Garden Shrubs Beginning with C - a-z Letter listing

Caesalpinia; Ceanothus; Calliandra; Callicarpa; Callistemon; Calluna; Camellia; Caragana; Carpenteria; Caryopteris; Campsis; Ceratostigma; Cercis; Chaenomeles; Chimonanthus; Cistus; Clematis; Choisya; Clerodendron; Cornus; Convulvulus; Corylopsis; Corylus; Cotinus; Cotoneaster; Crataegus; Crinodendron; Cytisus:

Crinodendron hookerianum - Just one of the spectacular shrubs that are listed in our category 'C'

Caesalpinia: - Evergreen with attractive ferny foliage and distinctly 'tropical' flowers. The shrubs are half hardy, but have been known to survive a spell at 0 deg - not recommended. Pink, orange and yellow varieties are available.

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Calico Bush – Kalmia - See kalmia details

Californian Fuchsia - See Zauschneria

Californian Lilac - Ceanothus: -  See Ceanothus below.

Calliandra – Powder Puff: - Evergreen shrub - tender - with small flowers - each having many many, stamens - reds and pinks. Similar to Bottlebrush flowers but not quite!

Callicarpa – Beauty Berry - The flowers are more or less insignificant - certainly when compared to the berries. Autumn foliage can also be good on these deciduous shrubs.

Callicarpa bodinieri var giraldii Profusion. Unique berries on this colourful shrub.

Callistemon – Bottlebrush - Very distinct - the Bottlebrush shrubs are hardier than they look - especially when mature. Still best grown sheltered though. Various red shads - or even creamy yellow flowers give this shrub its common name.

Calluna – Heather – Ling: - Flowers in shades of red, pink, purple and through to white on these heathers. Assorted foligae type also for this important group.

Calothamnus – Net Bush: - Evergreen shrubs with conifer-like foliage and frilly red flowers. Suitable for cool glasshouse - otherwise tender.

Calycanthus floridus – Carolina Allspice: - Hardy flowering shrubs, flowers similar to small water lilies. Aromatic foliage gives it its common name. Not spectacular - but interesting.

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Camellia: -  Much hardier than is generally thought. Stunning - often delicate - flowers in midwinter when most other plants are happy to sleep. Pinks, white, red, oranges and others are the flower colours.

Campsis – Trumpet Vine: - Rampant creeper once it gets going. The aerial roots will allow it to clamber up a quite smooth wall. It will certainly get to the eaves of most houses, so do keep an eye on it.

Caragana - The Pea tree: - Normally, yellow-flowered hardy shrubs with attractive pinnate foliage. Sometimes white flowers.

Carolina Allspice - Calycanthus floridus - See Calycanthus above.

Carpenteria: - Rich evergreen foliage is a good foil for the pure white saucer-shaped flowers. Fully hardy and loves the sun.

Caryopteris: - Aromatic foliage - normally grey or silver - but a gold version also available. Lightest powder blue through to deepest blue flowers are borne late in summer and are very welcome at that time - persisting well into autumn. Normally dwarf, and can be cut back each year.

Cassia: - Golden showers of flowers - sometimes pink also - for this tender-ish shrub group. The larger shrubs or trees are often mistaken for Laburnums - not so.

Ceanothus - Californian Lilac.: -  A superb group of mainly evergreen shrubs - some deciduous - with mainly blue - sometimes pink or white - flowers. Quite hardy, but I have lost a few mature specimens in hard winters. Still worth the risk, as there is nothing to quite equal them for dazzling blues.

Celastrus – Bittersweet – Staff Vine: - Sometimes hardy deciduous shrubs and climbers. Nice autumn fruit colours.

Celtis – Hackberry – Nettle tree: - Sometimes listed as shrubs, this is stretching the imagination a little too far. Think of these as trees and you are about right. (Not for this section!)

Ceratostigma – Leadwort: -  Avery welcome splash of blue in late summer autumn from the flowers of this low growing shrub. As can be seen in image - foliage color in fall/autumn is not to be ignored.

Cercidophyllum: - Best thought of as a tree!

Cercis – Judas Tree – Redbud: -  As well as the pink flowers in spring, there is an attractive purple foliage type - Forest Pansy. The small size of the flowers is counteracted by the sheer mass along the bare branches in spring.

Cestrum: -  Not the most wonderful scent (small) from the yellow or red flowers - but nonetheless attractive as a garden shrub. Quite hardy, but benefits from sheltered position.

Chaenomeles – Quince – Japonica: - A good group of rather messy shrubs for spring colour - reds, whites, pinks and orange. Can be trained against wall or trellis - much better than as a stand-alone shrub.

