Trees & Shrubs Directory
D-H

DEUTZIA Zones 4-8 Sun to light shade

gracilis - Slender Deutzia -

Small size, graceful growth habit, and profuse white flowers put this deutzia at the top of our list.  Grows 4-5’ in ten years.  Adaptable to a wide variety of garden conditions.  Awards: Award of Merit from the RHS.  Recommended by: GCA.  

‘Nikko’ - White flowers cover arching branches in the spring.   Red leaves in the fall.  Durable dwarf shrub, only 18" tall and spreading up to 36" in ten years.  Recommended by: GCA, OPSC, USNA.

ELEAGNUS

pungens Zones Sun to shade

‘Aurea’ -

ELEUTHEROCOCCUS (formerly, ACANTHOPANAX) - Fiveleaf Aralia Zones 4-8 Sun to shade

sieboldianus

‘Variegatus’ - This is a fairly rare form of the Fiveleaf Aralia.  Plants have a loose airy habit and the palmate compound leaves are handsomely edged in white.   Variegation patterns may vary from leaf to leaf.  A very handsome plant yet tough and adaptable many conditions.  Good choice for difficult spots.  Only grows 3-4’ in ten years.  Recommended by: GCA

ENKIANTHUS Zones 4-7 Sun to part shade

campanulata - Red Veined Enkianthus - This rhododendron relative has matchless multi-colored leaves in fall and Lily-of-the-Valley like flowers in Spring.  It grows narrow and upright with leaves mainly grouped at the end of long stems.   Can grow 4-5’ in ten years -10 to 15 foot tall in time -but generally grows smaller than this, especially in the North.  More shade and water needed in hot summer areas.  Awards: Award of Merit and Award of Garden Merit from the RHS.   Recommended by: GCA.

ERICA - Winter Heath

x darleyensis Zones 7-8 Sun to light shade

'Ada S.Colling' -

‘Arthur Johnson’ - An Awards: Award of Merit, Award of Garden Merit from the RHS. 

‘George Rendal’ - An extremely long bloomer with pink flowers.  18" x 24" in ten years. 

‘Ghost Hills’- Bright green foliage emerges with creamy tips in the spring.  Pink flowers.  18" x 18" in ten years.  Awards: Award of Garden Merit from the RHS.

‘Mediterranean Pink’ - Tight low growth and pink winter flowers.  24" x 24" in ten years. 

‘Silberschmelze’ - White winter flowers.  18" x 24" in ten years.  Awards: Award of Merit from the RHS.

EUONYMOUS alatus - Burning Bush Zones 4-9 Sun to shade

Awards: Award of Garden Merit from the RHS. 

‘Compactus’ - Dwarf Burning Bush - Aptly named, this shrub provides unrivaled red leaf color in the early fall.  Reliable color in sun or shade.  Upright growing, eventually becoming more rounded.  Grows 4-5’ in ten years.  Older plants may reach 10’ tall.  Easy and very rewarding to grow.  Awards: Award of Garden Merit from the RHS.  Recommended by: GCA, USNA. 

americanus - Strawberry Bush / Wahoo- Zones 5-9 Sun to shade

This is a native shrub but not well known in gardens.  Its habit is loose and open, but pruning and sun will thicken its form.  At its very best in early fall when warty red fruit capsules ripen and open to reveal a brighter red seed inside.  Also known as ‘Hearts-a-Bursting’ for this trait, and makes it a favorite with children.  This is a good woodland plant and can take lots of shade.  Only grows 4-5’ in ten years.  When people ask for something different for their shade garden I frequently recommend this plant. 

japonicus Zones 6-9 Sun to part shade

‘Aureomarginatus’ – Golden Euonymous- A widely grown shrub that provides bright goldn foliage to any spot in the garden.  3-4’ tall in ten years.

