A fast, suckering native shrub of streambanks and moist thickets across eastern North America, grown for huge flat-topped cymes of tiny lemon-scented white flowers in early summer and the clusters of dark elderberry drupes that follow. Spreads by root suckers into naturalized colonies 5-12 feet tall and wide; the flowers feed butterflies and the showy fruit feeds birds. The raw berries are not eaten fresh — they are cooked into jelly, pie, and wine.

A native southeastern US deciduous shrub with deep-red strap-petaled fragrant flowers in late spring — the scent variously described as strawberry, banana, or wine, and reliably present only on cultivated cultivars with selected fragrance. Among the most distinctive native shrubs for woodland-edge and shaded mixed borders.

A native North American deciduous shrub with exfoliating bark (hence "ninebark"), white-to-pink spring flower clusters, papery red seedpods, and reliable fall color. Colored-foliage cultivars (Diabolo, Coppertina, Summer Wine) extend the design palette. Adaptable + drought-tolerant once established.

A four-season native shrub of the southeastern United States, where NC State Extension notes it grows wild in moist woods and along stream banks. It is an upright, multi-stemmed deciduous shrub, slow-growing to roughly 4-8 feet tall and 4-10 feet wide, named for its large, oak-shaped, lobed dark-green leaves. Showy pyramidal 4-12 inch panicles of creamy-white flowers open from late spring into summer and fade to pink and then tan, while the bold foliage turns wine, orange, and mahogany in fall over peeling cinnamon bark. Easy and low-maintenance in organically rich, well-drained soil, it is grown as a specimen, in masses, or as an informal hedge.

A native eastern North American deciduous shrub of swamps + damp thickets + sandy woods producing fragrant white-to-pink upright flower spikes in late summer when few other shrubs are blooming. Among the most fragrant native shrubs available; deer-resistant; tolerates wet feet + occasional flooding. Outstanding choice for rain gardens, shady borders, and low-maintenance native plantings.

A native eastern North American deciduous shrub with fragrant pendant white flower spikes in late spring, brilliant red-purple fall color (often holding leaves into early winter), and excellent wet-soil tolerance. NC State documents it as deer-resistant + suckering-form. Outstanding rain garden + woodland-edge specimen.