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Selecting shrubs for your sunny landscape area would be easy, except there are so many to choose from! For every growing zone and every location there is a selection of Cotoneaster, Viburnum or Euonymus to suit your needs. Let's look at some of the less considered shrubs that like the sun.

A popular choice is the Butterfly Bush (Buddleja). Available colors include white, purples, blues, pinks, and yellow. Now there are available some dwarf varieties that don't exceed 4-6 feet, and the older varieties that go ten feet. They can be grown out or pruned to most any size, and are hardy most everywhere. Foliage varies from silvery gray to green. Deer avoid them nicely. A vigorous grower, it tolerates most conditions, and is rewarding for folks just getting their hands in the dirt.

For a delicate spring flower, the Mock Orange (Philadelphus) is a good shrub with fine foliage and flowers, growing to about five feet in height. Many varieties are fragrant, but some are not, so be sure to check the variety. The single flowering 'Avalanche' has fragrant flowers about an inch across. The double flowering variety 'Virginal' has intense sweet perfumed fragrance and two inch wide double flowers. These are not to be missed.

If very early fragrant flowers are desired, try the Honeysuckle Bush (Lonicera fragrantissima). Though deciduous, the bare branches will open small flowers in January in the South, and a little later to the North, that scent the breeze with a sweet aroma that hints of lemon. After producing that wonderful aroma for a month or more, the leaves finally grow to cover the tangly branches in green. Plant them where the breeze will bring the aroma to you, a sweet promise of Spring to come.

No discussion of shrubs is complete without Azaleas (Rhododendron spp.). Azaleas have come to us in all colors except blue, many sizes, large or small leaves, single or double flowers, deciduous or evergreen - the choices seem endless. All bloom profusely in the spring. While they tolerate a great amount of shade, particularly in the South, they are happy in full sun as long as they are mulched and have good moisture with good drainage.

Evergreens serve a much needed place, enlivening the winter with their resilient beauty. Junipers (Juniperus) top the evergreen list, with sizes and foliage varieties to satisfy most every need. Many of their greens are quite blue, complimenting early yellow daffodils and later Stella D'Oro daylillies. But the evergreen choices are not limited to

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