4'H or Less Small Shrubs

All Summer Beauty is right! The large rounded clusters of pink, blue, or even purple flowers are born in spring as well as all summer as this Hydrangea produces flowers on new wood as well as old. Compact growth habit. Hydrangeas are easy to grow deciduous shrubs that prefer partly shaded areas of the garden with a rich, moist soil. Flower color is dependent on soil pH. Item# 9758.

The out of this world very large, up to 5" across, funnel shaped flowers can range from solid salmon, to randomly flecked and streaked with salmon and pink, to white with randomly flecked with pink and are produced in late spring. Astronaut Azalea, a.k.a. Holly Springs Astronaut, is a Satsuki hybrid developing into a 3' high mound of deep green, medium textured, evergreen foliage. It lends itself to bonsai culture but is sure to be a low-maintenance conversation piece in the garden and landscape. Azaleas do best in average moist, acidic soils that are rich in organic matter but have good to excellent drainage and should be top dressed with an organic mulch such as pine straw and pine bark. We recommend using a slow-release, non-burning fertilizer that is labeled for acidic loving plants. Azalea flowers attract a variety of pollinators including bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Item# 12796

One of the most amazing Hydrangea's as each flower petal is slightly cupped producing a much different effect as the large, long lasting flower clusters of deep blue or pink emerge in late spring. A must for any Hydrangea lover and a beautiful cut flower! Ayesha is truly one of our favorites! According to Dr. Michael Dirr it may also be sold under the names Silver Slipper and Uzu Ajisai. item # 9379.

Boasting bigger blue and more beautiful whorled clusters of nectar rich tubular flowers in tall wands that extend well above the gray-green foliage and last for weeks in summer. Blue Empire™ Bluebeard or Caryopteris was selected for its noticeably larger and longer lasting clusters of flowers as well as for its nicely compact habit further highlighting the tall candles of flower clusters. In zones 5-6 Bluebeard tends to act more like a clump forming die-back perennial and becomes more shrub-like where winters are milder, although, it benefits from hard late winter or early spring pruning since it flowers on new growth. Somewhat drought resistant once well-established and prefers a sunny site in a well-drained soil for optimum vigor and flowering. Images courtesy of North Creek Nurseries, all rights reserved. Item# 12248

The widely flaring deep blue-purple fan shaped flowers open from tubular buds, and are very reminiscent of Scaevola or Half-Flower, open singly and in clusters held at the growing tips as well as in the leaf axils attracting bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. The 5-lobed flowers of Blue-Lips, Sclerochiton harveyanus, are produced most heavily throughout the warmer months of the year. This is a shade tolerant naturally spreading to scandent (vine-like) evergreen tropical shrub with rounded, glossy deep green foliage. Blue-Lips is considered to be frost resistant but not freeze tolerant and it is easily maintained as a shrub form for containers, including hanging baskets, in and around larger growing shade-loving tropicals in the garden as well as on a shaded porch or patio. Provide it with an average moist, acidic to neutral, well-drained soil in a site that receives at least some cool morning sunlight or filtered sunlight for optimum vigor and flowering. Item# 12268

Unusual fuchsia colored flowers with exerted purple stamens and pistil are produced throughout the year attracting hummingbirds along with occasional butterflies. Brazilian Candles, Pavonia multiflora, is an exceptionally free flowering, naturally evergreen tropical shrub with an upright to vase shaped growth habit and glossy dark green textured foliage. Provide a well-drained, average moist, fertile soil for optimum vigor and flowering. This rare tropical shrub is sure to be a conversation piece! Item # 544

Masses of 2" wide upward facing intensely fragrant flowers are composed of two neat rows of white petals that surround the golden anthers are produced in late spring or early summer. Buttons Gardenia develops into a densely branched small rounded evergreen shrub growing to about 1-1/2' high and wide. You can use this "cute as a button" Gardenia in a sunny garden or landscape but it is also small enough to be grown as a container plant. Gardenias will do best in a well-draining, moderately fertile to rich, acidic soil in a full to mostly sunny site. Image courtesy of Star Roses and Plants, Inc., all rights reserved. Item# 11948

An Earth-Kind® Rose selection, an RHS Award of Garden Merit Winner, and was inducted into the Old Rose Hall of Fame in 1988. It produces clusters of medium to light pink, fragrant, high centered, perfectly formed, tea-rose shaped buds that open to the typical strappy, 2" wide pom-pom like flower typical of the Polyanthas and flowers throughout the growing season. Cècile Brünner Rose, a.k.a. Mme. Cècile Brünner and The Sweetheart Rose, is a moderately vigorous heirloom garden rose maturing to about 3-4' high and wide. Provide a full to mostly sunny site in an average moist, fertile soil with average or better drainage for optimum vigor and flowering. It was developed in 1881 by Joseph Pernet-Ducher and is still highly popular 150 years later. The sweet pink buds are almost perfect for boutonnières and have a nice typical rose fragrance. Item# 12832

