“The world’s favorite season is the spring. All things seem possible in May.” Edwin Way Teale. “Be like a flower and turn your face to the sun.” Kahlil Gibran. “Spring rain leaking through the roof dripping from the wasps’ nest.” Matsuo Basho. “Sweet spring, full of sweet days and roses. A box where sweets compacted lie.” George Herbert.

April is gone! May is here! April showers bring May flowers! Welcome May!!! This year’s springtime has been and will continue to be most challenging with social distancing, wearing masks, and carefully moving around in the community as we go to the grocery store and make other necessary stops. We find ourselves in a different environment and adjusting to a new norm. So, fix a cup of hot tea or coffee, find a comfortable spot in your landscape, and simply relax in nature as the local wildlife orchestrates a presentation like no other.

The trees are leafed out, flowers are everywhere, birds are singing, and squirrels and rabbits abound. Bees are buzzing, an occasional hawk or eagle soars above, a deer stops to listen, a turkey’s gobble can be heard, and a fox trots across the way. May is so very colorful and natural! And with these amenities, our interest in growing our landscape continues. 

Summer-flowering shrubs certainly have an influence on color and curb appeal in our landscapes. Selecting the right plant and placing it in the right place are very critical in the survival and success of your plantings. Make your selections based upon the cultural and micro-environmental requirements of the plants, as well as personal choices. The following summer flowering shrubs offer curb appeal throughout our landscapes.

Bluebeard Shrub (Caryopteris spp.) exhibits clusters of attractive blue blooms in late summer and is heat and drought tolerant. Often called blue mist spirea, bluebeard is not a true spirea. This low maintenance shrub attracts birds, butterflies, and bees. Reaching a height of 4-feet, it prefers full sun and well-drained soils. ‘Longwood Blue’ is a cultivar whose leaves smell of mint. 

Butterfly Bush (Buddleia davidii) is a summer to fall flowering shrub offering fragrant blooms of purple, lavender, blue, pink, and white colors.  Reaching a height of 10-feet, it prefers full sun and well-drained soils. Common cultivars greater than 6-feet tall are ‘Attraction’, ‘Bicolor’, ‘Black Knight’, ‘Dartmoor’, ‘Guinevere’, ‘Honeycomb’, and ‘Lochinch’. Cultivars shorter than 6-feet include ‘Ellen’s Blue’, ‘Nanho Blue’, ‘Summer Beauty’, and ‘White Ball’.

Carolina Allspice (Calycanthus floridus) brings attractive deep red flowers with a spicy fragrance to the landscape garden in the summer. Reaching a height of 8-feet, this low maintenance plant prefers full sun to partial shade and well-drained soils.

Reblooming Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla) is a hydrangea that produces flowers on current season’s growth throughout the summer. ‘Endless Summer’ is an awesome cultivar. Reaching a height of 5-feet, it prefers part shade and moist, well-drained soils.

Rock Rose (Cistus spp.) produces attractive rose-like flowers (pink, purple, lavender, and white) throughout the summer months. The rock rose is drought tolerant and easy to grow. Reaching a height of 5-feet, it prefers full sun and well-drained soils. 

Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus) was one of my mom’s most favorite plants. It provides color throughout the summer and into the fall with its tropical-looking blooms in pink, lavender-blue, and white. ‘Minerva’ is a sterile variety and does not produce the excessive seedlings (which can become weedy) so characteristic of the regular varieties. Reaching a height of 10-feet, it prefers full sun and well-drained soils.

Shrub Rose (Rosa spp.) exhibits attractive blooms (yellow, pink, red and white) all summer and into the fall on vegetative stock that is disease tolerant. Shrub roses take the best qualities of the hardiest rose species, and combine those traits with modern repeat blooming and diverse flower forms, colors and fragrances. Some shrub roses may grow tall while others stay compact. Recent rose breeding has focused on developing hardier shrub roses for landscaping that need little to no maintenance. These plants have thorns so plant them away from traffic flow situations for people-safety reasons. Reaching a height of 6-feet, the shrub rose prefers full sun and well-drained soils, and attracts birds. Cultivars such as ‘Ballerina’, ‘Blanc Double de Coubert’, ‘Bonica’, ‘Carefree Beauty’, ‘Carefree Wonder’, ‘DayDream’, ‘Hansa’, ‘Home Run’, John Cabot’, ‘Knock Out’, ‘Little Mischief’, ‘Pinktopia’, ‘Snowdrift’, ‘Sunrise’, ‘Super Hero’, and ‘William Rafin’ are great choices.

Spirea (Spiraea japonica) is a low maintenance shrub that is grown in so many different settings with minimal effort. From home landscapes and commercial properties to public plantings and streetsides, the spirea grows quite well and offers clusters of raspberry-rose flowers for our personal enjoyment. ‘Goldmound’ is a cultivar exhibiting golden or lime-green foliage. Reaching a height of 4-feet, it prefers full sun and well-drained soils. 

Summersweet (Clethra alnifolia) offers fragrant flowers (pink and white) throughout the summer and golden leaf color in the fall. ‘Ruby Spice’ is a cultivar offering a longer blooming season. Reaching a height of 5-feet, it prefers part to full shade and moist, well-drained soils. There are several cultivars of summersweet clethra that are available at garden centers and through mail order catalogs. These cultivars are different from the wild form (white and tall) by either being more compact and floriferous (making more flowers) or by having pink buds and flowers. Cultivars include ‘Ruby Spice’ and ‘Pink Spires’ as regular sized, and ‘Hummingbird’ and ‘Sixteen Candles’ in dwarf form.

Continue to think in terms of native and sustainable plants in the landscape rather than those with invasive characteristics. May the results of your immediate efforts be long-lasting so that you can enjoy the fruits of your labor for seasons to come while bringing you to further realize that environmental stewardship and sustainability should be at the foundation of all your home landscape activities.

Keep your hanging baskets and potted plants refreshed with water and food. Remember to feed and water the songbirds, and give your pets the care they need. Be on the lookout for children playing and bicyclists riding along the streets and roadways throughout our communities. And remember to safely share the road with motorcycles. Drive alert and arrive alive. Don’t drive distracted or impaired, don’t text while driving, and “click-it” or ticket. Let’s keep everyone safe while enjoying the spring season! Help the homeless every chance you get. And as you receive blessings, always pay them forward and share with others. Continue to practice social distancing and proper hygiene (masks, gloves, cleanliness) as you are out and about for essential reasons. Remember to pray for one another. God bless each of you and God bless the USA!!! Happy Cinco de Mayo!

“Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.” Proverbs 4:27. “But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.” Deuteronomy 4:29. “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.” Ephesians 4:30-31.

Eddie Seagle is a Sustainability Verifier, Golf Environment Organization (Scotland), Agronomist and Horticulturalist, CSI: Seagle (Consulting Services International) LLC, Professor Emeritus and Honorary Alumnus (Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College), Distinguished Professor for Teaching and Learning (University System of Georgia) and Short Term Missionary (Heritage Church, Moultrie). Direct inquiries to csi_seagle@yahoo.com.