Eastern Redbud

 Eastern redbud is a small, handsome, multistemmed understory tree that reaches 20 to 30 feet with a 20- to 30-foot rounded crown. Early spring flowers are breathtaking, opening from a reddish purple in bud to a rosy-pink. The heart-shaped leaves emerge after the flowers. Fall color is sometimes an attractive yellow.

Flowering Crabapple

Japanese flowering crabapples are small to midsized trees ranging in habit from low mounds to upright, narrow, or weeping types. In spring, they are covered with fragrant white, pink, or red flowers, and in fall with small yellow, orange, or red apples. Many have attractive branching that's revealed in winter. Look for newer varieties that are disease resistant and that hold their fruit into the winter.

Southern Magnolia

Flowering Dogwood

Flowering dogwood is a spreading tree with horizontal branches that give it winter interest. Size varies with climate; a typical size is 20 to 40 feet tall and wide. The distinctive leaves turn to reddish-purple in fall. The late-spring true flowers are insignificant, but are surrounded by four attractive white or pink bracts. The fruit is glossy red in fall.

Rhododendron and Azalea

Rhododendrons and azaleas belong to the genus Rhododendron, and share many characteristics. Both groups thrive in well-drained acid soil and light shade. One point of difference is the shape of their flowers. Azaleas have funnel shaped blossoms, while rhododendrons have trumpet-shaped flowers. And although there are literally hundreds of species and varieties in the Rhododendron family, the most popular are noted the brilliance and quantity of spring flower display.

 

Shrub Rose

Modern shrub roses, as distinct from classic shrub roses, are a family of rose hybrids first developed by David Austin in the 1970s. They are a cross of old garden roses with hybrid tea roses and other modern varieties. They combine the fragrance and form of old roses with the strength, hardiness, and long bloom season of modern hybrids.

 

Forsythia

Forsythia is a sunny harbinger of spring. Border forsythia is an upright, arching deciduous shrub that offers its bright yellow flowers in early spring. Some branches arch, while others shoot upwards. Use in an informal hedge or as a specimen in a border.