It's almost guaranteed that there are a few areas of your landscape that spend most of their time in the shade or partially shaded areas. Due to this, many homeowners leave shaded areas bare. However, some shrubs thrive in partial sun, and many of these shrubs bloom beautiful, colorful flowers once or twice a year! Below are recommendations from our experts on shrubs that can help liven up those areas of your landscape. Ask your local nursery expert the best shrubs to plant for your area to create the perfect yard.
If you're looking for a shrub that will turn heads, the Foxtail Fern is an excellent choice. Though it may look delicate, the Foxtail Fern is a very durable shrub. It produces blooms of white flowers on sprawling cone-shaped branches that grow slightly upright. The Foxtail Fern is often used around rocks and borders as a contrast. They can also be grown in containers and hanging baskets to add unique texture in any spot of your landscape.
Sought out for its dark-green, oval-shaped leaves and large amounts of white flowers, the Asian Jasmine is a versatile shrub that has many landscape applications. Depending on the need for your landscape, the Asian Jasmine can be used as ground cover, put in a raised planter, or to hide unsightly walls. It blooms massive amounts of flowers in late spring to early summer that give off a very fragrant smell.
Known for its exquisite sky blue flowers, the Plumbago is a sprawling vine-like evergreen shrub that thrives in the heat while having many landscape applications like the Asian Jasmine. It blooms tubular shaped flowers in clusters from March to December with the majority of flowers blooming in late summer to early fall. It is best used as a background accent so the blue color of the flowers jump out.
This hardy flowering shrub has many landscape applications and comes in different colors such as bright purple, deep red, bright white and rich pink. It tends to prefer the shade and can be used to define a border and add a splash of color to a bed. It can also grow in pots and looks absolutely fantastic when planted under a tree. The Azalea blooms in early spring, and sometimes up to three times a year!
This tall, striking tropical plant thrives in our climate and is an excellent addition to any tropical landscape. It produces large elongated dark-green leaves that can grow to four feet long on multi-stems that form dense clumps. The Tropical Bird of Paradise blooms in the spring and can be planted in pots or raised planters.