Once the garden’s Cinderella — dependable, hardworking, and largely ignored in favor of showier plants — shrubs are finally having their moment in the spotlight.
Designers have long understood shrubs’ central role in creating structure and seasonal presence, but gardeners and breeders are seeing their potential to take center stage with a host of benefits. A new generation of cultivars and overlooked performers deliver multi-functionality and beauty, while asking for little in return.
“Shrubs are stepping into the spotlight, the main event, delivering strong visual appeal, long seasonal interest, and adaptability across climates,” said Tom Foley Jr., former director of product development at Everde Growers (Farwest booth #14037),“all while demanding less work from increasingly time pressed household consumers and landscape maintenance firms.
Shrubs are meeting the shared needs of consumers and landscape contractors, Foley noted – reduced maintenance, multi-seasonal appeal with increased flower power, compact size, and offering sustainability benefits like low-water use and pollinator support.
“For growers, retailers, and landscape professionals,” he said, “this translates into better sell through, higher customer satisfaction, and repeat business.”
And buyers seem to be willing to pay a premium for these high performers.
“This spring we’re seeing less price sensitivity,” said Katie Tamony, chief marketing officer and trend spotter at Monrovia (Farwest booth #17037). “Consumers are willing to invest in plants and are actively searching for varieties that have a reputation for being high quality. We’re also seeing consumers purchasing in multiples more than in the past.”
Tamony added, “In addition to home gardeners wanting their shrubs to do more than one thing in the garden, our research shows that they’re looking for something unique — a plant that not every neighbor has. They’re looking for bold and bright colors, interesting textures and shrubs that provide for pollinators and birds.”
New definition of low maintenance
As we ask more from our plants in smaller-sized gardens, the definition of an easy, “low-maintenance” shrub expands. Customers are increasingly interested in shrubs featuring disease-resistance, a tight habit needing little pruning, repeat or longer bloom, and multi-season performance.
Could substance be overtaking style as the new selling point?
Breeders are responding with shrubs that can do more than ever.
“I think breeding is becoming less about chasing a single flashy trait, and more about stacking improvements so a shrub feels like a total upgrade,” said Natalie Carmolli, public relations specialist at Proven Winners ColorChoice Shrubs. “Our breeding team has always asked themselves, ‘Does it solve more problems and look better doing it?’ If it doesn’t, we don’t release it.”
Often, she said, Spring Meadow dubs a plant “2.0” to indicate it’s an improved version of the lineage you know.
Here are some qualities and new favorites to watch for.
Foliage takes the lead
Flashy foliage elevates shrub quality above and beyond its flowers, making a variety stand out from the pack in the garden center and the border.
Compared to blooms, foliage is a stronger, lasting presence that offers contrast, texture and depth for months of the growing season — sometimes ending fall with a flourish of new color.
“Foliage carries just as much ‘wow’ as flowers,” said Carmolli. “No matter how long the bloom time, flowers are fleeting. Foliage does the heavy lifting when blooms are done or resting.”
In addition to using shrubs for structure and privacy screening, people are looking for distinctive shrubs that can make a border come to life, Tamony said. “[People are] using them as a statement plant — the one friends come into the garden and say, ‘What is that?!’”
Foley agreed. “One of the most significant trends influencing shrub demand is the rise of foliage driven design,” he said. “Consumers want color that lasts beyond bloom season, reducing reliance on flowers alone for visual interest.”
Gold, lime, blue and all kinds of variegated foliage continue to grow in popularity. Monrovia’s Banana Split® Daphne (D. odora ‘Monzulzay’ PP35217) has creamy bold variegation that almost eclipses its fragrant blossoms.
On top of that, gothy purples and wine-dark blacks are having a serious moment, said Alec Charais, chief marketing and product development officer for Bailey Nurseries (Farwest booth #17019). This is seen in plants like First Editions® Eclipse® Bigleaf Hydrangea (H. macrophylla ‘Bailmacseven’) and Spilled Wine® Weigela (W. florida ‘Bokraspiwi’ PP23781).
Compact revolution meets patio culture
As smaller gardens proliferate with greater population density, shrubs are adding a sense of luxury and permanence to patio and container plantings, said Tamony.
“Planting shrubs in containers is a trend we’re watching for 2026. Patios and decks are now an extension of the living room, designed and decorated with plants to create an elegant oasis. This ‘patio culture’ trend is more than just adding a few annuals to brighten up the space. It’s about creating curated gardens in containers and smaller landscape areas. Shrubs play a big role in these outdoor rooms, offering structure and more variety.”
Tamony recommended Butterscotch Baby™ Spirea (S. japonica ‘Minspiz02’ PPAF for its kaleidoscopic color-shifting, from emerging a warm, caramel-butterscotch to a bright green in summer, and back to caramel rust in fall — all while staying under 1.5 feet high and 2 feet wide.
Charais highlighted two compact standouts.
“We tend to say that Distylium are the best plants you’ve never heard of, and that’s a darned shame,” he said. “For smaller areas, a compact variety of Distylium called Swing Low® is awesome. It stays low to the ground, has broadleaf evergreen foliage that always looks good, and is adaptable to a wide range of soil conditions. Another plant that doesn’t get enough attention is [Love Child® Sweetspire (Itea virginica ‘Bailteaone’ PP31318)]. It’s the perfect summer-flowering plant and stays nice and tidy compared to older varieties — and it gets great fall color!”