Chimonanthus – Wintersweet: -  I have seen visitors wandering round the winter garden trying to locate the scent. Such is its 'pulling power'. The flowers are not the showiest, but are welcome in the dead of winter - and oh! - that scent!

Chionanthus – The Fringe Tree: -  Small tree rather than shrub.

Chocolate Vine - Akebia Quinata - See Akebia main details

Choisya – Mexican Orange Blossom: - A good group of evergreens with distinct foliage. White flowers. A golden foliaged variety - C tenata Sundance - is popula - rightly so.

Cigar Flower - Cuphea -  See Cuphea below.

Cinquefoil - Potentilla -  See Potentilla here

Cistus – Rock Rose – Sun Rose: -  A varied group of evergreen, low growing sun-lovers, that are more or less hardy. Great for dry bank in full sun - or anywhere else where they can get a sun-tan.

Citrus: - Half hardy shrubs, grown for their fruit and foliage. Popular as house plants, but better in frost free glasshouse.

Clematis Main Page - How to grow Clematis
Clematis: -  A superb group of climbing shrubs, but don't ignore the shrubby types either. Many colours. Love the sun - but not on the root-zone.

Clematis florida Seiboldii - Detail Page

Clerodendrum: - There are some are some hardy types - as well as the tender shrubs sold as houseplants. Intersting flowers more often than not, and one in particular - C trichotomum - has showy seeds in autumn.

Clethra – Summer Sweet – Sweet Pepper: - Fragrant flowers - white - shrubs. very suited to dappled shade or the woodland garden.

Clianthus: -  Needs a sheltered spot - and no hard frosts. Then you can delight in the pinnate foliage and spectacular scarlet flowers.

Codiaeum – Croton: -  Normally seen as a house plant in cold areas, it is nontheless a spectacular group of colorful foliage evergreens in warmer climates.

Colletia hystrix Rosea. Look no further if you want spikes - and unusual shrub
Colletia: -  very thorny shrub - almost leafless, but with a good show of pink flowers. Very unusual - and hardy.

Colutea – Bladder senna: - Attractive pinnate foliage, yellow or pink flowers and those strange bloaated bladder seed pods!

Convulvulus – Bindweed: - Not the weed - but attractive foliage - silver sometimes - white flushed pink flowered - shrub. Normally hardy.

Coprosma: -  Interesting group of evergreen foliage shrubs. No flowers worth a mention - but the foliage makes up for it.

Coriaria: - One of the group  - C terminalis - is worth growing. Hardy in most places.

Cornus – Dogwood – Cornel: -  Not all dogwoods have coloured winter bark, and not all dogwoods have spectacular flowers. You will need to know their proper names to get what you are actually after!

Cornus sanguinea Midwinter Fire. A truly spectacular sight in winter.

Cornus alba Sibirica - Probably the best of the Red Stem Cornus.

Cornus stolonifera Flaviramea Bright Green or Yellow Stems

Cornus - Dogwoods - Information about the different types

Coronilla: - Interesting foliage, yellow flowers, low growing and generally hardy.

Correa: -  Not hardy, but where it can be grown it is a colourful and interesting shrub, with pendant trumpet or bell like flowers.

Corylopsis

Corylus – Hazel: - The hazel nut has a few interesting forms. The contorted harry Lauder's walking stick, and the deep purple foliage of the C. maxima Purpurea. All are hardy

Cotinus obovatus - C. americanus - One of the good autumn foliage smoke bushes.

Cotinus – Smoke Bush: - The image shows the spectacular colour of Cotinus americanus. There is also a purple foliage type. Very hardy.

Cotoneaster – Cotton Easter: -  Coral Beauty is the one in the image. A huge range of evergreens (mainly) with autumn berries various. So easy to grow, they are sometimes neglected - which is a shame.

Cotoneaster Cornubia - One of the larger growing types of this useful berrying evergreens

Cotoneaster Coral Beauty - A great ground cover shrub with plenty of berries

Cotoneaster lacteus - evergreen with masses of berries, which is happy as a stand alone shrub - or as a clipped hedge!

Crepe Myrtle - Lagerstroemia See Lagerstroemia

Crataegus – Hawthorn: - More of a small to large tree than shrub - so we will ignore here.

Crinodendron: - Quite hardy - so give it a go - especially if you have a rich peaty acid soil. (Is also ok in neutral soils). Evergreen and very showy flowers.

Crossandra: - Tender shrubby plants with showy flowers. They can also be grown in cool glasshouse.

Cuphea - Cigar Flower: - Not hardy - so often sold as a perennial or annual. It is worth an outing for the summer months.

Curry Plant - Helichrysum: - See Helichrysum

Cydonia – Quince: -  See Chaenomeles above.

Cytisus – Broom: -  Other than the normal Broom - which is sometimes short-lived - there are some interesting varieties worth exploring.