‘Microphyllus Variegatus’ – A very tiny dwarf shrub, growing only 2 foot tall and wide after many years.  Stems are stiffly erect, and the leaves are tiny with dark green centers that are evenly edged with a white margin.  Common name is derived from its resemblance to boxwood.  Excellent for tight shearing as a dwarf hedge or border plant, but stands alone as an outstanding variegated specimen.  Tough and easy to grow. 

‘Silver King’ –

kaiutschovicus

‘Manhattan’ - Serviceable broadleaf evergreen, good for hedging or pruning into shapes.  Early in the season the leaf color is a pale green that contrasts well with other darker evergreens.  Can grow 4-5’ in ten years.

SEE ALSO UNDER GROUNDCOVERS

EXCHORDA - Pearlbush Zones 5-9 Sun to shade

racemosa - Awards: Award of Merit from the RHS.

x macrantha

‘The Bride’ - This shrub has handsome leaves and weeping branches covered with white blooms in the spring.  Small and slow growing to 4-5’ in ten years.  Awards: First Class Certificate, Award of Merit, and Award of Garden Merit from the RHS.   Recommended by: GCA.

FAGUS - Beech - Dr.   Donald Wyman at the Arnold Arboretum says beech trees "are among the best of specimens for ornamental planting, and there are no better trees that can be planted for year-round beauty."

grandiflora - American Beech - Zones 4-9 Sun to shade
Outstanding native tree that is suprisingly rarely available.  Early silvery green leaves in spring turn dark green in summer and golden bronze in fall.  J.  U.  Crockett said, "If the word noble had to be applied to only one kind of tree, the honor would probably go to the beech." Grows about 10’ in ten years.  Awards: First Class Certificate from the RHS.  Recommended by: USNA

sylvatica - European Beech - Zones 4-7 Sun to shade
When grown as large trees, beech are garden aristocrats but they can also easily be trimmed into hedges and shapes.  Grows 10’ in ten years.  After 25 years plants may reach 20-30 foot tall, but old trees are capable of heights of 75-100 feet.  Peerless smooth gray bark.  Award of Garden Merit from the RHS.  Recommended by: USNA

‘Asplenifolia’ - The ‘Fern-leaved’ or ‘Cut-leaved’ beech has deeply cut lobes running the length of its slender leaves.  An elegant tree, rare in America, but widely used in Europe.  Has striking yellow-bronze fall colors.  Has an upright habit when young, but later spreads broadly outward.  Grows 8-10’ in ten years.  Awards: Award of Garden Merit from the RHS.

‘Dawyck’s Gold’ - Narrow columnar trees are continuing to receive wide spread interest because of their form and compatibility with today’s smaller home lots.   Dawyck’s Gold is one of the best trees for such use.  Columnar and very dense, the leaves emerge in spring a bright golden color, later turning a pleasant yellow-green in the summer months.  Gold and tan colors return in the fall.  An ideal accent when used with plants of different shapes and colors.  Awards: Award of Garden Merit from the RHS.  Recommended by: USNA

‘Pendula’ - Any beech is head and shoulders over most other trees and this is one of the best beeches.  Hillier’s says it is "spectacular".  Generally grows as broad as tall with age, and frequently develops several spreading leaders.  Only 8-10’ in ten years.  Old trees have a mushroom shaped, tent like habit.  Awards: Award of Garden Merit from the RHS.  Recommended by: USNA

‘Purple Fountain’ - Purple Fountain develops a central leader and grows taller and narrower than the regular Weeping Purple Beech.  Profile is tall and thin instead of wide spreading.  Grows 8-10’ in ten years.  Originally raised in The Netherlands.  Awards: Award of Garden Merit from the RHS.

