19 Best Shrubs to Plant in September

Shrubs are an important part of both natural ecosystems and landscape design, and September is a great time to plant them. These species bridge the gap between low-growing herbaceous plants and towering shade trees. They provide form, structure, wildlife habitat, food, and plenty of intrinsic beauty. Shrubs can be used to provide barriers, privacy screens, and erosion control. Shrubs are long-lived and provide year-round interest for your landscape. 

Do you have space for a shrub? If so, gather your supplies and prepare to start digging because fall is a great time for planting! You’ll find an assortment of highly varied options no matter where you live. 

Azalea

Azaleas are highly varied and wildly popular landscaping shrubs that are popular for September plantings. These extremely showy shrubs put forth their eye-popping blooms each spring. A healthy azalea can be almost entirely covered with showy, brightly-colored blooms in vivid shades of white, pink, red, and purple. For the rest of the year, the evergreen or semi-evergreen foliage makes a good backdrop for other seasonal blooming annuals and perennials. 

For maximum curb appeal, plant several azaleas together to create a hedge or cluster planting. Choose a site with dappled shade and moist, rich, acidic soil with good drainage. Plants grown in favorable conditions are very easy to grow and low-maintenance, providing ornamental interest for many years. 

Camellia

Commonly planted in September or fall months, camellia are popular shrubs that originated in Asia. There are dozens of cultivars with a spectacular array of flower colors and types, including single and double blooms in varying shades of white, pink, red, and bicolor. Most people grow camellias for their showy, long-lasting flowers that bloom anytime from fall through winter and spring, attracting cool-season pollinators and adding some zing to your winter garden. 

These shrubs have large, glossy, evergreen leaves, so you will always have their greenery to enjoy. Camellias are slow-growing and love shaded locations. Grow them along a shaded side of your home or as part of a woodland garden. The soil should be moist, acidic, and well-drained. 

Dwarf Chinese Holly

The dwarf Chinese holly is one of those evergreen shrubs that makes an excellent low hedge planting to plant in September. The thick, glossy green leaves have a sharp point at the tip and provide a solid year-round wall of greenery. Since this holly typically stays less than four feet tall, it won’t act as a privacy screen or windbreak but rather makes an attractive low border.

Dwarf Chinese holly has clusters of fragrant white flowers that bloom in the spring. These plants are dioecious, so unless both male and female plants are grown together, they won’t produce any berry-like fruits. Grow Chinese holly in acidic, moist, well-drained soil. These plants perform well in full sun or partial shade.

Fringe Flower

The fringe flower, also known as the Chinese fringe flower, is a broadleaf evergreen native to Asia. This compact shrub can be trimmed into a neat hedge or allowed to sprawl in its natural form. It grows well in either full sun or partial shade and prefers moist, well-drained soil.

Fringe flower is named for its showy pink or red fringe-like blossoms that bloom en masse during winter and spring. The ‘Rubrum’ cultivar has evergreen foliage with a burgundy or maroon hue to add a splash of year-round color. The leaves have a slightly rough, hairy texture that makes them feel slightly sticky to the touch. Fresh young leaves emerge red and darken with time.

Gardenia

Gardenias are native to tropical Asia and popular in warmer climates. Their beautiful, fragrant flowers can bloom at any time of year, although in the cooler parts of their range, they typically bloom in late spring and early summer. Plant these shrubs in September to ensure a prolific show next season.

This species has large, glossy green leaves that keep them looking vibrant throughout the year. If grown as a potted plant, gardenias can be brought in for the winter to protect them from freezing.

Gardenias are high-maintenance plants and require regular care. In order to keep them bushy and robust, prune your gardenia after flowering. Fertilize regularly and use nutrient-rich compost to encourage healthy flowers and leaves. Keep the soil moist, but avoid sprinkling water on the leaves to discourage fungal infestations and leaf spot.

Highbush Blueberry

Here’s a hardy shrub with so many favorable characteristics that it’s hard not to love. The highbush blueberry is a deciduous native shrub from open woodlands and shrublands of eastern North America. There are a multitude of different blueberry species and cultivars, and they all need acidic soil to perform well and produce fruits. In addition, blueberries love plenty of sunlight with consistently moist yet well-drained soil and plenty of nutritious organic matter.

