Privacy plants behave as planners when planted as hedges or grouped together to block unwanted views of roof lines and multistory buildings. Good plants for this usage are evergreen, with a dense growth habit that prevents gaps in the privacy display during the cooler months of this year. Choose plants that develop quickly enough to create the sense of privacy but stay small enough so you don’t have to prune too frequently. Flowering privacy plants add charm and complement the yard. Several plants provide away sweet, pleasant scents to relish.

Spring Flowering Plants

Spring-flowering plants provide the yard beautiful shade to chase off a gray winter. Gold Star esperanza (Tecoma stans “Lonesp”) rises as an evergreen shrub in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 9 through 11, reaching 7 feet tall and wide with arching stems covered with dark green leaves. Large clusters of golden-yellow bell-shaped flowers appear in spring, lasting until fall. Variegated Japanese mock orange (Pittosporum tobira “Variegatum”) produces a mound of evergreen variegated white, gray and light green leaves at USDA zones 8 through 11. This tree reaches 6 to 8 feet tall and wide with small creamy-white spring flowersthat emit an orange-blossom odor.

Summer Flowering Shrubs

Summer shrubs provide shade and shade during the hot season. First Love gardenia (Gardenia jasminoides “Aimee”) grows best in USDA plant hardiness zone 8 through 11, with fragrant double white 4- to 5-inch-wide blooms lasting all summer. Leathery, glossy evergreen leaves cover this 5- to 8-foot-tall bush. Yellow Bird of Paradise bush (Caesalpinia gilliesii), at USDA zones 8 through 11, produces large yellow flowers with long reddish stamens, which attract butterflies and hummingbirds to the yard. This evergreen tree reaches 4 to 6 feet tall and wide in full-sun places.

Fall Flowering Bushes

Fall-flowering bushes deliver beautiful blossoms when most plants are getting ready to go dormant for the coming winter. “Great Orme” hebe (Hebe “Great Orme”), in USDA plant hardiness zones 6 through 11, reaches 4 1/2 feet tall and 4 feet wide with light green leaves. This evergreen, rounded shrub produces bright pink 4-inch-long spikes during the fall. Ground lilac (Vitex trifolia “Purpurea”) rises aromatic green velvety leaves with purple undersides and fall clusters of small purple flowers. At USDA zones 9 through 11, this evergreen bush reaches 6 to 8 feet tall and wide. This tree can be trimmed into a timeless tree form.

Winter Flowering Plants

In mild winter climates, certain plants blossom throughout the chilly months of this year. This provides yards unexpected texture and colour. “Alba Plena” camellia (Camellia japonica “Alba Plena”) produces pure white double blooms appearing in the winter and lasting to spring. This 6- to 8-foot-tall plant is covered all year with glossy dark green leaves at USDA zones 8 through 10. The showy flowers make great cut flowers. Ever Red Palace blossom plants (Loropetalum chinense “Chang Nian Hong”) hit 6 feet tall and wide in USDA plant hardiness zones 7 through 9. This tree, which has dark burgundy leaves, which grows deep-red flowers in late winter that become spring. This eye-catching plant flowers occasionally throughout the year as well.

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