Shrubs That Like Full Sun & Wet Soil

As the sun casts its glow onto the landscape, sun-loving shrubs emerge to light up the garden. Shrubs that require moist, wet soil often require well-drained, nutrient-laden soil. Grown in a wide range, each with its own distinct shape, size, color and texture, shrubs create a vibrant landscape presence and are a garden essential.

Butterfly Bush

Butterfly bushes (Buddleia davidii) are deciduous shrubs with a rapid growth rate and medium to course texture. Drought-tolerant and easy to transplant, butterfly bushes grow 5 to 10 feet tall and 6 to 8 feet wide. Butterfly bushes have a rounded, large form with arching branches and colorful flowerheads. The flower blooms grow in 4- to 10-inch panicles that grow in a wide range of colors including white, yellow, lilac, pink and purple. Emerging in summer to last into fall, butterfly bushes are fragrant and attract butterflies and bumblebees. The long gray to blue-green leaves on the butterfly bush grow 4 to 10 inches long. Butterfly bush shrubs prefer full sun and moist, well-drained soil. Adaptable, the butterfly bush tolerates a wide range of soil types. The USDA hardiness zone for planting is 5 to 9.

Blue Moss Cypress

Blue moss cypress (Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Boulevard') is an evergreen shrub that prefers full sun and moist, well-drained soil to thrive. Grown for its showy foliage, blue moss cypress shrubs grow 6 to 10 feet tall and 3 feet wide, ideal for lining a backyard patio for privacy. Heat-tolerant and with a moderate growth rate, blue moss cypress shrubs have an upright, dense form that is pyramidal and symmetrical in shape. The silver-blue and green leaves are soft and curving with an awl-shape. Turning bronze in winter, blue moss cypress retain their needles all year long. This plant thrives in USDA hardiness zones 4 to 8.

Korean Viburnum

Korean viburnum (Viburnum carlesii) is a deciduous shrub that requires full sun and moist, well-drained soils. Also known as Koreanspice, the shrubs have a fragrance that resembles a spice cake, hence the name. Korean viburnum grows 3 to 6 feet high and wide with an irregular, dense form that has upright branches. Medium in texture, the foliage on Korean viburnum ranges from dark green to gray green with a toothed edging that bears the flower buds. Korean viburnum leaves grow 1 to 4 inches long to turn red in fall for an attractive, showy display. The white to pink flowerheads grow 2 to 3 inches wide and attract butterflies and songbirds. Adaptable, Korean viburnum shrubs tolerate a wide range of soil types, including clay soils. The zone for planting is 4 to 7.