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 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.

A native eastern + central North American multi-stemmed deciduous shrub with dentate (toothed) foliage, white spring flower clusters, blue-black drupes, and reliable fall color. Especially valued for wildlife — among the most-cited native shrubs for fall-migration bird forage.