How to Identify Flowering Shrubs

As you walk into the botanical garden, you see a beautiful shrub covered in crimson flower clusters and deep-green leaves. You wonder what flower genus it is. A shrub is usually under 15-feet tall, but this one is 20-feet tall. Shrubs are woody. This is reddish-brown and it is peeling. It is a rhododendron barbatum. Leaf color, berry color and stems help you identify floral shrubs. 

Leaf Color and Shape

• Observe what color and shape the leaf is. Each leaf has a certain shape, either simple or compound. A simple leaf is just one leaf connected to the node. These are either smooth, feather shaped, toothed or hand shaped. Examples of simple leaved floral shrubs are mock orange and blueberries. Compound leaves are more than one leaflet connected to the stem node. They are either feather shaped or hand shaped. Akebia is an example of a shrub with compound leaves.


• Notice that each shrub has a leaf arrangement, either whorled, opposite or alternate. Whorled leaves, three or more leaves attached to one node, are arranged to resemble a palm tree or hand fan. Alternate leaves are single leaves that switch sides running down, or spiraling, each side of the stem. Roses have alternate leaves. Opposite leaves are pairs of leaves, one on the right side of the stem and the other on the left side of the stem. Viburnum and Weigela are two shrubs with opposite leaves. 


• Observe the color of the leaf. Some spring leaves are red and turn green during the summer. Others turn yellow or red in the fall. Hydrangeas are a floral shrub that changes colors in the fall. 

Blossom Color and Scent

• Notice the flower color and what season it blooms. Each shrub has its own flowering season. Some bloom early. Evergreen azaleas bloom the end of February. Crape myrtles and shrub roses bloom throughout the summer. Oak leaf hydrangeas bloom in the fall. Each genus has species that come in different colors, reds, pinks, whites and different shapes. 


• Sniff the flower to see if it has a scent. Each genus has its own scent. Gardenias smell different from roses. A honey perfume rose smells different from a red knock out rose, too. 


• Check for cones, nuts and berries. They help identify the shrub. Cones are on evergreens. Nuts are on trees. Berries are on shrubs. Blueberry sunshine blue," a beautiful blueberry bush with pink flowers, blooms in the spring. 


• Take pictures of the shrub and check online to see what genus it is. You should search for each of the shrub's features. 


• Take it to a nursery to find out what plant you have.