For Foley, Thuja ‘Junior Giant’ “fits this niche well, providing the familiar utility of arborvitae in a more controlled form.” Everde’s Syringa patula ‘Violet Uprising’ brings lilac fragrance and bloom, reaching 5 feet tall and wide in 10 years.
Everde, seeing how many hydrangeas performed inconsistently due to chilling hour requirements, developed the Plush® series, which were trialed in Oregon, Northern and Southern California. These plants stay upright and bloom reliably with 200–300 chill hours, eliminating staking. Everde’s Forsythia Magical® Gold (Forsythia × intermedia ‘Kolgold’), at a compact size, blooms on old and new wood, delivering blooms even if pruned at the wrong time.
Better boxwood options
In the face of boxwood blight, consumers are looking for replacements for privacy screening, evergreen hedging, and topiaries. Everde offers the disease-resistant Better Boxwood® series at heights ranging from 1–2 feet to 6–8 feet tall.
Spring Meadow offers the NewGen boxwood series, which Carmolli said is “selected for its resistance to blight and boxwood leaf miner, two troublesome issues. My favorite is NewGen Independence® — it has a very dense, rounded habit, like ‘Green Beauty’, but with the added boxwood leaf miner resistance.
Both NewGen ‘Independence® and NewGen ‘Freedom®’ are good choices, the latter having a bit faster growth rate, which results in a larger, looser habit. Of course, proper care is still important — but they are gorgeous, low maintenance choices that look amazing.”
Ecology moves to the endcap
As climate challenges mount, pollinator support, native plants, water conservation and wildlife value are emerging as mainstream selling points rather than add-ons.
Consumers are looking for plants that offer greater purpose as well as beauty.
“As sustainability becomes more than a buzzword, shrubs adapted to local climates are seeing renewed interest,” said Foley. “Native and regionally appropriate plants bring built in resilience, often translating to lower water use, reduced chemical inputs, and better long-term performance.”
He recommended manzanita as a group to watch. “Few shrubs combine sculptural beauty and drought tolerance like manzanita. Arctostaphylos coloradensis ‘Mock’ and ‘Panchito’ offer refined takes on a classic native, with compact forms, attractive evergreen foliage, and striking bark that becomes more ornamental with age. These selections thrive in low water landscapes and require little additional water once established, aligning with consumer demand for water-wise planting.”
At Bailey, Charais pointed out Fiber Optics® buttonbush. “Fiber Optics® is more compact than the species and is a perfect choice for remediation plantings. Its flowers are full of nectar making it a great food source for wildlife and it couldn’t be easier to grow.” Carmolli echoed the praises of buttonbush with ‘Sugar Shack 2.0,’ which she calls a “pollinator magnet’ with vivid red fall color.
Aronia as a group are well adapted to climate extremes. “‘Low Scape Snowfire’ is stunning in spring when it is covered in blooms,” said Carmolli, “and Berry Scape has delightful beadlike summer fruit that transitions from yellow, to orange, to red as they mature. ‘Low Scape Snowfire’ and ‘Berry Scape’ aronia are highly adaptable, drought tolerant, and have wide hardiness zones as well — USDA 3–9 and USDA 4–9, respectively.”
The overlooked overachievers
Some vintage favorite shrubs are gaining new fans with improved breeding.
At Monrovia, Tamony recommended Seaside Swirl™ Rugosa Roses as being exceptionally hardy (Zones 3–9), pollinator-attracting, and featuring a fantastic fragrance. They also top out at three feet tall and wide, unlike the typical rambling habit of many.
Fragrance was cited by many as a feature consumers are asking for that elevates shrubs to must-haves, from roses to lilacs and daphnes.
Carmolli highlighted potentillas, a cottage garden classic in the rose family, as underused wonders.
“I beat the drum of potentilla a lot, but I think they deserve it,” she said. “Potentilla fruticosa (or shrubby potentilla) is tolerant of wind, poor soils, and cold, and has a long bloom time! I love its tiny blue-green foliage and the bright, open blooms that come in many colors. The Happy Face series of Potentilla has a very strong yellow and white — both bloom in my Midwest garden in summer and keep going until frost. There is also a newer ‘Happy Face® Orange’ variety that is fun and unusual. All are hardy in USDA zones 2–7, love the sun, are deer resistant and drought tolerant.”
What the market is telling us
Consumers want more from their gardens, and more from the plants they invest their time and money in. This is especially true when they garden in smaller spaces. Feature benefits can include problem-solving like low-to-no pruning or disease resistance, compact size, extended bloom, and qualities like pollinator support, native origin or breeding, and drought tolerance. Standout foliage, blooms or fragrance add high desirability.
Shrubs offer so much beauty and function to the garden — and never more so than today. By offering selections that deliver on many levels, we can appeal to customers looking for a richer way to experience their gardens. Carmolli said, “This is a slower, more intentional way to enjoy outdoor spaces — one that, I think many gardeners are leaning toward.”
From the June 2026 issue of Digger magazine | Download PDF of article