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 conifers. Another large family of plants is the Hollys (Ilex), with their varieties of leaf types and growth habits. Privet (Ligustrum) in the wild can become a pest or invasive plant, but many cultivars offer large or small leaves, vareigated, and controllable growth habit. Boxwoods (Buxus) offer simple evergreen shrubs to anchor hedges and rows; some Barberry (Berberis) varieties are evergreen, and Yews (Taxus) add attractive variety.
For multi-season appeal, Fothergilla (Fothergilla spp.) have a unique white bottlebrush bloom in spring and great yellow to red leaves in the Fall. The appeal of Blueberries (Vaccinum) is easily appreciated, though their flowers are quite small, the summer berries are a treat, and then your reward in Autumn is the changing colors of the leaves.
Early Yellow Bells (Forsythia) provide a bright showing, covering bare Spring branches with yellow trumpet shaped flowers before filling out in green. They are a hardy shrub and not at all fussy; if allowed to they will sucker and form clumps or colonies. Use them in masses to fill areas, and front them with flowers they can provide a green backdrop for during the rest of the year. Many Dogwoods (Cornus) are shrubs or small trees, and the redtwig varieties are selectively pruned to the ground to promote their namesake new growth.
Later Spring flowers will show on Lilac (Syringa) and Flowering Quince (Chaenomeles). For a unique shrub, the bright yellow Kerria (Kerria japonica) and fluffy double flowering Kerria (K. pleniflora) grow leggy and tall, then fountain down. Some support is preferred, and in the South some shade helps them. Even later, the Hydrangea (Hydrangea) blooms through the summer, and with the new cultivars they bloom on old and new growth, giving you more flowers and earlier blooming.
Through the dog days of summer, the Rose of Sharon, or Althaea (Hibiscus syriacus) will give you big blooms, with many shades to choose from. The tropical Hibiscus shows brightly in yellows, oranges and reds, while the temperate Hibiscus chooses cooler colors of white, blue, lavender, and pink. Shear them down in early Spring, or let them grow to 10 feet, they're happy and reliable. Plant them fairly close for a hedge, or a single specimen to highlight a summer area.
With this many great shrubs for full sun, you can create some shade and look for more!