Shrubs Under 5 Feet

• Compact columnar conifers can add vertical punctuation to the garden. Red Star false cypress has burgundy winter foliage; Jean's Dilly Alberta spruce grows in a dense, pointed cone shape. Deciduous shrubs with good fall color include fothergilla, which produces white starburst blooms in May, and shrubby hypericums with showy flowers and berries. Weigela Wine & Roses has deep pink blooms against burgundy foliage.
  
  

Shrubs Under 4 Feet

• The daphne cultivar Carol Mackie, with golden variegated leaves, a rounded form and fragrant flowers, is evergreen in mild climates. Rhododendron PJM Elite has evergreen bronze foliage and purple flowers. Flowercarpet roses grow more wide than tall and cover themselves with fragrant blooms in summer.
  
  

Shrubs Under 3 Feet

• Potentilla fruticosa is a neat, rounded shrub with yellow, white, pink, red or orange blooms in summer. True dwarf boxwood (Buxus sempervirens Suffruticosa) grows slowly to 3 feet but can be pruned to any height. Dwarf conifers such as Treasure Island and Ellwood's Pygmy also grow well in pots.
  
  

Shrubs Under 2 Feet

• Conifers such as Little Gem spruce and Valley Cushion mugo pine are dense, mounded forms that grow slowly to 2 feet. Half-high blueberries such as Top Hat and Northsky produce edible fruit on compact plants. Evergreen Emerald 'N' Green and Emerald 'N' Gold euonymus have glossy, variegated foliage.