Growing Red Flowering Shrubs
Below you will find a list of Shrubs from our plant database that are red flowering. If you click any of the photos, you will see a Virtual Plant Tag that may contain plant descriptions, usage suggestions and a link to where you can buy that plant for your landscaping. The concept of a shrub can be difficult to define since different people might consider the same plant a groundcover, broadleaf evergreen, bush or tree.
Several of these red flowering shrubs are native plants, which are more naturally insect resistant, salt tolerant and have natural disease resistance. Carolina Allspice, also known as Common Sweetshrub, Strawberry-shrub, Bubby Blossom, Sweet Bettie, Spicebush and Calycanthus floridus, is richly fragrant and has lovely dark reddish brown, maroon or red blooms from May to July if grown in full sun. Catawba Rhododendrons are among the hardiest Rhododendrons and have a beautiful range of bloom colors including red, rose and fuchsia. From different parts of the Eastern US are: the Cumberland Azalea (Rhododendron (Azalea) bakeri); Flame Azalea (R. calendulaceum); Florida Azalea (R. austrinum); Oconee Azalea (R. flammeum) and Plumleaf Azalea (R. prunifolium). These predominantly easy to grow and pest free Azaleas add alot to the home garden with their rich, brilliant blooming but also have been used extensively in hybridization. To avoid confusion about the botanical names, it is easiest to remember that all Azaleas are Rhododendrons, but not all Rhododendrons are Azaleas.
Don't forget about roses when you are considering red flowered shrubs. A huge movement in rose breeding is bringing pest-free and disease-free landscape roses. To get flowering shrubs that flower spring through frost and is low maintenance is exactly what today's busy homeowners are looking for. New roses can be a great answer.
Other suggestions for shrubs with red blooms are: Bigleaf Hydrangea, Camellia, Crapemyrtle, Heath and Heathers, Mountain Laurel (Kalmia), Rose of Sharon or Hibiscus, Scotch Broom (Cytisus scoparius), Spireas, Viburnums, Weigelas, Witchhazels (Hamamelis) and Winter Jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum).
Bushes with red flowers are exciting in the landscape. Red's powerful, passionate color can be enjoyed throughout the season and blends well with other perennials, ornamental grasses, shrubs, evergreens, groundcovers and trees. Too much red can quickly overwhelm an interior room, but in the outdoor living spaces without the confined dimensions of walls and ceilings, red flowers harmonize with orange and yellow, blue, purple and white providing a striking contrast.