‘Purpurea Pendula’ - Dark purple leaves on a wide spreading, weeping, mushroom shaped tree.  Slow and small for many years (8-10’ in ten years) older plants in cultivation are usually encountered as a large shrubs (10-15’ tall and wide) but can grow much larger given enough time.   Recommended by: USNA

‘Red Obelisk’ - From The Netherlands comes one of the newest additions to the the cultivated beeches.  Red Obleisk grows into a tall narrow column -just right for todays smaller gardens.  Outstanding red leaf color holds up well into the heat of summer.   8-10’ in ten years.  Ultimate height is probably only 40-50’ tall and half as wide.

‘Riversii’ - This is a large shade tree with larger dark purple leaves turning bronze in the winter.  Long considered the best purple beech.  Has been grown in North America for 90 years.  8-10’ in ten years.  Awards: Award of Garden Merit from the RHS.  Recommended by: USNA

‘Spaethiana’ - This is a smaller growing beech with smaller darker purple leaves and a narrower profile.  Maybe the best of all for dark red color, the leaves appear very nearly black in early spring.   Small size makes it usefull in many more situations, and it has performed well in our southern heat.  Recommended by: OPSC.

‘Tortuosa Purpurea’ - An arresting small speciman tree that grows low and wide spreading, with twisted and contorted branches.  Red color is excellent.  Only 4-5’ in ten years, mature trees are in the 15 to 25 foot range. 

‘Tortuosa’ - Extremely rare, this unusual tree has been difficult to locate for many years because of widely circulated pictures and publicity.  The tree is very small growing with twisted and contorted branches that droop slightly at the tips.  Unusual character is accentuated in winter when there are no leaves, and is especially noticeable when a dusting of snow covers the branches.  Usually grows about twice as wide as tall, creating a wide spreading, flat-topped profile.

FICUS - Fig Zones 7-10 Sun to shade

carica

‘Brown Turkey’ - A large shrub with interesting leaves and delicious edible fruit.   Fruits are large, pear-shaped, with a brownish purple skin and white flesh with a red tinge.  Leaves are large and palmate adding a decorative texture to the garden.  Can reach 5-8’ in ten years, 10 to 15 foot tall in maturity, but untimely freezes may cut back shrubs occasionally.  Brown Turkey was bred for hardiness and fruit, but it would be grown as an ornamental irregardless.  Awards: Award of Garden Merit from the RHS.

FORSYTHIA Zones 5-9 Sun to shade

‘Arnold’s Dwarf’ - Wide ranging shrubby groundcover.  Branches root as they touch the ground.  Can spread 3’x6’ in ten years.  Excellent for large areas, and for holding banks or steep slopes.  Greenish-yellow flowers are lightly borne in the early spring.

x intermedia

‘Lynnwood’ - Large shrub.  This forsythia has the best display of yellow flowers in the early spring and develops good red color in the fall.  Grows 6-10’ in ten years.  Awards: First Class Certificate and Award of Garden Merit from the RHS.  Recommended by: GCA.

ovata - Korean Forsythia

‘Tetragold’ - A medium size shrub growing to 4-5’ in ten years, with very large yellow flowers blooming in the early spring.  More flower bud hardy than other types, blooming as far north as Vermont.   Good in Zones 4-7.  A colchicine induced tetraploid from The Netherlands.

virdissima

‘Bronxensis’ - A dwarf & compact grower that is just right for today’s smaller gardens.  Grows about 12" tall spreads 24" in ten years, and rarely exceeds 24" in height and 36" in spread.  Flowers are primrose and appear later than the other forsythias.  Awards: Award of Merit from the RHS.

FOTHERGILLA - Witch Alder - Zones 5-8 Sun to shade

gardenii

‘Blue Mist’ - Small size (only 2-3’ in ten years), white bottlebrush-like flowers in spring, powdery blue leaves, and rich fall colors makes this an outstanding plant for all seasons.  Some shade prefered in hot summer areas.  From the University of Pennsylvania’s Morris Arboretum.  Rare and hard to find.  Recommended by: GCA, OPSC.

