Native Shrubs
Some interesting shrubs for the landscape include the French Mulberry or Beautyberry--Callicarpa americana. While the plant is not anything to shout about during the early growing season, it produces outstanding clusters of purple or white berries which encircle the stems from late summer through fall, giving you great color when you really need it. Another old fashioned deciduous native is the Carolina allspice, or sweet shrub--Calycanthus floridus. This shade loving plant grows rapidly and produces flowers at an early age in late spring. The common plant has a reddish brown colored flower with a wonderful spicy aroma, but there is a rare yellow form with an almost citrusy scent available at Ridgecrest nursery. The variety is Athens. Another wonderful shade native is the Euonymus americana, commonly called strawberry bush or wahoo. This plant has tiny yellowish green flowers in the spring, but outstanding strawberry red fruit in the fall which pop open to expose bright red seeds. These can persist well into fall.
An interesting family to experiment with is the witch hazel family. Hamamelis vernalis, the vernal witchhazel and Hamamelis virginiana, the common witchhazel are both native shrubs. Both have very fragrant , spiky yellow flowers, the vernal one in January - March, while the common plant blooms in the fall--seasons when we need interest and color. Their fall foliage is also outstanding. Another member of this family is the fothergilla. Fothergilla gardenii produces white puffballs of honey scented flowers in April to May, and it too has great fall color. These plants do best in full sun to partial shade and prefer an acid pH.
Hydrangeas
All of us are familiar with hydrangeas, and there are some native plants. One favorite is the Oakleaf hydrangea, Hydrangea quercifolia. These are great plants for the shade/ woodland garden. They produce lovely panicles of white flowers in early to mid summer, which persist all summer. Then the fall foliage is spectacular. As they age the bark peels and gives them an interesting winter habit as well. Give them room to grow as they can grow six feet or taller and spread wide. Another native hydrangea, is Hydrangea arborescens. This is a native lacecap hydrangea. Some improved cultivars which should be readily available are ‘Annabelle’ and ‘Grandiflora’.