The winner: Viburnum , 100/100. Runner-up: Lavender at 90. Lowest upkeep of the qualifiers: Forsythia at 77.
Every flower here is scored by the same 5 published rules, using one open table of 85 flowers. No taste, no sponsors: tap any score and it unfolds into the lines that made it.
The picks
The flowers that won The top score, plus the qualifier that asks least of you.
100 100 WINNER WINNER YFG INDEX Color show: 3 documented · Bloom window: 6 months · Drought and heat resilience: drought, heat, salt, black walnut, clay soil, wet soil, urban, wind
Flaws, not dealbreakers:
no flaw on record
Deer: seldom damaged (Rutgers B)
100 / 100 tap for the breakdown Color show 25 / 25 3 documented
Bloom window 20 / 20 6 months
Drought and heat resilience 20 / 20 drought, heat, salt, black walnut, clay soil, wet soil, urban, wind
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Cold-zone reach 20 / 20 2 to 10
77 77 LOW-EFFORT PICK LOW-EFFORT PICK YFG INDEX Color show: 2 documented · Bloom window: 2 months · Drought and heat resilience: drought, salt, clay soil, black walnut, urban, poor soil, air pollution
Flaws, not dealbreakers:
the show is short, about 2 months; no vase data in the postharvest literature
Deer: seldom damaged (Rutgers B) Cat safe (listed non-toxic)
77 / 100 tap for the breakdown Color show 18 / 25 2 documented
Bloom window 9 / 20 2 months
Drought and heat resilience 20 / 20 drought, salt, clay soil, black walnut, urban, poor soil, air pollution
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Cold-zone reach 15 / 20 5 to 8
Also great Close behind on points. Neither beats the winner overall, but each is the better answer in a garden the winner would not suit.
90 90 ALSO GREAT ALSO GREAT YFG INDEX Color show: 4 documented · Bloom window: 3 months · Drought and heat resilience: drought, shallow rocky, urban
Flaws, not dealbreakers:
toxic to cats; no vase data in the postharvest literature
Deer: rarely damaged (Rutgers A) Not for cat households
90 / 100 tap for the breakdown Color show 25 / 25 4 documented
Bloom window 15 / 20 3 months
Drought and heat resilience 20 / 20 drought, shallow rocky, urban
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Cold-zone reach 15 / 20 5 to 9
80 80 ALSO GREAT ALSO GREAT YFG INDEX Color show: 10 documented · Bloom window: 6 months · Drought and heat resilience: heat, clay soil, urban
Flaws, not dealbreakers:
a high maintenance choice
Deer: sometimes eaten (Rutgers C) Cat safe (listed non-toxic)
80 / 100 tap for the breakdown Color show 25 / 25 10 documented
Bloom window 20 / 20 6 months
Drought and heat resilience 13 / 20 heat, clay soil, urban
Set-and-forget upkeep 2 / 15 high
Cold-zone reach 20 / 20 2 to 11
The protocol
How the score is built 5 rules, 100 points, no opinions. Every line reads one field of the table.
Color show 25 points a foundation shrub earns its spot with the bloom show Read from: flower color.
Bloom window 20 points Read straight from the months it is in bloom.
Drought and heat resilience 20 points documented drought 20; heat 13; nothing recorded 6 Read from: stress tolerances.
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 points Read straight from how much upkeep extension guides report.
Cold-zone reach 20 points Read straight from the zones it survives.
Not ranked here: not a woody shrub; a shade shrub, not a full-sun foundation plant. Scores are never sponsored
and never sold. The full method ↗
The leaderboard
Every qualifier, ranked The 9 highest of 9 that qualified. Tap any score to open the lines behind it.
1 100 / 100 tap for the breakdown Color show 25 / 25 3 documented
Bloom window 20 / 20 6 months
Drought and heat resilience 20 / 20 drought, heat, salt, black walnut, clay soil, wet soil, urban, wind
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Cold-zone reach 20 / 20 2 to 10
2 90 / 100 tap for the breakdown Color show 25 / 25 4 documented
Bloom window 15 / 20 3 months
Drought and heat resilience 20 / 20 drought, shallow rocky, urban
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Cold-zone reach 15 / 20 5 to 9
3 80 / 100 tap for the breakdown Color show 25 / 25 10 documented
Bloom window 20 / 20 6 months
Drought and heat resilience 13 / 20 heat, clay soil, urban
Set-and-forget upkeep 2 / 15 high
Cold-zone reach 20 / 20 2 to 11
4 77 / 100 tap for the breakdown Color show 18 / 25 2 documented
Bloom window 9 / 20 2 months
Drought and heat resilience 20 / 20 drought, salt, clay soil, black walnut, urban, poor soil, air pollution
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Cold-zone reach 15 / 20 5 to 8
4 77 / 100 tap for the breakdown Color show 25 / 25 7 documented
Bloom window 20 / 20 6 months
Drought and heat resilience 20 / 20 drought, heat, humidity, salt, poor soil, shallow rocky, sandy dry soil
Set-and-forget upkeep 8 / 15 medium
Cold-zone reach 4 / 20 7 to 11.5
6 74 / 100 tap for the breakdown Color show 10 / 25 1 documented
Bloom window 9 / 20 2 months
Drought and heat resilience 20 / 20 drought, wind, clay soil, wet soil
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Cold-zone reach 20 / 20 3 to 8
7 71 / 100 tap for the breakdown Color show 25 / 25 3 documented
Bloom window 20 / 20 4 months
Drought and heat resilience 20 / 20 drought, wind
Set-and-forget upkeep 2 / 15 high
Cold-zone reach 4 / 20 7 to 11
8 70 / 100 tap for the breakdown Color show 25 / 25 6 documented
Bloom window 20 / 20 9 months
Drought and heat resilience 13 / 20 humidity, heat
Set-and-forget upkeep 8 / 15 medium
Cold-zone reach 4 / 20 9 to 11
9 68 / 100 tap for the breakdown Color show 25 / 25 5 documented
Bloom window 9 / 20 2 months
Drought and heat resilience 6 / 20 clay soil, salt
Set-and-forget upkeep 8 / 15 medium
Cold-zone reach 20 / 20 3 to 7
Considered, not chosen Not qualifying is a verdict too: the table simply says this job is not theirs.
not a woody shrub Tulips, Peonies, Sunflower and 69 more
a shade shrub, not a full-sun foundation plant Hydrangea macrophylla, Azaleas, Camellia and 1 more
The winner's badge Generated by the ranking above, and re-scored whenever the table changes.
Viburnum
The badge is generated by this ranking, not awarded by hand. When the
table changes, it re-scores itself.
100 100 TOP SUN SHRUB TOP SUN SHRUB YFG INDEX · WINNER How we rank
We keep one table of 85 flowers,
with 25 documented facts each, drawn from university and extension sources. Every ranking is
a published formula worth 100 points; tap any score and it unfolds into the lines that made
it. A flower that does not fit a job is not scored lower: it is excluded, and the reason is
named. Nothing here is sponsored, and no score can be bought. When the table changes, every
score and stamp updates itself.
The full method ↗