‘Mount Airy’ - Mount Airy has excellent multiple fall colors from red through yellow, and is a prolific bloomer in the early spring.  The best and most reliable clone for outstanding fall colors.  Grows larger than others eventually to 3’ to 5’.  From the Mt.  Airy Arboretum in Cincinatti, OH.  Awards: Georgia Gold Medal Selection.  Recommended by: GCA..

FRANKLINIA

alatahama -Ben Franklin Tree - Zones 5-9 Sun to part shade

White camellia-like flowers for a month or more in the summer.   Excellent red fall color.  Among the rarest trees.  All existing trees are descendants from trees John Bartram planted in his Philadelphia garden.  They are completely lost in the wild.  Easily grown in a container and makes an notable speciman plant.  8-10’ in ten years. 

HALESIA

tetraptra –(formerly, Halesia carolina) - Carolina Silverbell Zones 4-8 Sun to shade
An exceptional native tree with white bell shaped flowers that dangle beneath the branches in the spring.  Grows to medium size in sun or semi-shade.  Naturally occuring trees are frequently found in the understory.  Neat, clean, and pest resistant, this tree makes an outstanding alternative to the more common spring flowering trees.  Grows 10’ tall in ten years.  Awards: First Class Certificate & Award of Merit from the RHS.  Recommended by: USNA

HAMAMELIS - Witch Hazel Zones 5-8 Sun to shade

x intermedia

‘Arnold’s Promise’ - Vase-shaped habit with extremely heavy and large blooms.   Introduced by Harvard’s Arnolds Arboretum.  Generally considered the best yellow flowered form, it is a late bloomer, usually in March.  Grows 4-5’ in ten years.  Awards: Award of Garden Merit from the RHS.  Recommended by: GCA, OPSC, USNA.

‘Diane’ - Almost every authority agrees that this is the best red blooming witch hazel.  Blooms are very showy when displayed against an evergreen background.  This cultivar has a graceful, spreading habit.  Grows 4-5’ in ten years.  Awards: Award of Merit, and Award of Garden Merit from the RHS.  Recommended by: GCA, USNA.

‘Firecracker’ -

‘Jelena’ - Jelena has large leaves and a vigorous spreading habit.   The flowers are yellow and coppery colored, appearing orange.  Grows 4-5’ in ten years.  Awards: Award of Merit, and Award of Garden Merit from the RHS.  Recommended by: GCA.

‘Primavera’ - Primavera has bright yellow flowers tinged purple at the base.  Growth habit is broadly upright.  Grows 4-5’ in ten years.  Selected in Holland.   Recommended by: GCA.

mollis - Chinese Witch Hazel -

‘Goldcrest’ - This is one of the last witch hazels to bloom, usually in early spring.  Very large flowers are bright gold with a red base, giving somewhat of an overall orange color.  A very strong grower reaching 5-6’ in ten years.  Excellent yellow fall colors.  Awards: Award of Merit from the RHS. 

‘Pallida’ - Wide spreader and heavy bloomer.  Spreads 4-5’ wide in ten years.  Exemplary plant.  Rare and choice.   Awards: First Class Certificate, Award of Merit, and Award of Garden Merit from the RHS.  Recommended by: GCA.

vernalis - This Ozark native has small yellow flowers and outstanding fall colors.  Vigorous grower to 6-8’ in ten years, and hardier than the oriental types growing in Zones 4-8.  Worthy of wider use.

virginiana - Virginia Witch Hazel - Strong growing native shrub or small tree, hardy in Zones 3-8 and growing 8-10’ in ten years.  Bright yellow flowers are displayed in late fall or winter, and are strongly scented.  Superb yellow fall color.  The roots are the source of commercial witch hazel preparations.  Recommended by: GCA, USNA. 

HEPTACODIUM Zones 5-8 Sun to shade

miconioides- Seven-son Flower

Awards: Gold Medal from PHS.  Recommended by: GCA, OPSC.

