Native Trees and Shrubs for Connecticut Gardens

Native trees and shrubs are an essential part of any Connecticut garden. In addition to offering year round beauty with colorful fruit, flowers and fall foliage, they are also an important source of food and shelter for local wildlife. 

Native Evergreens

Evergreens are a great way to provide year round structure in your garden. American holly (Ilex opaca) is a large pyramidal shrub for full sun to partial shade areas that appreciates some shelter from winter winds.

Its bright red berries will definitely draws birds to your garden in the fall and winter. If you’re looking for a smaller evergreen shrub, consider planting inkberry (Ilex glabra). A less formal option to boxwood, inkberry has shiny, narrow leaves and a compact, dense shape. It is highly adaptable and tolerates a variety of soil and light conditions.

Flowering Natives

Every garden, regardless of its size, should have at least one native flowering tree. A true multi-season star is serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis), a small woodland tree often grown as a large multi-trunked shrub. 

Serviceberries tolerate a wide range of soil and light conditions. White flowers in the early spring are an important source of nectar for insects, blue berries in the summer are a favorite of birds and brilliant fall foliage rivals the display put on by many non-native trees.

Flowering shrubs are a main stay of many Connecticut gardens, and for good reason. They provide longer color, with less effort, than many perennials.  ‘Annabelle’ smoothleaf  hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’) may not be as well-known or colorful as her mop-headed cousins but she still deserves a place in your garden. 

White flowers, regardless of soil pH, open in early summer and look good into the fall.  Since smoothleaf hydrangeas flowers on new wood, they typically do not suffer from winter bud damage that can plaque some other hydrangeas.  The cultivar ‘Invincibelle Spirit’ has pink flowers.

Another underused native shrub is high bush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum). Yes, the same shrub that produces those luscious berries we love to eat in the summer is also a terrific multi-season ornamental shrub. 

Clusters of white, bell-shaped flowers attract pollinators in the spring just as the leaves unfurl.  Delicious berries cover this deer-resistant shrub in summer and, of course, are edible if you can get to them before the birds do. Leaves turn a brilliant red in the fall and the tips of the stems have a light reddish- pink color in the winter. For optimal performance, plant groups of blueberry shrubs in full sun.

For a list of other native trees and shrubs for Connecticut gardens, visit the websites of the Connecticut Botanical Society,  Connecticut Agriculture and Experiment Station or UCONN Plant Database.