A dwarf Loropetalum! The deep burgundy, purple, to near black foliage is accented by frilly bright cerise pink flowers in spring flowering a few weeks later than most Loropetalums and are so the flowers are less likely to get burned by a late freeze or frost. Cerise Charm™ Loropetalum, a.k.a Chinese Witch Hazel, is a new dwarf and compact selection that naturally develops into a dense rounded mound of dark foliage making this a great low-maintenance choice for small hedges, as accent plants, and even as a container specimens. Chinese Witch Hazel has few pests or disease problems when grown in an average to well-drained, acidic to neutral soil with average fertility in a full sun to partly shaded site. Images courtesy of Star Roses and Plants®, Inc., all rights reserved. Item# 12747

Masses of beautiful soft orange, 2" Camellia-like blossoms adorn this Quince in late-winter and early spring. Flowering Quince are easy to grow and long-lived deciduous shrubs with good drought tolerance once established. Cut stems of quince with well developed flower buds that are showing color can be brought indoors as cut flowers. Prune after flowering as Quince flower on old wood. Item# 9811.

Loose clusters of sweetly fragrant white, star shaped blooms are born in mass in late spring and early summer on this vigorous and durable evergreen twining climber. Well established plants can provide intermittent flowering through summer. An excellent choice for arbors. Can be grown as a deep dense groundcover. Item # 10364.

The stiff ferny fronds are adorned with numerous thick leathery medium to deep green leaflets often with a bronze tinge and emerge from what becomes an underground trunk. The Coontie, Zamia integrifolia (a.k.a Z. pumila), is a small tough southeastern native Cycad that eventually develops an underground trunk that will branch with age creating a dense 24-36" high cover of the soft to medium textured fronds. It is resistant to drought, tolerates high heat and humidity, sun or shade, and is a very low maintainence addition to the landscape. In areas that experience hard freezes, like zone 8, the foliage may freeze back but a new flush readily returns in spring. Makes an easy bonsai and a low maintenance container plant. Item# 12729

A 2012 American Rhododendron Society Rhododendron of the Year award winner! The glowing clear red flowers of Coronado Red Evergreen Azalea are produced in spring and again in fall on this compact growing, rounded, small evergreen shrub which matures to about 3-4' high and wide. Azaleas do best in average moist, acidic soils that are rich in organic matter but have good to excellent drainage and should be top dressed with an organic mulch such as pine straw and pine bark. We recommend using a slow-release, non-burning fertilizer that is labeled for acidic loving plants. Item# 10203

Crushed Coral Mamou Bean produces tall spikes of dark coral pink, 2-3" tubular flowers in late spring and early summer atop sturdy stems that are held well above the foliage of this tough native perennial. The Mamou Bean is a drought tolerant and hardy shrublet that freezes back to the ground to return in spring. The flowers are followed by dark colored bean pods that split open to display their brilliant red-orange beans that can remain on the plant all winter. Excellent for Hummingbirds. Crushed Coral Mamou Bean is an Almost Eden exclusive introduction. Caterpillar host: Holly Blue. Item# 10751

Sweetly fragrant, 2" wide, white star-like single flowers, pinwheel-style, are borne in large clusters atop the dark green compact foliage and stems. A dwarf to semi-dwarf Gardenia, Daisy has a naturally vase shaped to rounded habit. It responds well to shaping, therefore making it a full bushy shrub or small tree for containers or beds. Item# 980

Dense whorls of nectar rich, purple to dark blue-purple, tubular flowers seemingly cover up the upper most portions of the plant for weeks beginning in mid to late summer and continuing into fall. Dark Knight Bluebeard, a.k.a. Black Knight, is a vigorous and easy sunloving free-flowering clump forming shrub-like perennial that quickly develops into a dense mound of fragrant and deer resistant gray-green foliage. In zones 5-6 it tends to act more like a clump forming die-back perennial and becomes more shrub-like where winters are milder although it benefits from hard late winter or early spring pruning since it flowers on new growth. Somewhat drought resistant once well-established and prefers a sunny site in a well-drained soil for optimum vigor and flowering. Item# 12117

Ducher is considered by many to be the only white China rose. The ivory to white, fragrant, double flowers are produced from spring through fall and are held against soft green foliage. With a more diminutive and refined habit than many China roses, Ducher is small enough for containers or in the garden. Ducher was selected as an Earthkind rose through the Texas AgriLife Extension service. Item# 9709.

Masses of 1/2-3/4" diameter, pom pom-like flowers in various shades of pink, ranging deep rose to near white, seemingly cover up the bare late winter or early spring stems. The Dwarf Pink Double Flowering Almond, Prunus glandulosa 'Rosea Plena', is a small, heirloom, deciduous suckering shrub requiring little care or maintenance in informal garden and landscape settings where it can be allowed to wend its way beneath and around larger plants effectively fading into the background once in leaf. Stems with plump buds showing color can be cut and brought indoors to enjoy on those cool late winter days. The Dwarf Flowering Almond prefers a fertile, average moist, well-drained soil and a full sun to partly shaded site. Item# 400