barn nursery - flowering shrubs

Abelia Edward Goucher

This old southern favorite is an easy to grow evergreen flowering shrub. The small tubular flowers are white or pale pink and are borne from May to frost. Natural habit is rounded and spreading. They grow equally well in sun or part shade in well drained soil and are extremely drought tolerant when established.

Butterfly bushes are some of the longest flowering and easiest to grow shrubs in the garden. Their conical blooms appear in June and if spent flowers are removed, they will continue blooming until late fall. Foliage is narrow, silvery green and doesn’t change colors in the fall. Dwarf varieties like the Petite or Nanho series grow 3 to 4 feet tall and wide, while the other types can get up to 12 feet. Both bloom better if pruned down to 12 inches from the ground in late winter, and fertilized well in spring and summer. Flower color ranges from white, pink, lavender, and purple to near red. And yes, they do attract butterflies.

Butterfly Bush

Pink Delight

Crape Myrtles are long blooming shrubs or small trees. They can bloom for up to 100 days between mid June and early fall. Tall varieties like the white flowered Natchez or the pink Tuscarora are most often seen with multiple trunks, and with the lower limbs removed to show off the plant’s interesting mottled bark and intricate branch structure. Shorter types like the Petite series from Monrovia are grown in shrub form. Different varieties grow between 2 and 25 feet tall and wide. Crape myrtles will grow in part shade, but need full hot sun to flower well. They loose their leaves in the winter, and are among the last plants to leaf out in the spring. Pruning, if needed, should be done while the plants are dormant in the winter.

Crape Myrtle

Petitie Orchid

Crape Myrtle Tuscarora

Hydrangea Tardiva

The late blooming panicle hydrangeas like Pee Gee and Tardiva will take more sun than other varieties. They bloom from August to October and can be grown as large shrubs or limbed up like small trees.

Indian Hawthorne Clara

(close up)

Indian Hawthorne Clara

Lilac Angel White

Lilac Blue Skies

Lilac Lavender Lady

The Barn Nursery • I-24 at the 4th Avenue exit • Chattanooga, Tennessee • 423-698-BARN

Butterfly Bush

Petite Plum

Crape Myrtle

Natchez Bark

Indian Hawthorne are compact growing evergreen shrubs for full sun. Their new leaves emerge with a reddish tint and mature to a glossy green. Pink or white apple blossom-like flowers appear in April and May. They grow 2 to 3 feet tall and 3 to 4 feet wide and are suitable for low informal hedges, foundations or mixed borders.

Lilacs are one of the most fragrant garden shrubs. The large pink, purple, lavender, or white flowers appear in early may, just as the leaves start to appear. Lilacs are large shrubs (8 to 15 feet tall and wide) best suited for a mixed shrub and flower border. They can become bare at the bottom over time. Because our winters are short, many of the varieties that bloom in the north don’t get enough cold to set flowers. The best varieties for the South are the low-chill types from Monrovia Nursery; Angel White, Blue Skies, and Lavender Lady.