If you’re lucky enough to garden in USDA Zone 6, you’re in for a real treat when the month of May rolls around! Yes, Zone 6 gardeners should prepare for unpredictable spring weather and maybe a sneaky frost in May, but the long winters and short summers of this region offer the home gardener variety. The month of May marks the last average frost date for many parts of the US within Zone 6, making it the perfect time to kick off spring gardening. Make the most out of the stark seasonal contrasts between a Zone 6 summer and winter by using evergreens for year-round landscape enjoyment and showstopping blooming trees and shrubs for explosive spring and summer floral color.
May offers the best weather to get into the Zone 6 garden and landscape before the real heat of summer kicks in. Cool nights and warm (not hot) days are ideal weather for newly planted trees and shrubs to settle in. The month also gives the late-summer bloomers plenty of time to prepare for their seasonal floral shows. Same goes for any evergreens you plant this time of year—get them in as soon as your area’s last frost date passes so they can develop a strong foundation to shine in winter.
Southern Living® Plant Collection has a number of Zone 6-appropriate flowering shrubs to beautify your yard in spring and summer, as well as verdant evergreens for year-round landscape interest.
Hydrangeas
Hydrangeas are the ultimate summer bloomer for Zone 6 gardens. Our collection has nine very different varieties: ‘Big Daddy’ is the classic-looking Bigleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla) with the BIG pompom-style blooms suitable for part to full shade; White Wedding®, suitable for full sun, is a panicle-type hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata) that is completely covered in pillowy cone-style white flowers all summer; and ‘Semmes Beauty’ Oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) produces clusters of lacy white flowers perched above gray-green, oakleaf-shaped leaves. Its flowers fade to soft pink and foliage turns bronze in fall, making it a two-season stunner.
Weigela
The funnel-shaped flowers of Weigela shine in the heart of spring and pop up again here and there throughout the summer months. Our collection contains two very different varieties—Shining Sensation™ with its hot-pink blooms and shiny burgundy foliage, and Rainbow Sensation®, a light-pink bloomer with variegated cream and green foliage that brightens up a garden. Bonus: Both are beloved by hummingbirds!
Evergreens
Put aside your notion of an evergreen for a moment. It doesn’t have to be “green” to bring a burst of year-round color. Take Forever Goldy Arborvitae, for example. Its gorgeous golden foliage adds lightness to a summertime landscape often dominated by green, and adds warm hues to a gray-brown winter scene.
Hollies are one of the few broadleaf evergreens common in landscapes. For example, Nelliet™ is a classic, dark-leaved and pyramidally shaped holly, while Golden Oakland is a surprising variegated take on the classic with its gold and cream leaves.
If classic green coniferous evergreens are what you’re looking for, but you need something small, Dragon Prince™ Cyptomeria is a fun alternative. It’s a round, 3-ft. tall shrub with somewhat stiff, light-green foliage perfect for edging a walkway. And the best part? The deer and rabbits will leave this one alone, so it’s perfect for a critter-proof planting!
The Southern Living Plant Collection has more stellar shrubs that shine in Zone 6—all of them guaranteed to make the most of both short summers and long winters. Find the plant you’re looking for and peruse the collection.