HIBISCUS

syriacus -Althea Zones 5-9 Sun to part shade

Altheas grow as erect tall shrubs.  Large tropical flowers bloom for up to 2 months in the late summer when little else is in bloom.  They grows 6-8’ in ten years.  Old plants may be 10-12’ tall.

‘Blue Bird’- Blue Bird has a sky-blue flower with a red eye.  Award of Merit and Award of Garden Merit from the RHS.

‘Collie Mullens’- This rather recent introduction has outstanding double flowers colored lilac-purple with a red eye.

‘Red Heart’ - Vigorous growing plant with white flowers around a red center.  Awards: Award of Garden Merit from the RHS

HYDRANGEA

arborescens - Smooth Hydrangea Zones 3-9 Part shade

‘Annabelle’ - Annabelle has extremely large white flowers (12" across).  The flowers are stiffer and bloom earlier and longer than typical for this species.  Grows 3-5’ in ten years.  Awards: Award of Merit & Award of Garden Merit from the RHS.  Georgia Gold Medal.  Recommended by: GCA, OPSC, USNA.

macrophylia -Bigleaf Hydrangea Zones 5-9 Part shade
This is the old fashioned hydrangea with large, lustrous, succulent leaves and mop head or lace-cap type flowers.  Grows as a rounded shrub generally 3-6’ in height and spread but varying.   Soil pH strongly affects flower color.  Blue colors are best in acid soils, pink flowers show best in slightly higher pH.  Closely related to and for garden purposes nearly identical to Hydrangea serrata below.  Can take sun in the North.

‘Blue Billow’ - This recently introduced hydrangea is small growing with an abundance of blue lacecap flowers.  Smaller growing than Blue Wave.  3’ in ten years.   Awards: Gold Medal from PHS.  Recommended by: GCA.

‘Charm’– Charm is one of the best red colored hydrangeas around.   A mop head type which frequently displays good fall colors in red, orange, and yellow.  Grows to 3-4’ in ten years

‘Glory Blue’– An excellent fast growing blue mop head.  Grows to 3-4’ in ten years.

‘Lanarth White’ - Blue fertile flowers surround a ring of white sterile florets.  One of the best lacecaps.  Grows to 3x3’ in ten years.  Awards: Award of Merit & Award of Garden Merit from the RHS.

‘Mariesii’– An old standard variety, but still one of the best pink lacecaps.  Introduced over 120 years ago in France by way of Japan.  Grows to 3-4’ in ten years.  Awards: First Class Certificate from the RHS.

‘Mariesii Variegata’ - An excellent variegated plant, each leaf is edged with a lucid creamy border.  Strong growing with pale pink flowers.  Grows to 3-4’ in ten years.  Awards: First Class Certificate from the RHS.  Recommended by: GCA.

‘Merritt’s Blue’– This blue mop head has gained converts everywhere it is planted.  For excellence in traditional blue hydrangea blooms this is the cultivar to plant.  Grows to 3-4’ in ten years.

‘Merritt’s Supreme’ – Red mop head.  Grows to 3-4’ in ten years.

‘Pia’ -This is the smallest growing hydrangea in this group, but it is extremely floriferous.  3 to 4" pink flowers literally cover the plants in summer.  Grows to 2-3’ in ten years.

‘Sister Theresa’ - Large flattened white flowers with a pink blush appear in early to mid-season on this 5’ to 6’ shrub.  Predominate white color is assertive on either soil type.

