The Best Native Shrubs for Year-Round Interest and Seasonal Color
Native shrubs offer some of the most reliable, low maintenance, and ecologically beneficial options ...
One summer day working at a client’s garden doing routine maintenance, I caught a whiff of a fragrance on the breeze. After searching for the source, I came upon a mid-sized shrub full of narrow, spike-like creamy white flowers with an extremely sweet fragrance that was alive with insects. That was my first experience seeing a Sweetbush (also known as Clethra alnifolia or Sweet Pepperbush) at its peak of bloom and fragrance, and I will never forget it. Clethra is one of the best shrubs for late summer color and fragrance.
Clethra has lots of other reasons to grow besides the knock-out fragrance and the beautiful abundant flowers. The yellow fall color is a standout, and the shrubs shine with a clear yellow light even on a dreary day. Exfoliating bark with glossy dark green leaves, the fragrant flowers are followed by brown capsules, which attract small mammals and birds. All these attributes give this shrub exceptional four season interest in the landscape. A tall (6-10’’), many branched, deciduous shrub, clethra often spreads into mounded clumps.
In my own work, I often group Clethra in borders to create dramatic visual impact. For one client, I designed a healing labyrinth and surrounded it with Clethras, which now light up the entire area each fall with their vibrant yellow foliage.
With no serious pest or disease issues, and rarely browsed by deer, Clethra is a truly low-maintenance native shrub. As noted plantsman Michael Dirr says:
“This is one of my favorite shrubs, and the more I work with it, the greater my appreciation for its user-friendly nature.”
Whether you’re looking to attract pollinators, reduce stormwater runoff, add four-season interest, or plant in tricky wet or shady areas, Clethra alnifolia is the answer. It’s beautiful, functional, and entirely underused in modern gardens. Shop Clethra Now!
Claire is a horticulturalist and landscape design consultant. Owner of Claire Jones Landscapes, LLC, Claire’s designed gardens have been featured in print publications like WSJ and Style Magazine. A garden writer at The Garden Diaries, Claire maintains 3 honeybee hives and gardens at her home in Maryland.
