June. This leaf-shedding small shrub grows bushy and overhanging with heights of up to 150 cm. The leaves are initially brown-red, later a little green and stay on the shrub for a long time in autumn.

Pink star magnolia ‘Rosea’ (Magnolia stellata)
This ornamental wood is one of the most beautiful, early flowering shrubs. This is not least due to the delicate pink, star-shaped flowers that appear before the leaves shoot at the beginning of April. The star magnolia grows upright, densely branched, with a stature height of up to 300 cm. It is the perfect specimen plant for sunny and partially shaded locations.

Euonymus europaeus (Euonymus europaeus)
This native wild wood grows stiffly upright at first and broadly spreading to overhanging when old. The yellowish-green to greenish-white flowers are rather inconspicuous. The yellow-orange to dark-red autumn leaves and, from August to October, the pink-red berries with the orange-colored seeds are all the more beautiful.

Australian bush mint (Prostanthera cuneata)
The bush mint is a compact and slow-growing, overhanging, evergreen shrub with heights of 80 to 100 cm. The leaves are medium to dark green and have a very aromatic scent all year round. The pure white, slightly purple-tinged flowers appear from May to June.

Flowering in summer

Love pearl bush / beautiful fruit (Callicarpa bodinieri Profusion)

• The highlight are the pearl-looking fruits
• Shrub rather inconspicuous until September
• Fascinated in autumn / winter, with a variety of fruits
• They are the size of a peppercorn, shiny and purple in color
• The purple flowers are also pretty to look at
• Flowering period from July to August
• Reaches heights of growth between 200 and 300 cm

Bearded Blue Sparrow (R) (Caryopteris clandonensis)
The bearded flower grows as a compact, well-branched subshrub with heights of 60 to 70 cm. The special thing about this plant are the aromatic scented leaves, but above all the deep dark blue flowers. Flowering time is from the end of July to October.

Scented Jasmine Erectus (Philadelphus Erectus)
From June to July, the flowers of this slender shrub that overhangs with age give off an intense scent. The simple white flowers cover the entire shrub and set wonderful accents with the green foliage. The jasmine can grow up to 200 cm in height.

Pheasant Spear Summer Wine (R) (Physocarpus opulifolius)
This flowering wood initially impresses with its dark wine-red, finely lobed leaves, which turn brown-red in autumn and of course with its white to pinkish-white flower umbels. They appear from June to July. The stature height is 50-150 cm.

Wig bush Smokey Joe (R) (Cotinus coggygria)
This ornamental wood, which is up to 200 cm high, owes its name to the filigree inflorescences that form on this year’s wood. From July to August the plant is covered with dark pink flowers, from which the wig-like seed heads later develop. In autumn, the leaves are strikingly colored in different shades of yellow and red.

Butterfly bush ‘Royal Red’ (Buddleja davidii)
With its shrub-like growth and purple-red flower panicles, ‘Royal Red’ is one of the most beautiful red-flowering varieties. The panicle-shaped flowers adorn the shrub from July to early October. It grows upright with loosely overhanging branches and up to 300 cm in height. The flowers are most abundant in sunny locations.

Panicle hydrangea ‘Grandiflora’ (Hydrangea paniculata)
Panicle hydrangea is one of the most popular flowering shrubs in the garden. The greatest ornament of this variety are the large creamy white flower panicles that adorn the plant from July to September. As they fade, they turn pink. This shrub grows up to 250 cm in height and is upright and loosely branched.

Double asterisk shrub (Deutzia scabra ‘Plena’)

• Flowering shrub stands out due to its growth and bloom
• Upright growth, overhanging when in bloom
• Flowering time is from May to June
• A special feature are the flowers, which are up to 12 cm long
• White panicles of flowers, slightly pink on the outside
• Form a nice contrast to the dark green foliage
• Star shrub grows dense, loose and upright
• Reaches heights of between 250 and 350 cm

Flowering time in winter

Winter jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum)
This early flowering winter jasmine is a broad-growing, sometimes climbing evergreen shrub with overhanging, prostrate branches that take root when they come into contact with the ground. It reaches heights of growth of around 200 cm. The bright yellow flowers appear from December to March.

Bodnant-Winterschneeball ‚Dawn‘ (Viburnum x bodnantense)

• Bodnant winter snowball grows slowly and arches overhanging
• Reaches heights of up to 300 cm
• At a young age it grew stiffly upright and densely branched
• More densely bushy over the years
• Attractiveness from November to mid-April at its peak
• Then the panicle-shaped, whitish-pink flowers appear
• From October foliage appears in the most beautiful red and dark purple hues

Laurel viburnum ‘Gwenllian’ (Viburnum tinus)
The broad, upright and compact growing, hardy, early flowering laurel viburnum is one of the small, evergreen shrubs with heights of up to 150 cm. This piece of jewelery shines with an exceptionally long flowering period from November to April. Then it shows its white to pink, umbel-shaped, fragrant inflorescences, which form beautiful contrasts with the green foliage. From August it forms small, decorative, steel-blue to black fruits.

Chinese winter blossoms (Chimonanthus praecox)
The Chinese winter blossoms exude an intense and very pleasant vanilla scent from March, sometimes even from December to March. This comes from the bell-like, waxy appearing, light yellow flowers with a purple center. This shrub grows sparsely branched and reaches heights of 200 to 300 cm.

Witch hazel, Hamamelis ‘
The witch hazel is rightly regarded as the Queen of the winter bloomer’ denotes. Its trademarks are the unusual yellow, orange or red flowers and the long flowering period, from December to March. In addition, many varieties give off a pleasant scent. It can be between 200 and 400 cm high. When the temperature is very cold, the petals roll up and open again when the temperature rises.

Winter cherry ‘Autumnalis’ (Prunus subhirtella)
The Japanese flowering cherry is a medium-high ornamental cherry. A special feature is its unusual flowering time from November to May. While the closed buds are pink, the open flowers are light pink to white. Another highlight is the foliage, when it presents itself in splendid orange and yellow tones in autumn. Depending on whether this ornamental cherry is cultivated as a shrub or tree, it reaches heights of growth of 350 to 500 cm.

Conclusion
Blooming, hardy shrubs are indispensable in garden design. They bring color to the garden in every season of the year, even in winter, and impress with special growth shapes and heights, different flower colors and shapes and sometimes even with magical scents. In addition, they can be combined well with evergreen plants and with each other.