Compact Shrubs

Low-growing shrubs are the backbone of most home landscapes. They can be planted along the house without blocking low windows, used to line a sidewalk, or create a border around flower beds. Planting compact shrubs can save you time and effort too. No need to constantly prune a low-growing shrub! Explore some of our most beautiful selections that offer reliable growth with colorful leaves and flowers.

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Drift Roses

This collection of low-growing roses provide flowers from spring-fall. Choose from Red, Pink, Apricot, Peach, and Coral colors. These easy-care roses thrive with minimal care when planted in bright sunny locations with rich soil and good drainage.

Limelight Hydrangea

This unique hydrangea actually thrives in full sun, growing into a 4’-6’ tall & wide shrub that produces huge creamy white flowers in the summertime.

Cinnamon Girl Distylium

A bulletproof evergreen shrub that hugs the ground while spreading wide. Distylium will grow well in full sun or partial shade, it is extremely drought-tolerant, and it has no disease or pest problems. The fine-textured foliage is rich green, forming a thick mat of leaves 2’-3’ tall by 4’-5’ wide.

Ever Red Loropetalum

This sturdy evergreen shrub has proven to be as strong as it is colorful. The dark purple leaves create a mass of color that will bring life to your garden all year. Deep red flowers in spring are a bonus on the 4’-6’ tall & wide plants.

Encore Azaleas

This collection of compact, evergreen azaleas produce flowers in the spring, summer, and fall! Encore azaleas come in many colors, but we have found that Autumn Ivory, Autumn Twist, Autumn Royalty, Autumn Lily, Autumn Fire, and Autumn Embers are the best performers for our climate. Encore Azaleas grow from 2 ½’-4’ tall & wide. They perform best in full sun, with fertilizer applied every 2 months in spring and summer.

Mrs. Schiller Delight Viburnum

A versatile native shrub that looks right at home, whether it is in a formal space or a natural garden. The dense evergreen foliage can be trimmed into tight shapes just like a boxwood, or allowed to grow into a loose shrub of 5’-6’ tall & wide. Expect masses of white lacey blooms each spring.

Soft Caress Mahonia

A bulletproof shrub for tricky garden spots. The mounding evergreen plants provide a beautiful, fine-textured foliage that is welcome in containers or mass planted in the ground. Small yellow flowers appear in winter or spring. Exceptionally drought tolerant plants grow 3’-4’ tall & wide.

Variegated Serissa

This vintage shrub has been used in southern gardens for decades. The durable evergreen plants survive in all manner of harsh conditions, though a little love will keep them looking their best 🙂 The fine-textured, creamy white leaves respond well to frequent pruning. Enjoy adorable, dainty white flowers sporadically throughout the year.

Shi Shi Gashira Camellia

One of Tallahassee’s favorite foundation plants. The compact, evergreen shrubs produce dark green, glossy leaves that perfectly set the backdrop for fuschia pink flowers in fall and winter. Shi Shi Gashira blooms early in fall and keeps going through the new year.

Gardenia

It just isn’t summer without the sweet fragrance of gardenia blooms wafting through the evening air. We do not always have the same mix of gardenia varieties in stock, all gardenias are evergreen, thrive in partial shade, and produce fragrant white blooms. Dwarf Gardenia is useful as a groundcover, while August Beauty, Jubilation, and Everblooming Gardenias grow into lovely shrubs that grow 4’-6’ tall & wide.

Hydrangeas

These southern classics produce colorful balls of joy-inducing flowers that come in varied shades of pink, white, purple, and blue! For many varieties the pH of your garden soil will determine the color of your blooms. Acid soils yield blue and purple blooms, while basic soils yield pink. Most white blooming varieties are not pH dependent. Modern reblooming varieties like Endless Summer produce flowers for months instead of weeks. 1. Bloomstruck, 2 & 3. Endless Summer Original (Blue/Pink), 4. Endless Summer Crush, 5. Snow Storm, 6. Double Delights Wedding Gown

Knockout Roses

Knockout Roses were the first truly easy-care roses to hit the market, and they still deliver on the promise of “a rose in every garden”. We have found the Red, Double Red, Pink, and Double Pink Knockout roses to be best for our climate. Cut back your Knockout roses every February for a fresh clean display each year.

Florida Anise

This gorgeous native evergreen shrub is a real problem solver. The compact plants can be maintained at 3’-4’ tall & wide, just the right size for a foundation plant. The lustrous green leaves and bright red flowers even thrive in shade and wet soil.

Silver Saw Palmetto

This special form of Saw Palmetto has pretty silver-grey fronds that add year-round color & texture to your home landscape. Plant in big groups for maximum impact.

Fakahatchee Grass

Beautiful, rich green leaves erupt from fountain-like evergreen clumps that grow 4’-6’ tall & wide. This native plant thrives in a wide range of conditions including full sun, poor soil, and periodically wet ground. The thick, flat leaf blades offer bold texture.

Variegated Aucuba

This classic southern plant proves that vintage style never goes out of fashion. Easy-to-grow plants thrive in shady locations where their colorful & glossy leaves will bring joy & light to your garden. We carry different varieties throughout the year, but most have dark green leaves with golden variegation, growing 3’-5’ tall and wide. Evergreen.

Indian Hawthorn

These compact, evergreen shrubs are a great choice for hot, sunny areas where other plants can’t make the cut. The dark green leaves form well-behaved mounds that explode with pink or white blooms in the spring. We carry improved varieties that are strong and disease-resistant.

Globe Cryptomeria

Attractive, textured evergreen shrub grows 5′ tall & 5′ wide. Excellent specimen for sunny gardens in the ground or in a container. The naturally rounded shrubs require very little care or maintenance to stay pretty year round.

Adagio Miscanthus

As strong a plant as you can ask for. Adagio is a compact grass that grows in the hottest, most intense sun you can find. The dense cluster of slender leaves produce graceful, feather-like flowers in the fall. Lovely in containers or in the ground.

Cerise Charm

Finally a well-behaved loropetalum! This truly dwarf evergreen shrub grows only 2’-3’ tall & spreads wide. The dark purple leaves offer color all year while bright pink flowers create a stunning show each spring.

Creeping Plum Yew

Rich, dark green leaves and finely-textured, evergreen leaves spread out to form a low carpet of foliage. These easy-care plants offer the textural impact of ferns, but they survive in poor soil and are drought tolerant. Creeping Plum Yew really shines when planted in a mass, perhaps surrounding a Japanese Maple focal point.

Butterfly Bush

So many colors to choose from! We carry a mix of compact and large-growing varieties in shades of pink, red, white, and purple. These perennial shrubs bring in the pollinators with their masses of fragrant flowers from spring through fall.