The 5 Most Exciting Flowering Shrubs for Your Garden in 2012

Online, September 2, 2011 (Newswire.com) - If you are looking to add exciting color and interest into your garden from spring until frost, with very little work required, consider these new shrubs from the Proven Winners® ColorChoice® line of flowering shrubs. All of these new shrubs will be widely available in garden centers across North America in spring 2012.

Lo & Behold® 'Purple Haze' Butterfly Bush (Buddleia)
The newest addition to the Lo & Behold series of dwarf, eco-friendly butterfly bush, 'Purple Haze' features uniquely horizontal branches produce and abundance of dark purple-blue flowers. Its feathery, deep green leaves make it an excellent ground covering plant. It is continuous blooming, and sterile so you don't get unwanted seedlings in the garden.
* Fragrant purple-blue flowers from mid-summer to frost.
* Attractive to butterflies and hummingbirds, but not to deer.
* Spreading habit. Non-invasive.
* Size: 24"-36"
* Hardy in USDA zones 5 - 9

Double Play® Big Bang Spirea (Spirea)
Double Play spiraea are known for both colorful flowers and colorful foliage. This newest addition to the Double Play series features massive pink flowers of a size never seen before on a spiraea. Foliage glows orange in the spring, before turning bright yellow. Adaptable and easy to grow, this is a great plant for landscaping.
* Massive pink flowers bloom against the bright yellow foliage.
* Season long color. Glowing orange spring foliage.
* Deer resistant. Easy to grow.
* Size: 24 - 36"
* Hardy in USDA zones 4 - 9

Bloom-A-Thon® Reblooming Azaleas (Rhododendron)
Why settle for just a week or two of flowers when you can enjoy up to five months of blooms? Large flowers appear in April, and then rebloom in early July, continuing through fall until hard frost. There are four Bloom-A-Thon varieties with blossom colors of white, red, pink and dark lavender. Although there are some significant differences among the four, they share the remarkable characteristics of heavy blooming for four to six weeks in April and May, then a second equally heavy blooming period for 12 to 14 weeks starting in late July. The evergreen foliage is disease resistant, and maintains excellent color year-round.
* Four colors available: Lavender, Pink Double, Red and White
* Flowering lasts for 4-6 weeks in spring, and then another 12-16 weeks in summer and fall.
* Sizes ranges from 2 to 2.5 feet (White) to 5 to 6 feet (Lavender).
* Hardy in USDA zones 6 - 9
* Likely will be hardy for much colder zones; cold-hardiness is still being evaluated.

Pink Home Run® Landscape Rose (Rosa)
Home Run roses are recently developed hybrids, derived from a bestselling black spot-free rose, with the added benefit of the highest resistance to powdery mildew. Home Run roses are easy-to-grow, thrive in most landscape conditions and require little maintenance. They are also tolerant of heat, humidity and drought, bloom from spring until frost and produce nearly non-stop blooms. Pink Home Run is identical in every way to Home Run rose except for the flower color. This sport of Home Run has showy 3-inch wide, 5-petal blossoms of an intense shade of pink.
* Highest resistance to both black spot and powdery mildew.
* High level of tolerance to downy mildew.
* Heat tolerant. Cold hardy. Requires no deadheading.
* Size: 3.5 to 4 feet tall - fits gardens large & small.
* Hardy in USDA zones 4 - 9.

Little Lime™ Hardy Hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata)
The new Little Lime Hydrangea boasts the same colors and benefits of the famous 'Limelight' hydrangea, though only reaching 3 to 5 feet fully grown. At one-third the size of other hardy hydrangeas, it fits well into any landscape. Little Lime produces bright cone-shaped lime green flowers, later turning into pink, from mid-summer to frost. Like its larger cousin, it is also very drought tolerant. If you've ever been enchanted by 'Limelight' but couldn't find room for it, you'll find Little Lime is the perfect fit in your garden.
* Flowers from mid-summer until frost.
* Blooms on new wood.
* Drought tolerant. Adaptable to any soil type or pH.
* Size: 3-5 feet tall and wide to fit any sized garden.
* Hardy in USDA zones 3-8 - from Texas to Alberta.

About Proven Winners ColorChoice:
Proven Winners ColorChoice is the leading brand of flowering shrubs in North America, marketing over 100 varieties specifically chosen for their hardiness, unusually bright colors and easy care, including best-sellers 'Limelight' Hydrangea and Wine & Roses® Weigela. Proven Winners ColorChoice designs new plant introductions to meet highest standards for growers, retailers and consumers using a combination of plant breeding expertise, and a minimum of five years of development and testing.