The best summer shrub for full sun is the panicle hydrangea, with crape myrtle and bluebeard close behind for your hot, bright beds. Picture a south-facing bed in your yard that bakes all afternoon, where the soil goes dry and the air shimmers by 2 p.m. That spot is not a problem you need to solve. It is the exact place these full sun flowering shrubs want to be, and they bloom harder for it than they would anywhere else in your garden.
Full sun means at least 6 hours of direct sun each day, and most summer bloomers want even more than that. The more light you give them, the more flowers they push out for you. Many of them are also tough in heat and dry soil once their roots settle in. A shrub that sulks in shade will load up with blooms in your baking bed. So treat full sun as an asset, not a hurdle, when you plan your planting. You get more color from the same plant just by putting it in the brightest spot you have.
Panicle hydrangea is the safe pick for most yards, and it should be your starting point. It grows 8 to 12 ft (2.4 to 3.7 m) tall and handles zones 3 to 8, which covers a huge swath of the country. The big cone-shaped flower heads open white and slowly age to pink as fall nears, so you get two looks from one shrub. Unlike fussy bigleaf types, this one shrugs off heat and bright light without wilting on you. It is the rare hydrangea that actually wants the sunny spot you have to fill.
Here is how the top picks stack up, so you can match one to your bed, your space, and your zone before you buy.
Crape myrtle is your star where summers run long and hot. It blooms for weeks in pink, red, white, or purple, and the smooth bark looks good even in winter when the leaves drop. Bluebeard stays small at about 3 by 3 ft (0.9 m), so it slots into your tight beds and along walks without crowding anything. Its late blue flowers pull in bees right when your other plants start to fade. Both of these want all the sun you can give them, so save your brightest spots for them.
For the driest, harshest spots in your yard, lean on rose of Sharon and vitex. Rose of Sharon keeps blooming through late summer when the rest of your garden looks tired and worn out. Vitex throws up tall spikes of purple flowers and barely notices a dry spell once it is set in the ground. These are some of the toughest heat tolerant shrubs you can plant anywhere. Drop them in the worst corner of your yard, the one nothing else survives, and they pay you back with color year after year.
Pick your shrub by mature size and hardiness zone, not just by the flowers you see in the photo. A vitex that wants 15 ft (4.6 m) will swallow a small bed and leave you cutting it back all season long. Check your zone too, since a shrub rated for warmer ground may die back on you in a cold winter. Match the plant to your 6 hours of sun, your space, and your zone, and it will thrive with little fuss for years. Get those three things right and you can plant it once and mostly leave it alone.
Read the full article: 13 Best Summer Blooming Shrubs
