Tall Shrubs

• Tall shrubs can be used as accent plants, as privacy screens or as background foliage for other plantings. Sky pencil (Ilex crenata ) is a Japanese holly that can grow to 10 feet while remaining only 2 1/2 to 3 feet wide. This low-maintenance evergreen needs moist, well-drained soil in sun or shade and is hardy in zones 5 to 9. The chenille plant (Acalypha hispida) grows 6 to 12 feet high and spreads to 3 to 6 feet wide. This evergreen produces long, fluffy tassel-like purple or bright red flowers. The chenille plant thrives in full sun to partial shade and high humidity in zones 10-12. Chinese hibiscus, (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis) is an evergreen in the southern part of Florida, but deciduous in colder areas. At 6 to 8 feet tall, it is a good informal screen, foundation plant or background.
  
  

Hedges and Foundation Plants

• Hedges and foundation plants can complement your house, set off a garden bed or provide a visual boundary for your yard. Chenault viburnum (Viburnum x burkwoodii' Chenaultii) has dark green foliage and fragrant clusters of white flowers in late April and early May. This deciduous shrub can grow to 10 feet high, but can easily be pruned to form a hedge. It is hardy in zones 4 to 8. Laurel-leaf cocculus (Cocculus laurifolius) is an evergreen shrub that grows rapidly up to 12 feet high and is hardy in zones 9 to 11. Japanese yew (Podocarpus macrophyllus) is hardy in zones 8 to 11. It is easily pruned to a hedge 4 to 10 feet high. This is a dense conifer that bears berry-line cones and does best in full sun.
  
  

Spetacular Flowering Shrubs

• The pagoda flower (Clerodendrum Paniculata Firefly) bears huge pyramid-shaped clusters of scarlet or orange-red blossoms and has large evergreen leaves up to 12 inches wide. The pagoda flower is hardy in Zones 8-10. It grows to a height of 3 to 5 feet, spreading 2 to 3 feet. Orange Delight Japanese flowering quince (Chaenomeles japonica) has showy orange and red flowers It is deciduous shrub that grows to a height of 1 to 2 1/2 feet and a width of 2 1/2 feet. Its hard, tart, pear-like fruit can be be made into jelly. This shrub does well in dry, sunny climates, is drought-tolerant and is hardy in Zones 4 to 10.
  
  

Special Purpose Shrubs

• Certain shrubs can attract butterflies and bees to fill your garden with life. Butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii) grows to 6 to 12 feet and spreads up to 15 feet. With its narrow gray-green leaves and prolific, tiny, purple, white, pink, or red cone-shaped, flowers on long stalks. Prune butterfly bush aggressively to get more and larger flowers. Hardy in zones 5 to 10, butterfly bush requires full to part sun well-drained soil and. Button bush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) is an evergreen shrub that can grow to 15 feet. It has dark green leaves 3 to 6 inches long and sphere-shaped white flowers about from June to August. Bumble bees and golden northern bumble bees feed on the button bush.