Low Shrubs (to 4 feet high)

A compact and heavily flowering Mophead Hydrangea, the sterile florets of Akadama™ Hydrangea open deep pink in alkaline or neutral soils and a deep purple in acidic soils that contain Aluminum ions and darken as they age (click the "More Details and Growing Info" link or the image to learn more about Hydrangea flower color in relation to soil pH and Aluminum availibility). This is a compact growing Bigleaf Hydrangea with deep green disease resistant foliage that deepens into shades of purple during cool fall or spring weather.  Akadama™ Hydrangea's dense well-branching compact size lend it to use as a container plant as well as in gardens and landscapes of all sizes. As with other Bigleaf Hydrangeas provide Akadama with a moist, well-drained soil in an area that receives morning sun and shade during the hottest portion of the day. Images courtesy of Star® Roses and Plants, all rights reserved. Item# 12160

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.

Deep yellow is widely splashed across and along the edges of the rich green tropical foliage of this upright to semi-vine like evergreen shrub. Excellent for the shade garden or indoors.  Item # 421

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.

Deep orangey-red, up to 2" wide, mimosa-like blossoms are produced nearly every month of the year when grown under frost free conditions. The brilliantly colored flowers of the Baja Fairy Duster are rich with nectar and pollen attracting hummingbirds, bees, and other pollinators. It is reported that fairies like them too! The deep blue-green finely textured, nearly fern-like foliage is touch sensitive like the sensitive briar, if not quite as fast, and this one has no thorns. Considered to be one of the most cold hardy Powderpuffs, the Baja Fairy Duster develops into an informal fountaining shrub once mature that is nearly twice as wide as high. Moderately drought resistant once well established. This dwarf Powderpuff also makes a low maintenance container plant. Item# 838.

Blaumeise is considered by many to be one of the best of the Lacecap Hydrangeas producing very large flower clusters that are surrounded by some of the most deeply colored and themselves very large, showy sterile florets. In acidic soils the flowers are a deep royal blue and in alkaline soils the flowers are a dark rosy red. The foliage is large and shiny and is held on stout sturdy stems. The only drawback for this amazing Hydrangea cultivar is that it has limited cold hardiness and is will probably be best grown in zones 8 and warmer. An eastern or partially shaded southern exposure might be optimum even then. Item# 10731.

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

The most dwarf Panicle Hydrangea yet but with big summer to fall color! Bobo® Panicle Hydrangea covers itself in large dense conicle clusters of pure white flowers that age to pink perched atop strong sturdy stems. This compact, 3'H x 4'W deciduous shrub is perfectly sized for medium-large containers as well as an accent,  low informal hedge, and even tucked into a perennial garden as well as in the landscape. Easy, cold hardy, and reliable summer-long flower power. This Proven Winners® Color Choice® selection will prefer full sun in cooler climates to afternoon shade in hot summer climates and an average moist to moist, well-drained, fertile soil. Selected as the Top Consumer Hydrangea by the University of Guelph in 2020. Photo courtesy of Proven Winners® -  www.provenwinners.com, all rights reserved. Item# 12917

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. Images courtesy of Star Roses and Plants, Inc., all rights reserved. Item# 11948

The orange-eyed, nectar rich, fragrant flowers open magenta and darken into purple shades as they age and are produced in dense conical spikes from spring to fall held against a foil of rich gray-green foliage on compact plants. Buzz™ Velvet Butterfly Bush or Buddleia was selected for its slightly smaller densely branching compact stature as well as its exceptional flower power and full-sized flower spikes. The Buzz series of Butterfly Bushes are small enough to be enjoyed as fragrant patio container plants where they can draw pollinators in close as well as in the garden and landscape. Provide a full to mostly sunny location in a well-drained average moist soil for optimum vigor and flowering. Photo courtesy of Plant Haven International, all rights reserved. Item# 12402

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

Big deep cherry red florets surround the smaller pink star shaped fertile flowers of this exceptionally cold hardy Hydrangea when grown in alkaline soils. In acid soils the colors tend toward lavender or purple hues. Cherry Explosion™ Hydrangea flowers on new wood and on seemingly every stem and thus extending its range into zone 4. Fall color ranges into deep burgundy on this compact naturally rounded growing Hydrangea. An exciting new introduction from McKay Nursery Company and Star Roses. Image courtesy of Star Roses, all rights reserved. Item# 11120

A very tiny azalea, with 1/4" long deep green rounded foliage and 1-2'' bright pink flowers in late spring. An excellent choice for bonsai. Item # 9505.

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.

The 6" long conical panicles are composed of numerous fragrant deep magenta colored flowers that attract pollinators of all shapes and sizes throughout summer and into fall. Chrysalis™ Cranberry Butterfly Bush is a deciduous to semi-evergreen petite shrub with medium green to gray-green foliage and a densely branching, compact habit that matures to about 2'H x 2-3'W. The Chrysalis™ Buddleja series were selected for their excellent flower power, a compact size but with good vigor - making them an easy choice for containers, as well as zone 5 root hardiness. The nectar rich flowers attract butterflies, bees, hummingbirds, and other garden beneficals. Provide a well-drained soil in a full to mostly sunny site for optimum vigor and flowering. Images courtesy of Ball Horticulture, Inc., all rights reserved. Item# 12838