“The storm starts, when the drops start dropping. When the drops stop dropping then the storm starts stopping.” — Dr. Seuss.

School is almost over for the year and our official summer is just over a month away. The daytime temps are reaching the low 90s as the humidity continues to increase. Flowers, flowers, everywhere flowers! Flowers are painting the late spring-early summer landscape.

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 process. 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 and desirable color in 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 four 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 six feet tall are “Attraction,” “Bicolor,” “Black Knight,” “Dartmoor,” “Guinevere,” “Honeycomb,” and “Lochinch.” Cultivars shorter than six 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 eight 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 five 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 five 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 six 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 four 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 five 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.

Think in terms of native and sustainable plants in the landscape rather than those with invasive characteristics. May this bit of awareness ignite your desire to learn and ask questions, encourage you to further apply your gained knowledge, and bring you to further realize that environmental stewardship and sustainability are 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. Also, be on lookout for children playing and bicyclists riding along the streets and roadways throughout our communities as summer draws closer. And remember to safely share the road with motorcycles. Drive alert and arrive alive. Don’t drive distracted or impaired, and don’t text while driving. Help the homeless every chance you get. Let’s keep everyone safe while continuing to enjoy this spring season!

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24.

Seagle is a Sustainability Associate, Golf Environment Organization (Scotland), Agronomist and Horticulturalist, CSI: Seagle (Consulting Services International), Professor Emeritus and Honorary Alumnus (Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College), Associate Editor of The Golf Course (International Journal of Golf Science), and Short Term Missionary (Heritage Church, Moultrie). Direct inquiries to csi_seagle@yahoo.com.