16 Fast-Growing Flowering Shrubs That Fill Bare Yards Fast
Fast-growing flowering shrubs can quickly add privacy, lush landscaping, colorful blooms, and major curb appeal—often in just a season or two.
Nothing makes a backyard feel unfinished faster than a bare fence line, patchy landscaping, or a direct view into the neighbor’s windows. The good news? You don’t have to wait years for a lush, established yard.
Fast-growing flowering shrubs can quickly create privacy, add color and texture, attract pollinators, and make outdoor spaces feel more finished in just a season or two. Some grow into dense evergreen screens. Others follow up their spring and summer blooms with colorful fall berries—and some do it all!
Whether you’re looking for low-maintenance flowering shrubs or fast privacy hedges, these gardener-approved picks are some of the easiest ways to make a landscape feel fuller, greener, and more inviting.
- Best for birds and pollinators: Elderberry, Serviceberry
- Best for small yards: Dwarf Loropetalum
- Best for shade: Oakleaf Hydrangea
- Best for Southern gardens: Camellia
- Best deer-resistant option: Viburnum
Hydrangea
Hydrangeas are one of the few plants that can be grown from coast to coast in most climates. Some tolerate part shade, but most need a few hours of sun for best blooms. In the hottest regions, give them morning sun and afternoon shade so they don’t fry.
USDA Hardiness Zones: 3 to 10
Varieties to Try: Firelight, Monmar, Oakleaf
Best feature: Pretty blooms
Related: Low-Maintenance Oakleaf Hydrangea Is the Workhorse of My Garden
Elderberry
Late spring or early summer flowers and attractive foliage make this graceful plant attractive in a mixed border.
USDA Hardiness Zones: 3 to 7
Varieties to Try: Instant Karma, Lemony Lace
Best feature: Fast privacy, pollinator friendly
Pyracantha
This vigorous shrub grows upright and boasts clusters of gorgeous fall berries that last well into winter.
USDA Hardiness Zones: 5 to 9
Varieties to Try: Graberi, Kasan
Best feature: Evergreen for year-round privacy
Lilac
Beautifully scented lilacs like plenty of sun, but give them a space between plants to let air circulate and reduce the risk of powdery mildew developing. Some types are extremely cold-hardy.
USDA Hardiness Zones: 2 to 8
Varieties to Try: Lavender Lady, Angel White
Best feature: Fast growing with blooms that attract pollinators
Forsythia
You know spring has arrived when the bright yellow forsythia starts blooming! It’s a more moderate grower than some other shrubs but will still reach its mature height relatively quickly.
USDA Hardiness Zones: 3 to 9
Varieties to Try: Meadowlark, Spring Glory
Best feature: Very adaptable to various conditions, fast growing
Beautyberry
Some types of this sun-loving, perennial plant have solid green or variegated green-and-white foliage, but the prettiest variety has dark purple foliage with masses of white blooms in late summer. The real show is the purple berries in fall. If you would like to grow a native beautyberry, look for the botanical name Callicarpa americana; its native range spans much of the Southeast and south-central U.S.
USDA Hardiness Zones: 5 to 8
Varieties to Try: Pearl Glam, Purple Pearls
Best feature: Low maintenance and bird friendly
Ninebark
This white-flowering native plant is a standout in the garden with its handsome burgundy foliage that lasts all season, topped with creamy white flowers in early summer. The plant is ultra-cold-hardy and has an elegant arching shape.
USDA Hardiness Zones: 2 to 7
Varieties to Try: Diablo, Summer Wine
Best Feature: Fast growing, dense foliage
Loropetalum
Also called fringe flower due to its beautiful, showy blooms in shadesof pink, white, and purple, this graceful, vase-shaped shrub reaches maturity relatively quickly.
USDA Hardiness Zones: 7 to 9.
Varieties to Try: Snow Panda, Zhuzhou Fuchsia
Best feature: Fast growing, evergreen
Viburnum
This beautiful evergreen shrub has interesting puckered leaves and pretty white fragrant flowers, followed by showy red fruit.
USDA Hardiness Zones: 5 to 8
Varieties to Try: Allegheny, Prague
Best feature: Fast growing, pretty spring flowers
Dappled Willow
The weeping stems of this shrub are pink, with mottled foliage of white, green, and pink. It’s spectacular when massed as a hedge for privacy.
USDA Hardiness Zones: 4 to 10
Varieties to Try: Hakuro Nishiki, Flamingo
Best feature: Fast growing and dense coverage
Spirea
This arching shrub boasts a mass of white flowers in spring and colorful orange or reddish foliage in fall. Many types are cold-hardy.
USDA Hardiness Zones: 3 to 7
Varieties to Try: Renaissance, Grefsheim
Best feature: Fast growing, dense coverage, pretty blooms
Red Twig Dogwood
This multi-stemmed shrub has striking red branches that are stunning in the winter landscape, especially against snow. It’s cold-tolerant, too.
USDA Hardiness Zones: 2 to 8
Varieties to Try: Isanti, Sibirica
Best feature: Fast growing, adaptable, visually interesting
Crape Myrtle
These heat-tolerant and elegant shrubs or small trees have vibrant purple, pink, or white flowers in summer. Some varieties have eye-catching peeling bark.
USDA Hardiness Zones: 6 to 9
Varieties to Try: Tonto, Natchez
Best feature: Pretty bark, colorful summer blooms
Serviceberry
This shrub or small tree is prized for its beautiful orange-red fall color and clusters of white flowers that become deep purple fruits that the birds love. Serviceberry is native to most of the contiguous U.S., but species vary locally—to name two, Amelanchier alnifolia is common in the West, while Amelanchier arborea is common in the East.
USDA Hardiness Zones: 4 to 9
Varieties to Try: Glenform, Autumn Brilliance
Best Feature: Low maintenance, wildlife friendly
Mock Orange
This fountain-shaped shrub with beautiful white flowers has a light citrusy scent and lush green foliage.
USDA Hardiness Zones: 4 to 7
Varieties to Try: Natchez, Belle Etoile
Best Feature: Fast growing, dense coverage, fragrant blooms
Rose of Sharon
This reliable summer bloomer boasts exotic-looking flowers of white, pink, purple, or lavender and every shade in between. New varieties grow in a pillar (columnar) shape.
USDA Hardiness Zones: 5 to 9
Varieties to Try: White Pillar, Notwoodthree
Best Feature: Pretty blooms all season, very adaptable
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