A drought-and-flood-tolerant native shrub of eastern North America with brilliant three-season interest — spring white-pink flowers, glossy black antioxidant-rich late-summer berries, and brilliant wine-red fall foliage — plus an extraordinarily wide cold-hardiness range (USDA 3a-8b). The berries are astringent fresh but the basis of a small but growing commercial industry (juices, wines, jams, supplements) for their exceptionally high anthocyanin content. Spreads by suckers; site where colony formation is welcome.

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 thornless native bramble grown for its flowers, not its fruit. Large, fragrant rose-purple to magenta blooms open over a long stretch of summer above big, soft, maple-like leaves on bristly (but prickle-free) canes. Native to the woodland edges and rocky slopes of eastern North America, it suckers into loose colonies 3-6 feet tall and is one of the few shade-tolerant, showy-flowered shrubs in the genus Rubus. The flat red aggregate fruit that follows is edible but dry and seedy — most gardeners grow this plant for the bloom and the unarmed, handsome foliage.

A dense, mounded deciduous shrub from Japan and China, grown for flat-topped corymbs of tiny pink flowers that cover the foliage from June into July above oval, sharply-toothed leaves. Easy and low-maintenance in full sun, it tolerates clay, deer, erosion, and urban conditions. It is also an aggressive self-seeder that has escaped gardens and naturalized across the eastern U.S., where several states list it as invasive.

A dense Mediterranean-native evergreen shrub that flowers in the depths of winter — flat white flower heads opening from pink buds, followed by metallic blue-black berries. One of the best evergreen hedging, screening, and pollution-tolerant shrubs for mild gardens, valued for shade tolerance and winter nectar. Honest caution: the berries are mildly toxic to people if eaten in quantity.