Today, I would love to share with you some beautiful bushes for landscaping that are heat tolerant, hard, and easy to grow!

For reference, I live in Fort Worth, Texas which is Zone 8a. These are bushes we have in our yard and neighborhood, but they grow in many zones. Check your area if you want to plant some of these great bushes.

These can be planted in the summer, fall, or you can wait until spring! Keep this post for ideas when you want to landscape.

I love these landscaping plants for front of houses, we have many in our front flower bed.

Beautiful Bushes for Landscaping – Heat Tolerant, Hardy, and Easy to Grow

This is a list of our favorite landscaping shrubs and bushes for privacy and curb appeal! Adding any of these to your home will look great.

Crepe Myrtle

I cannot sing their praises enough, but crepe myrtles are beautiful! My neighborhood is full of these bushes that grow as big as trees. They bloom from June to November in Texas. It can be the middle of a 100+ degree heat way, but the crepe myrtles are blooming. Mine in front of the house is so big and pretty! We also have a big one in front of our HVAC.

They also turn a beautiful orange red in the fall!

These are simple to grow; they just need some TLC when first planted. When they get bigger, they don’t need much care at all. I don’t do anything to mine except trim it away from the house.

Texas Sage

After sharing an Instagram story of how pretty my sage was, I had so many questions about what type of plant it was! A Texas Sage is probably one of the hardiest bushes you can grow! They do well in heat, cold, drought, or heavy rain. I have this large one in the backyard. I have never done anything to it, not even watered it. If you plant one, they just need some water when they first go into the ground. After that, they take off!

It makes the most beautiful purple blooms. One day you look outside, and it doesn’t have any blooms. The next day, it will be in complete purple blooms!  This is another bush you see all around Texas. My neighborhood is full of sage plants. They also bloom into November. In fact, last November every sage around town was in bloom at once. So pretty!

Knockout Rose Bushes

I love roses because they do so well in our tough climate. Knockout rose bushes are gorgeous! And they get really large. Once knockout roses get established, they don’t need much care. Just trimming! If you were to walk around my neighborhood right now, you would see hundreds of knockout roses bushes in all colors full of blooms.

Red Tip Photinia

We always had these beautiful bushes around my home growing up. They are the perfect addition for landscaping. Many people use them for privacy because they get so large. They are green all year, but get this fire red leaves in the spring, summer, and fall (shown above). Another easy to care for bush!

Glossy Abelia

We have these bushes in our front landscaping. They require very little car, can withstand the hot direct sun, and don’t need much water. Indian Hawthorns also make the prettiest white blooms from spring to fall. Butterflies love the blooms too! I took the photo above a few weeks ago. You can see the butterfly (really a moth, but Amelia thinks they are all butterflies). These bushes also smell amazing. I just love them! You can see the little shooters they grow. Everytime it rains, they pop up these little branches quick, so they are fast growing.

Texas Red Yucca

Just about everyone around my area has a Texas red yucca added to their landscaping. They make a beautiful red bloom, but they also grow really large. These are very heat tolerant!

Privet

I will start by saying there are many websites and magazines that say privets are awful! Like Southern Living. My parents have multiple ones, and many people in my neighborhood have big privets for shade and privacy. When you live in a horrible climate like we do in Texas, finding a bush that grows easily without much care is important. Everyone around here that has one LOVES it. So, I think it belongs on this list. They don’t “take over” in our area because it is just too hot and dry, then cold in the winter. Check with your local extension agent to get their opinion, but I think they are great bushes for landscaping.

Golden Euonymus

Many homes in my neighborhood have these beautiful bushes! They have the neatest yellow color during certain times of the year.  This bush also grows fast! There are a few different varieties you can find, but we see the golden ones in our area. Here is a link for more details on euonymus.

Oleander

Oleanders are a true southern bush. They make the most beautiful flowers! And they grow to be huge. My husbands grandmother gave me a cutting for her massive oleander a few years ago, but they didn’t do well in pots. These do best right in the soil. There are a few homes in my neighborhood that have the biggest, brightest oleanders in their landscaping. Yes, they are poisonous to animals, but most animals don’t go near it.

While there are many other hardy shrubs and hedges out there, these are my favorite ones! They have made our life so much easier here in Texas, so I highly recommend checking them out!

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