If you’ve got the right conditions for a highbush blueberry, this is a welcome shrub for landscaping. Blueberry plants have ornamental, white, bell-like flowers in the spring that pollinators can’t resist. During the summer, they produce an abundance of delicious and nutritious fruits. If you don’t eat the fruits, birds will help themselves so you’ll have a natural bird-feeding station. Finally, in the fall, be prepared for a showy scarlet red foliage display.

Large Fothergilla

Large fothergilla is an understory plant native to open woodlands of the southeastern United States. This medium-sized deciduous shrub prefers some shade with well-drained medium-moisture soil. In the home landscape, it would be a lovely addition to a woodland shade garden or pollinator garden. Prune any unwanted root suckers or allow it to colonize a larger naturalized plot.

The large fothergilla is a spring-blooming plant with fragrant white bottle-brush flowers. These showy flowers attract spring pollinators, and the later seed pods attract foraging birds. In the fall, it puts on a colorful display of golden-yellow, orange, and burgundy-red foliage. You’ll want this plant in a prominent location where you can enjoy its varied seasonal beauty.

Lavender Cotton

This broadleaf evergreen is native to the Mediterranean region. This small shrub has a lot of garden appeal and can be planted in September in most settings. It makes a great addition to your rock garden or xeriscape, or grow several together to form a low shrubby border at the edge of your perennial garden or herb garden.

Lavender cotton is pale silvery green, with highly textured leaves with a distinctive pungent scent. It blooms in the summer with multiple tall flowering stalks, each topped with a semi-circle of flowers. These flowering masses are comprised of many densely packed tubular flowers to form a very showy bright yellow mass. 

Leatherleaf Viburnum

Leatherleaf viburnum is a medium-sized shrub native to China. This showy shrub has large, oval, crinkly-textured leaves measuring up to six inches long and three inches wide. The leaves are semi-evergreen in colder climates but evergreen in warmer climates, providing year-round color and texture. Leatherleaf viburnum is a wonderful option for a mixed-species hedgerow.

In late spring, the leatherleaf viburnum blooms with many dense clusters of creamy white flowers. Butterflies and bees visit the flowers, searching for their abundant nectar. In the fall, showy black or burgundy red berries form, lasting into the winter months, attracting foraging birds.

Dwarf Mugho Pine

The Mugho pine is an ornamental needled evergreen native to Europe. There are many dwarf cultivars available that stay remarkably compact and are perfect for landscaping in smaller places. You’ll need to live in a cool climate, however, as this little pine tree loves winter weather and cool summers. It also needs plenty of sun with moist, well-drained soil. 

Mugho pine has stiff, bright green needles that form bushy, bottle-brush branches. These miniature trees grow slowly and typically have a very attractive, rounded form. Grow a Mugho pine in a rock garden or patio garden. Allow it some space so it can be the center of attention without being crowded by other vegetation. 

Ninebark

Ninebark is a deciduous shrub native to central and eastern North America. In its northern range, it grows best in full sun, while in the southern part of its range, it appreciates moderate shade. Grow it in average-quality, acidic soil with good drainage. If you’re looking for a versatile native shrub with excellent ornamental value, give ninebark some consideration. 

Ninebark is a wonderful addition to your pollinator-friendly garden. This medium-sized shrub blooms in late spring with rounded clusters of white blossoms. The best time for pruning these shrubs is immediately after flowering so they have time to develop wood for next year’s blooms. The name ninebark refers to its brown and gray exfoliating bark, which adds winter interest to the landscape. 

Oakleaf Hydrangea

The oakleaf hydrangea is a deciduous shrub native to the southeastern United States. This medium-sized shrub has a somewhat irregularly rounded crown. Its large palmate leaves have a slightly rough or leathery texture and have good fall color. The flowers bloom from late spring through summer and really steal the show. Impressively large clusters of white, creamy, pink, or pale lavender flowers appear in rounded or elongated panicles and attract pollinators. 

If you’re needing to prune your oakleaf hydrangea, do so immediately after flowering because next year’s flowers form on old wood. These native hydrangeas prefer a shaded location with rich, moist soil with good drainage. Use them as part of a hedge or give them a prominent location in your woodland shade garden where you can appreciate their spectacular flowers. 

