Here in Niagara, early spring brings a plethora of blooms. With all the fruit trees, magnolias and forsythias, there is no end of flowers.

But as we move into early summer, we start to lose some of that magic of spring and need to add in some shrubs that will extend interest and colour into summer.

Here are a few shrubs that will keep your garden bursting with blooms.

Summer Snowflake viburnum (Viburnum plicatum tomentosa ‘Summer Snowflake’)

A showy, medium-sized shrub with a broadly rounded form. The tiered horizontal branches magnificently display the showy white, lacecap flower clusters.

This viburnum is a repeat bloomer, flowering at least three times per year. Does well in full sun or part shade.

It can be used as an excellent specimen plant, in a mixed garden, or even as a hedging plant. Summer Snowflake can reach eight to 12 feet tall and six to eight feet wide. Possibly larger with age.

Weigela (Weigela florida)

Weigelas are an old-fashioned shrub that has been used in gardens for a long time. They are known for their brightly coloured trumpet-like flowers. The flower colour ranges from white to like pink to bright pink to red. Because of the tubular flower shape, hummingbirds just love them.

In recent years, they have developed several varieties with different leaf colours such as burgundy, gold and variegated (white, green and pink leaves). They have also developed many varieties that are dwarf and fit into any garden.

Some of the varieties that I often use in designs are: Sonic Bloom (a heavy, flowering shrub that grows about four feet tall), Spilled Wine (a dwarf variety with burgundy leaves), and My Monet (a dwarf form with white, green and pink leaves). The dwarf forms grow about two to three feet high and wide.

Fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus)

Fringe tree is a small, deciduous tree in the olive family (Oleaceae). It is native to the Carolinas up to southern Ontario. Its genus name comes from the Greek chion, meaning “snow,” and anthos, meaning “flower.”

This plant grows best in full to part sun, with the best foliage in partial shade and the best flowering in full sun. It can tolerate a moist clay soil and can also tolerate some drought.

Fringetree grows from 12 to 20 feet tall and wide, naturally with a multi-stemmed, rounded habit, though it can be trained into a single trunk. In late spring or early summer, unique, fragrant flower clusters with creamy white fringe-like petals appear.

There are both male and female plants. The male flowers have longer and coarser petals. The female produces showy blue-black fruits, maturing in late summer, which provide a food source for birds and wildlife. Both male and female plants are required for cross-pollination.

A clear yellow colour appears to provide some brightness to the fall landscape, and the bark, with its scaly dark brown ridges and red furrows, brings winter interest. In the nursery, it may be difficult to determine if the plants are male or female unless they have fruits present.

Fringe tree is a nice specimen plant in lawns and also works well as a flowering tree in a native garden. Plant it in small groups along a woodland border or take advantage of the sweetly scented blooms in a children’s or sensory garden

Chinese flowering dogwood (Cornus kousa)

There are a few species of flowering dogwood. Our native one, Cornus florida, blooms early spring before the leaves emerge. The Chinese flowering Dogwood (Cornus kousa) starts blooming early June through to late June.

Chinese flowering dogwood is a small, deciduous flowering tree or multi-stemmed shrub that typically grows 15 to 30 feet tall, with a vase-shaped habit in the early years but eventually maturing to a more rounded form.

The showy parts of the kousa dogwood “flower” (approximately three to five inches in diameter) are the four narrowly pointed petal-like white bracts which surround the center cluster of insignificant, yellowish-green, true flowers.

The flowers are followed by red, strawberry-like fruit in summer and persist into fall. Fruits are technically edible, but are usually left for the birds.

Dark green leaves turn attractive shades of reddish-purple to scarlet in autumn. Mottled, exfoliating, tan and gray bark on mature trees is attractive in winter.

Need to add colour and interest to your June garden? Check out these plants the next time you are at the garden centre.

Joanne Young is a Niagara-on-the-Lake garden expert and coach. See her website at joanneyoung.ca