Iowa's Flowering Shrubs for the Summer Season
Iowa gardens can benefit from a variety of summer-blooming shrubs that thrive in the local climate. Here are some of the best options:
1. **Panicle Hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata)**: - **Description**: This shrub is highly popular for its large, showy clusters of creamy white flowers that turn pink or blush by fall. - **Requirements**: Prefers well-drained soils and full sun. - **Zone**: 3-8. - **Size**: Can grow quite large, but regular pruning helps maintain shape.
2. **Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus)**: - **Description**: Known for its upright growth and beautiful hibiscus-like flowers in a range of colors. - **Requirements**: Full sun is ideal for optimal blooms. - **Zone**: 5-8. - **Size**: 5-8+ feet tall, 4-6 feet wide.
3. **Spirea (Spiraea spp.)**: - **Description**: Offers a variety of cultivars with showy pink to white flower clusters. - **Requirements**: Versatile and grows well in various conditions. - **Zone**: 3-8. - **Size**: 1-3+ feet tall and wide, depending on the cultivar.
4. **False Spirea (Sorbaria sorbifolia)**: - **Description**: Excellent for colonizing tough areas with its spreading habit. - **Requirements**: Tolerates a wide range of soils and light but prefers moist, organic soils and full sun. - **Zone**: 2-8. - **Size**: 5-10 feet tall and wide.
5. **Shrubby Cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa)**: - **Description**: Blooms from June to frost with flowers in yellows, reds, oranges, and creams. - **Requirements**: Grows in a wide range of conditions and benefits from spring pruning. - **Zone**: 3-7. - **Size**: 2-4 feet tall, 3-5 feet wide.
6. **Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis)**: - **Description**: A North American native shrub with white, ball-shaped flowers that hang like planets from the branches in June. - **Requirements**: Prefers and thrives in wet conditions. - **Zone**: 5 to 9. - **Size**: 5-12 feet tall and 4-8 feet wide.
7. **New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus)**: - **Description**: A relatively unknown eastern North American native shrub that blooms in clusters of white flowers from May through June. - **Requirements**: Thrives in difficult locations. - **Zone**: 4 to 8. - **Size**: 3-4 feet tall and 3-5 feet wide.
8. **Carolina Allspice (Calycanthus floridus)**: - **Description**: Known for its intense fragrance that smells like a mixture of strawberry, pineapple, and banana. Flowers are 2 inches across, reddish-brown to maroon in color. - **Requirements**: Grows best in part-shade but tolerates other light levels well. - **Zone**: 4 to 9. - **Size**: 6-10 feet tall and 6-12 feet wide (larger in the shade).
9. **Summersweet (Clethra alnifolia)**: - **Description**: Blooms in panicles of fragrant white (sometimes pink) flowers in July & August. - **Requirements**: Grows and blooms best in part-shade but tolerates other light levels well. - **Zone**: 3 to 9. - **Size**: 3-8 feet tall and 4-6 feet wide.
10. **Bottlebrush Buckeye (Aesculus parviflora)**: - **Description**: A large suckering shrub with upright white panicles of flowers appearing in June and July. It provides a dark green backdrop for the garden. - **Requirements**: Blooms in full sun to part shade. - **Zone**: 4 to 8. - **Size**: 8-10 feet tall and 8-15 feet wide.
These shrubs provide a range of colours, scents, and sizes, ensuring there's something for every Iowa garden. Spirea, for instance, can be found in almost any garden center, making it an accessible choice for gardeners of all levels. On the other hand, Buttonbush and New Jersey Tea are relatively unknown native shrubs, offering a unique touch to any garden.
- Incorporating Spirea into your Iowa garden can enhance the landscape with its pink to white flower clusters, making it an ideal choice for both beginners and experienced gardeners.
- The size and wide blooming period of Summersweet make it an excellent addition to any home-and-garden, providing fragrant white or pink flowers to attract bees and butterflies during July and August.
- The unique fragrance of Carolina Allspice, which combines strawberry, pineapple, and banana scents, can elevate your outdoor lifestyle by inviting you to pause and enjoy its aroma while walking through your garden.
- Gardening with a mix of native shrubs like Buttonbush and New Jersey Tea can contribute to a more sustainable and diverse habitat, benefiting local wildlife and adding an element of pride to your gardening efforts.