Oregon Grape

West Coast gardeners are probably already familiar with the Oregon grape, also known as the Oregon grape holly or holly-leaved barberry. This evergreen shrub is native to moist, shaded woodlands of northern North America. In the home landscape, give it a shaded location with well-drained, rich, acidic soil. 

The Oregon grape spreads by root suckers and will form multi-stemmed colonies. Allow them to spread a little because these plants look best with several growing together, giving them a more robust appearance. In spring, Oregon grape produces masses of bright yellow flowers which mature into purplish-black fruits that closely resemble a cluster of grapes. Birds love the fruits and you can also harvest them to make jams and jellies.

Rosemary

Rosemary is a familiar herb native to Mediterranean regions of Europe, Africa, and Asia. This distinctively scented ornamental shrub loves full sun and well-drained soil. It’s a good herb for container gardening and raised beds and is attractive enough to grow purely as an ornamental or used as a culinary herb, or both! 

Rosemary blooms in late spring and early summer. The small, pale purple flowers attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. The highly aromatic foliage is small, stiff, and evergreen. Rosemary develops into a rounded, many-branched shrub and can be pruned to encourage bushier growth. There are many Rosemary cultivars with slight variations in flowers and form.

Russian Sage

Russian sage is a small perennial shrub native to Asia where it grows in dry grasslands. In cultivation, these plants have an appealing form and generally reach between two and three feet tall. However, during peak flowering, their flowering stems stretch up to four feet high. This plant loves full sun with well-drained soil and is a great option for a pollinator garden or perennial xeriscape.

Russian sage has beautiful silvery-green leaves with a distinctive scent when crushed or rubbed. It blooms in late summer and into fall and suddenly comes to life as pollinators abound. The dramatic branching panicles of showy lavender-blue flowers glow in the afternoon sun, making the Russian sage a welcome addition to your landscape. 

Shrubby Cinquefoil

Shrubby cinquefoil is a bushy, rounded shrub that’s well-adapted to September plantings in cooler climates. This native plant is easy to grow and makes a great border, low hedge, or single specimen. Use it in a pollinator garden, rock garden, or naturalized area as long as it receives plenty of bright sunlight and well-drained soil. 

In summer and fall, when it’s in full bloom, the shrubby cinquefoil is full of single, bright yellow flowers. These cheerful flowers will light up your landscape and attract butterflies and bees. Prune your cinquefoil during the winter to help this plant keep its rounded form. Without regular pruning, it has a tendency to look messy. Check out some of the many beautiful cultivars with varied forms and flower colors.

Smokebush

Smokebush, or smoketree, is named after its hazy halo of mid-summer flowers. At peak bloom, your smokebush will appear surrounded by a cloud of reddish-pink mist as the wispy flowering panicles open up. Individual flowers are inconspicuous, but the overall flowering effect is very dramatic. 

Smokebush grows best in full sun and also tolerates dappled afternoon shade. It requires well-drained soil but isn’t picky about soil quality and grows well in average to rich soil types, including clay soils. If you think the show is over when your smokebush finishes flowering, just wait until fall when its autumn leaves become vibrant shades of golden yellow and burgundy red.

Willowleaf Cotoneaster

The willowleaf cotoneaster is a small shrub with evergreen foliage and attractive flowers. Give this cotoneaster plenty of space to sprawl because its trailing branches will occupy plenty of room. It may grow only two or three feet tall, but a single plant will spread up to six feet wide.

Willowleaf cotoneaster’s oblong, glossy green leaves take on a burgundy tinge in the fall and winter. Bunches of white blossoms bloom in the spring and attract pollinators. Bright red berries form in the fall and persist well into winter. Use willowleaf cotoneaster as a shrub border or use it to cover a larger patch of bare ground in a xeriscape landscape.

Winter Heath

Winter heath is a low-growing shrub that appreciates the mild planting weather of September to get established. It makes a superb ground cover. This compact woody plant has tiny evergreen leaves and a sprawling habit. It grows only one foot tall and should be pruned after flowering to encourage branching and a dense growth pattern. 

Winter heath loves a cooler climate with cool summers. It flowers in late winter and early spring, sometimes even flowering in the snow. These plants require very well-drained soil and don’t tolerate wet roots. If you’re looking for a lovely little evergreen for a container garden or raised bed, this hardy heath would be a great choice.