How2Day: The Hybrid Flowering Shrubs

Hybrid flowering shrubs often offer optimized color, size, shape and interest to your home garden as they are the result of intentional cross-breeding of species. Hybridization provides home gardeners with extreme variety as they can look for flowering shrubs that meet a slew of specific expectations for a very focused, well-planned space.

French hybrid lilac, Syringa vulgaris, also referred to as common lilac, includes a wide variety of forms and colors. Known for their showiness, common lilac grow to a height of 12 to 15 feet (See Ref 1). Displaying single or double flowers, blossoms are fragrant and appear in shades of violet, blue, white, lilac, red, pink or purple. Whether upright or spreading, round or vase-shaped, French hybrid lilacs thrive in full sun and well-drained soil high in organic content.

Coral bells azaleas, Rhododendron indicum 'Coral Bells', are hybrid flowering shrubs from the Kurume azalea hybrid group. With evergreen foliage, this compact shrub displays pink double blossoms that exhibits one set of petals inside of the other, providing added visual interest to your gardening space, according to the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service. A plant with a need for maintenance, coral bells azaleas thrive in extremely well-drained acid soil with a pH of approximately 5.5. Coral bells reach a height of 6 feet tall with bloom time during spring.

Astilbes, Astilbe x arendsii, are hybrid perennial flowering shrubs that take on a clumping habit. Displaying deep green leaves, flowers take on a feather-like appearance in white, red or pink. Astilbes became popular as hybrid flowering shrubs due to the production of hybrids by nurseryman George Arends, from which the name is derived and from which nearly all hybrids have been developed, according to the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service. Astilbes reach a height of 1 to 4 feet, need extremely moist, fertile soil and thrive in morning sun and afternoon shade.

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