Yellow Flowering Shrubs for Theme Gardens

Forsythia ‘Sunrise’ – Zones 4-8. Forsythias are one of the most well-known spring flowering shrubs and the bright golden flowers are a welcome sight in late winter and early spring. Sunrise is a smaller form of the shrub and grows only 4-6 foot tall with a spread of about 6 foot wide. Forsythia is a deciduous shrub, so it will loose its leaves during winter each year. The yellow flowers bloom on bare branches creating a striking effect in the early spring garden. Consider planting ‘Sunrise’ forsythia, or another forsythia shrub as an accent planting in your yellow flowering themed garden.

Barberry ‘Emerald Carousel’ (Berberis ‘Tara’) – Zones 4-7. Beautiful, tear-drop yellow flowers grace the arching branches of this barberry and add an accent to a yellow theme garden. Barberry plants do well with light watering and are typically deer-resistant in many areas. The ‘Emerald Carousel’ has bright green leaves in the spring that turn burgundy each fall providing a nice autumn contrasting color in your yellow garden. Barberry plants also provide winter interest making it a great year-round garden shrub selection.

Potentilla ‘Goldfinger’ (Potentilla fruticosa ‘Goldfinger’) – Zones 2-7. This attractive potentilla is larger than some of the other yellow-flowering cultivars and will grow about 3′ tall and wide. In ‘Goldfinger’ potentilla the bright golden flowers appear in early summer and will last for weeks throughout the growing season. A hardy perennial, potentilla shrubs are easy to care for and will tolerate different soil types and is easy-to-maintain. A deciduous shrub, potentilla only needs some minor pruning every couple of years to prevent woody, twiggy growth.

Witch Hazel ‘Winter Beauty’ (Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Winter Beauty’) – Zones 5-9. A large ornamental shrub or small ornamental tree, the ‘Winter Beauty’ witch hazel only grows 8-12′ tall. Witch hazels tolerate sun to part shade and the ‘Winter Beauty’ boasts orange-yellow mid winter flowers. The flowers are fragrant and provide a lot of winter interest.

St. John’s Wort ‘Gemo’ (Hypericum kalmianum ‘Gemo’) – Zones 4-9. Even though the ‘Gemo’ St. John’s Wort is a compact shrub growing only 3′ tall and 4′ wide, the flowering season is big. Gardeners can expect bright yellow flowers from mid-summer through the fall season when they provide this St. John’s Wort with plenty of water. St. John’s Wort tolerates full sun to part shade, and is a deciduous shrub that will provide beautiful gold flowers for your yellow themed garden.

See more resources for Yellow Themed Garden Plants.