Shrubs That Bloom the Longest

I am so tired of having shrubs like St. John's Wort and Virginia Sweetspire bloom for 2 weeks and then nothing. What are some shrubs that bloom most of the summer? The only one I can think of the the Rose of Sharon. I have 3 major shrubs that are coming out this fall.

I rather like the long blooming season of Abelia x grandiflora. It's not a flush of blooms but it sparadically blooms all summer to first frost. There are a number of cultivars, they can be semi-evergreen.

We had those growing up. I remember that they were always covered in bees. That's definitely something to consider. Thanks.

Hydrangeas mophead is out sporadically all summer
Weigelia's.... well a good first flush, prune & a second later & smaller flush... Not as long as hydrangea
I need to look up abelia... I agree about the short blooms. So I like to buy for the leaf/foliage. variegated/dark or lacy.... especially lacy.
There is a new elderberry for next year. sambucus... 'Black lace' very nice.
Ab

Wow! That Black Lace is amazing! It would look stunning beside the lime green leaved hydrangea (what is the name of that one?). Also, beside H. Limelight, too. If Wayside sells it, it'll be an arm and a leg, I'll bet. Maybe another nursery will have it, too.

And then boom! in 2 years it will be everywhere! I don't know how many plants I've run into like that.
But oooh next to the Limelight... great!

thanks for the heads up on 'black lace'! I'm always on the lookout for dark foliaged plants, I think they make a nice contrast with ornamental grasses which I'm also wild about!

How about some of the continuous blooming roses? We have 3 and are almost never without blooms on each of them. Then there are the hardy hibiscus, but they don't bloom until later in the summer.

Don't hold me in suspense - which roses? My mom says that Nearly Wild bloom the longest for her. Are those yours?

How about potentilla. They seem to have flowers all year. Wiegela have a longish bloom and tend to rebloom later in the summer.

I've never heard of potentilla before. I just looked them up and they're really pretty. Unfortunately for me, they don't do well in a zone higher than 7, and I'm an 8 (I think we've been re-classified).

pins, I'm in Zone 8b and we've got tons of potentilla and it's used as a solid utility shrub. I've never seen it have problems other than when it's run over in parking lot plantings.

Then there's always Buddleia- Butterfly Bush.

Although not a shurb, I have to mention Agastache. It blooms from June to frost, and is prefered by butterflies over absolutely any other butterly plant in our gardens. Awesome.

Peter

Watch out with buddleia athough - I dug mine out 'cause they self seeded everywhere!
Scared me when I found a seedling well over 100' feet from the moma plant.

I love the wine & roses weigelia for its folliage & flowers. Same with abelia grandiflora,
though it leaves out so late in the spring, I thought it didn't survive my winters a couple of times.
Oak leave hyrangea's are nice - pretty blooms are held a long time and the folliage is a gorgeous
burgundy red in fall. And for roses - if you've got a bigger spot, try rosa rugosa. They are old
fashioned but the folliage is crisp and clean (no problems with blackspot) and they bloom early
in the spring. I have one underplanted with diathus that match in color perfectly - both bloom
in mid-late May.

Tam

I'm a little late, however I thought I would share how happy I've been with Cleodendrums . I was so happy with the butterfly flower cleodendrum, that I've purchased two more cleodendruns of different variety. I think they're considered shrubs- They look like a shrub, act like a shrub...One I bought yesterday I lack the name at present because I'm at work, but it has beautiful variegated green and white leaves. My experience is they started blooming in march - and it's OCT and they're still going.!

Here is a link to plant files - I apologize if they don't fall into the shrub category- but they sure are bloomers.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/search.php?search_text=Clerodendrum

picture of mine. They like cool weather, it was thought that they would not grow in Texas, but they seem to be vigorous most of the year round.
http://davesgarden.com/mail/pmailpic.php?pid=282830

Rj

This message was edited Oct 8, 2005 6:40 PM