Top 10 Series | Best Shrubs for Your Ottawa Garden

In anticipation of spring, we’ve gathered our top ten picks for the best shrubs for your garden. These are our favourite choices for hardiness, reliability, long flowering periods, and disease resistance. Each of these shrubs can easily take centre stage in your garden this coming season, with the added bonus of being low maintenance and easy to care for.

Best Shrubs for Your Garden

1. Amethyst Coralberry
   Symphoricarpos x doorenbosii
   A tough, reliable shrub with soft green foliage and delicate coral pink berries that appear late in the season, adding interest well into fall.
   
   

   

2. Common Lilac
   Syringa vulgaris
   A classic garden favourite with fragrant spring blooms that never go out of style and become a long lived legacy plant in the landscape.
   
   

   

3. Hydrangea Bobo
   Hydrangea paniculata
   A compact hydrangea covered in large white blooms that blush pink as the season cools, perfect for small gardens and front borders.
   
   

   

4. Summersweet Hummingbird
   Clethra alnifolia
   A fragrant mid summer bloomer with white bottlebrush flowers that thrives in part shade and attracts pollinators.
   
   

   

5. Serviceberry
   Amelanchier canadensis
   A beautiful native shrub offering white spring flowers, edible berries for birds in summer, and stunning red and orange fall colour.
   
   

   

6. Barberry Concord
   Berberis thunbergii
   A low growing, well behaved shrub with deep purple foliage that provides strong colour contrast and excellent drought tolerance.
   
   

   

7. Beauty Bush Dream Catcher
   Kolkwitzia amabilis
   A graceful shrub with arching branches and soft pink spring blooms that create a romantic, cottage garden feel.
   
   

   

8. Highbush Cranberry
   Viburnum trilobum
   A hardy native shrub with spring flowers, vibrant red berries in fall, and excellent seasonal colour.
   
   

   

9. Spirea Neon Flash
   Spiraea japonica
   A compact shrub with vivid pink flowers that pop against dark green foliage and rebloom throughout the summer.
   
   

   

10. Weigela Wine and Roses
    Weigela florida
    A striking shrub with deep purple foliage and rich pink flowers that offers season long interest and strong garden presence.
    
    

    

Shrubs are truly the backbone of a well designed garden, providing structure, colour, and interest through multiple seasons. If you are looking to create a beautiful, low maintenance landscape, adding shrubs is one of the best investments you can make. Stop by the garden centre and let our knowledgeable staff help you choose the right shrubs for your space, light conditions, and garden goals.