‘Tricolor’ - Awards: First Class Certificate & Award of Garden Merit from the RHS. 

ssp.  serrata - See - H.  serrata

paniculata

'Grandiflora' - Pee Gee Hydrangea - Zones 3-8 Sun to shade
A large shrub with white mophead type flowers in the late summer later turning pink.  Excellent cut flower for dry flowered arrangements in winter.  Sometimes grown as a tree form standard.  5-6’ in ten years.  Can reach 10' tall or more but usually kept smaller in cultivation.  The cold hardiest hydrangea; Hilliers says it is 'one of the showiest of hardy large shrubs.  Awards: First Class Certificate and Award of Garden Merit from the RHS.  Recommended by: USNA

petiolaris -Climbing Hydrangea Zones 4-8 Sun to shade

Many experts feel this is the finest climbing vine for our gardens.   We agree.  Admittedly it make take some time for it to first bloom, but the form and foliage are always useful.  Grows about 8-10’ in ten years.  Awards: Award of Garden Merit from the RHS.  Recommended by: OPSC, USNA. 

quercifolia - Oakleaf Hydrangea Zones 5-9 Part shade to shade

This native has exceptional foliage shaped like a large oak leaf with spectacular red fall color.  Flowers are long white panicles blooming in mid-summer.  Old bark peels off in flakes to reveal a rich brown bark beneath.  Makes a 4-5’ shrub in ten years.  A must for every garden! Awards: Award of Merit and Award of Garden Merit from the RHS.  Recommended by: GCA, OPSC, USNA.   Late summer  Fall color

‘Alice’ - Alice is a new and improved form of the Oakleaf Hydrangea selected by Michael Dirr at the University of Georgia.  Grows faster to 5-6’ in ten years.  Superior healthy leaves, large and numerous flowers, and brilliant red fall colors converge on a vigorous large grower.  A prime selection for any garden.

‘Snowflake’ - Snowflake has larger double-flowered blooms on arching stems.  This improved flowering form stands out in any location.  Not as stiff as the similar ‘Snow Queen’.  Recommended by: GCA.

serrata - Sawtooth Hydrangea Zones 5-9 Part shade

Similar and sometimes listed as a subspecies of Hydrangea macrophylla.  Grows smaller, usually to about 3’ tall, but it is considered slightly more cold hardy.  Can take full sun in cool summer areas.

‘Blue Bird’ - The lacecap type flowers are made up of pale blue florets ringing deep blue flowers.  An extra long bloom season on a strong growing cultivar.  Develops a 4-5’ plant in ten years.  Awards: Award of Merit, and Award of Garden Merit from the RHS.  Recommended by: GCA.

‘Grayswood’ - Excellent white lacecap flowers pass to pink, orange, and burgandy as the season progresses.  Grows to 3-3 ½’ in ten years.  Awards: Award of Merit and Award of Garden Merit from the RHS.

‘Perziosa’ - Mophead flowers of pink darken to nearly red as they age.   4’ in ten years.  Awards: First Class Certificate, Award of Merit, and Award of Garden Merit from the RHS.  Recommended by: GCA.

‘Pretty Maiden’ -

HYPERICUM

frondosum Zones 5-8 Sun to part shade

‘Sunburst’ - This dwarf shrub has distinctive blue-green leaves and a stiff, upright growth habit.  Bright yellow flowers appear in mass in summer.  Not quite evergreen yet it retains some foliage throught most winters.  Bark exfoliates on older stems revealing a red-brown under bark.  3’ x 3’ in ten years.  A cultivated form of an American native that the British consider one America’s finest horticultural contributions, yet it is little known or used in America.   Recommended by: GCA, OPSC.

‘Hidcote’ Zones 5-8 Sun to part shade

Superior evergreen to semi-evergreen shrub that originated at Hidcote Manor in England.  Copious large yellow flowers in the summer.  Foliage is persistant here until late December or January when a hard freeze will usually brown the leaves.   Grows to 3’ tall and wide in ten years.   Awards: Award of Merit & Award of Merit from the RHS.  Recommended by: GCA., USNA. 

x moserianum Zones 7-9 Sun to part shade

‘Tricolor' - Very pretty leaves are evenly variegated with a white and rose colored edge.  Plants grow to about 3’ tall and wide, but are less hardy than most hypericum.  Frequently cut back by cold weather to reemerge from the roots.  Awards: Award of Merit from the RHS. 

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