Best Zone 6 Shrub Plants in 2026

Perennial lupine can grow wild or in your flower bed in USDA zones 3 - 9. Lupinus perennis, or simply Lupine, is a well-known and loved perennial wild flower. They bring interest and beauty to any naturalized landscape setting, and they fixate nitrogen for the soil.

Wild blue lupine can reach heights of 36 inches and deer tend to stay away. They’re beneficial in many ways! Lupines have very attractive, shrub-like deep green foliage and tall erect stems that tower above the foliage. Lupine is an early summer bloomer and very attractive to butterflies and hummingbirds.

Lupine is an early summer bloomer and very attractive to butterflies and hummingbirds. They produce a taproot, so after the first year of getting established, they are fairly drought tolerant and need water only during periods of prolonged drought.

Grown as a perennial plant in USDA Zones 3 - 8, wormwood herb plants have grey-green fine foliage. They are considered to be a half shrub with numerous yellow flowers in spires. The wormwood leaves have a very aromatic fragrance and a bitter taste.

It is one of the few herbs capable of growing in poor soil with full sun to part shade. Pruning is usually done in fall. If you live in a location with real hot summers, wormwood will sometimes go dormant in the summer heat and sprout again when cooler temperatures return.

To harvest wormwood for future use in insect teas, dried arrangements or sachets you will pick the upper portions of the stalks when they are in full flower and there is no moisture on the plant. Generally, flowering occurs after July in most locations. Be sure to pick any damaged leaves off your stalks.

Depending on where you are at in the world, Mountain Cranberry may also be called: Lingonberry, Cowberry, Foxberry, Quailberry, Beaverberry, Red Whortleberry, Tyttebær, Bearberry, Lowbush Cranberry, Cougarberry, Mountain Bilberry, Partridgeberry, Redberry, and more.

Mountain cranberry plants grow as a perennial in USDA zones 2 - 7. These low growing plants only reach a height of approximately 6 - 12 inches.

Mountain Cranberry is a short evergreen shrub in the heath family that bears edible fruit, native to boreal forest and Arctic tundra throughout the Northern Hemisphere from Eurasia to North America.

Winter savory is a dwarf, hardy, perennial herb plant. It is an attractive, low, bushy shrub with pinnate leaves and pink flowers. Culinary herb with strong, pungent, peppery flavor. Winter savory has a stronger flavor than summer savory. It is used in bean, meat, and fish dishes and in potpourris.

Winter savory grows as an 8 - 12 inch tall perennial in USDA zones 4 - 8.

Many people plant winter savory in their herb garden just for an edging or rockery plant. Winter savory grows better in a poor, stony soil than a rich one. In a rich soil, the herb plants take in too much moisture to stand the severity of most winter climates.

This variety, The Governor, adds a lovely marine blue to the flower bed. Lupines have a somewhat shrub-like deep green foliage. The Governor has tall erect stems that tower above the foliage. The blooms are blue and white and make a stately presence.

The blue lupine is a 40 inch tall perennial growing in USDA zones 4 - 8.

Lupine is an early summer bloomer. Many gardeners recommend soaking the seed in water for 24 hours before planting to soften the seed coat. Start the seeds indoors 6 – 8 weeks before the end of frost season.

This low mainteance perennial boasts ground covering clumps that are wide and dense.

It is best known for its long blooming season and ease of care. The silvery, strawberry-like leaves are covered in short soft hairs.

One inch wide blooms, which are yellow-orange with red centers, appear for nearly the entire summer.  After flowering, remove flower stems at ground level. Will attract butterflies and other pollinators, but not the deer!