A few of our listings here (especially the dwarf conifers) are truly shrubs, but since we are a perennial plant nursery, we list them here as woody perennials.
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Comptonia peregrina
Item #: 616
Zones: 2a to 7b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: North America
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $25.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Conradina verticillata 'Rocky Top'
Item #: 758
Zones: 6a to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 6" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $24.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold out
Cycas x taitoluta
Item #: 10570
Zones: 8a to 10b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 96" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $55.00Regular priceUnit price perNext crop available: 04/25/2025Sold out -
Cyrilla racemiflora 'Tom Patrick'
Item #: 15627
Zones: 5a to 10b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 60" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $36.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Dasylirion gentryi
Item #: 9906
Zones: 7b to 10b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 48" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $0.00Regular priceUnit price perThis plant is available for JLBG Members only.
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Dasylirion leiophyllum 'Chaves'
Item #: 16042
Zones: 5a to 10b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 48" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $27.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Edgeworthia chrysantha 'Snow Cream'
Item #: 2246
Zones: 7b to 10b, possibly colder
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 96" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Shade
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $32.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Erythrina x bidwillii
Item #: 487
Zones: 7b to 10b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 72" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $30.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Escallonia 'Lades' PP 23,984
Item #: 18065
Zones: 7b to 10b, guessing
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 48" tall
Culture: Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $0.00Regular priceUnit price perThis plant is available for JLBG Members only.
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Fargesia robusta 'Ping Wu'
Item #: 6634
Zones: 7a to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 96" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $48.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Fargesia rufa
Item #: 6563
Zones: 5a to 8a, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 72" tall
Culture: Sun to Light Shade
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $42.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Fatshedera lizei 'Angyo Star'
Item #: 7230
Zones: 7b to 10b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 60" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $30.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Fatsia japonica 'Spider's Web'
Item #: 5141
Zones: 7b to 10b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 60" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Shade
Origin: Japan
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $34.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Forestiera angustifolia 'Woodlanders Weeping'
Item #: 12299
Zones: 7b to 9b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 72" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Fuchsia 'Sanihanf'
Item #: 7450
Zones: 7a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 30" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $24.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Hamamelis virginiana 'Little Prospect'
Item #: 15003
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 120" tall
Culture: Sun to Light Shade
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3 qt. (2.8 L)
Regular price $46.00Regular priceUnit price perNext crop available: 06/21/2024Sold out -
Sold out
Hibiscus aculeatus 'Brunswick'
Item #: 5905
Zones: 7a to 10b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 48" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $25.00Regular priceUnit price perNext crop available: 05/31/2024Sold out -
Hibiscus grandiflorus
Item #: 1120
Zones: 6a to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 96" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $25.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Hibiscus mutabilis 'Flora Plena'
Item #: 1126
Zones: 7b to 10b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 120" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $28.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Hydrangea macrophylla 'Maculata'
Item #: 294
Zones: 6a to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 36" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Japan
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Hydrangea macrophylla 'McKay' PP 28,757
Item #: 18067
Zones: 6a to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 48" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Japan
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $0.00Regular priceUnit price perThis plant is available for JLBG Members only.
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Hypericum x inodorum 'Hypearl Compact Red'
Item #: 13518
Zones: 7a to 9b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 48" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $23.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Illicium parviflorum 'Florida Sunshine'
Item #: 6945
Zones: 6a to 9b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 96" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $26.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Indigofera kirilowii 'Christo'
Item #: 674
Zones: 4b to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $23.00Regular priceUnit price per
More Information About Woody Perennials
These perennial plants look like shrubs to me! (Buddleia - Butterfly Bush, Anisicanthus- Hummingbird flower, etc.) - Some perennial plants are hard to categorize and fall into groups known as subshrubs. Others, may be woody shrubs in a warm climate, but become perennials when growing north of their normal range. A few of our listings here (especially the dwarf conifers) are truly shrubs, but since we are a perennial plant nursery, we list them here as woody perennials.
If you can put it into a perennial garden bed and it looks like it belongs, then it is a perennial plant in our book! Technically, a perennial is any plant (including woody plants such as trees and shrubs) that lives for more than 2 years. The term "perennial" designates longer-lived plants while the term "annual" is used for plants that live for 1 year and "biennial" is used for plants that live for 2 years.
The technical definition of a shrub is a woody plant less than 13' tall with many branches or stems arising at or near the base that do not exceed 3" in diameter. Shrubs under 6' in height are sometimes referred to as sub-shrubs. Some of the perennial plants below are not shrubs because they do not make "real" wood (e.g., palms, and bananas) or their wood is not very rigid. Some are not shrubs because although they are woody, the branches remain wiry or very thin. And others are not shrubs because although they are woody, they die back to the ground each winter and re-emerge from the soil like an herbaceous perennial does.
Plants do not always fit easily into our man-made categories, but instead exist along a continuum that goes from woodiness to non-woodiness. But we like 'em all no matter where they are along the continuum and include them in our online plant catalog of the best garden perennials despite any woody-leanings. Most of our woody perennials are either hard to find plants in nurseries, or new plants that have excited us. When you're ready to buy some new exotic plants for your garden that fall into the woody perennials bucket, we hope you'll check out our list of woody plants.