There are countless shrubs and trees in the First Editions® collection that stand out in the garden for various reasons. However, there are a select few that have earned the title of Rock Star plants for their durability in the landscape.
Rock Stars have earned their well-deserved rank due to multi-region performance, versatility, outstanding visual interest – and they undoubtedly enhance any outdoor environment with strength, texture, and color.
To make choosing which Rock Stars are right for your landscape, we’ve sorted these shrubs and trees into five Rock Star Features categories. Plants with deer resistance mean you won’t have to worry as much about your plants tempting any furry friends. The screens & hedging plants are great options for planting privacy screens and adding structure to your space.
Drought tolerance means your new shrubs and trees can handle even the driest of conditions, and pollinator attractors have blooms that act as magnets for our pollinating friends. Finally, the plants tagged as mass planting are excellent choices if you’re looking to easily cover a large area of landscape.
If you’re new to gardening, or just looking for a plant that promises to be hardy, low maintenance, and stunning, these Rock Stars have got your back.
This compact, well-behaved anise tree has golden yellow foliage and keeps a nice, mounded form as it ages. With anise-scented foliage, it is the perfect accent plant in shade gardens, maintaining its small stature and luminescent yellow-gold foliage.
Rock Star Features: deer resistance
This is a beautiful birch with a narrow, dense, upright habit that includes the classic white bark and dark green foliage. Perfect for gardens, privacy screens, and boulevards, Parkland Pillar® is an excellent choice for both urban and rural landscapes. Check out our blog on Parkland Pillar® to learn more specific care tips.
Rock Star Features: screens & hedging, drought tolerance
This pollinator magnet is cloaked in eight-inch panicles of fragrant, deep purple flowers and is a strong rebloomer. Flip Side® got its name from the olive-green leaves that are a dusty purple on the bottom side.
Rock Star Features: deer resistance, drought tolerance, pollinator attractor
This crapemyrtle combines beautiful rich purple-black foliage, loads of solid white flower clusters on red stems, and a beautiful upright oval shape.
Rock Star Features: deer resistance, screens & hedging, drought tolerance, pollinator attractor
Our best-selling green leaf crapemyrtle, Purple Magic sports dark purple flowers that cover a rounded, dense shrub from base to tip. The leaves are green and glossy, while staying disease resistant all season.
Rock Star Features: deer resistance, screens & hedging, drought tolerance, pollinator attractor
This distylium boasts smaller foliage and a more refined look than others on the market and is an excellent alternative to boxwood and other evergreen plants threatened by insects and diseases in the south.
Rock Star Features: deer resistance, mass planting, drought tolerance
This was the first distylium in the First Editions® collection and continues to be a remarkable and unbeatable plant for large-scale landscapes and homeowner use. Vintage Jade has layered branches and forms a spreading mound, making it ideal for mass planting.
Rock Star Features: deer resistance, mass planting, drought tolerance
Both heat and sun tolerant, Neon Burst™ retains its bright leaf color throughout the summertime. In the wintertime, the stems turn a glossy scarlet red, adding unique interest to the stark winter landscape.
Rock Star Features: mass planting, drought tolerance
Crimson Fire™ is the first truly compact red-leaf fringe flower on the market with proven cold tolerance. This well-behaved shrub has bright pink flowers in the spring that are highlighted by the dark foliage.
Rock Star Features: deer resistance, pollinator attractor
This rock star hibiscus boasts semi-double, pure white flowers that are highlighted with a purple-red center. The intermediate size makes it good for smaller spaces, and the bright white blooms offer great contrast in the garden.
Rock Star Features: screens & hedging, pollinator attractor
Berry White’s® color starts out white in July then progresses to a jaw-dropping dark pink, beginning at the bottom and developing up to the top of the panicle – especially in cooler climates with a gradual decrease in fall evening temperatures. Our blog on Berry White® includes specific care tips and planting inspiration.
Rock Star Features: screens & hedging
Little Hottie® has full flower heads with florets that emerge green and turn sparkling white. The hydrangea is covered in large blooms from top to bottom and holds tight flower clusters on strong stems.
Rock Star Features: mass planting
With a commanding presence in the summer and fall garden, White Diamonds® is an exceptional midsize hydrangea with open white panicles that eventually fade top parchment and pink.
Rock Star Features: screens & hedging
This is a mounded grower that has fine blue-silver foliage blanketed with sunny yellow flowers in late spring and early summer. In fall, the leaves turn yellow, orange, and red and reveal an attractive exfoliating bark.
Rock Star Features: pollinator attractor
Straight & Narrow® has strong branches that remain tightly upright as it ages and faces the elements. Shiny, dark green leaves are flat, not cupped, and remain nice looking through winter.
Rock Star Features: deer resistance, screens & hedging
Virtual Violet® gets its name from the shiny, violet trimmed new leaves, deep purple stems, raspberry-purple buds, and fragrant violet flowers. With an upright shape, this shrub is great for smaller spaces and makes for a perfect foundation plant.
Rock Star Features: screens & hedging, pollinator attractor
This magnolia is a prolific bloomer that yields a gorgeous display of fragrant, delicate pink flowers covering the whole plant. It blooms reliably across zones 4-9, making it an excellent choice for warm and cold climate gardeners alike.
Rock Star Features: pollinator attractor
Rounded and dense in habit, Amber Jubilee™ Ninebark has a bold array of colors that make an eye-catching hedge in multiple seasons. Planting in full sun gives the best results with this shrub, making it a wonderful choice for stubborn areas of the landscape.
Rock Star Features: screens & hedging, drought tolerance
Campfire Rose has exceptional cold hardiness combined with eye-catching blooms and bright glossy foliage. The buds are yellow with red undertones that open to semi-double flowers of yellow that eventually fade into pink.
Rock Star Features: pollinator attractor
The silver foliage of this shrub contrasts beautifully with other plants in the landscape, making Iceberg Alley® a stunning option for full sun gardens. It forms a rounded habit and keeps its shape well, reaching about 5 feet tall and wide at maturity. Head to our blog on Iceberg Alley® for specific care tips and planting inspiration.
Rock Star Features: mass planting
A perfect option for mass planting, Jade Parade® Sand Cherry has attractive glossy, blueish-green that turns shades of yellow, orange, and red in the fall. In spring, small white blooms that flower profusely cover the whole plant.
Rock Star Features: deer resistance, drought tolerance, pollinator attractor
The new growth on this cutleaf staghorn sumac presents a lively chartreuse green that quickly turns yellow, and both colors contrast nicely with the rosy-pink stems. Fall colors are even more striking, with yellow, orange, and intense scarlet taking over. Check out our blog on Tiger Eyes® to learn more about caring for this plant, and different ways to use it in the landscape.
Rock Star Features: deer resistance, mass planting, drought tolerance
An upright shrub that offers year-round interest, Standing Ovation™ adds height to the garden during the warmer months and structure during the colder ones. Plus, in the spring it is covered in white flowers that age to edible berries.
Rock Star Features: screens & hedging, pollinator attractor
This spirea is a compact shrub with growth that holds its yellow color, even in the full sun. The summer blooms are a gorgeous pink that rebloom in late summer if pruned correctly and the fall color includes shades of pink, creating a multi-toned effect.
Rock Star Features: drought tolerance
This weigela is a blooming machine with pink funnel-shaped flowers bloom throughout May and June. The shrub reblooms periodically throughout the summer and boasts shiny, burgundy foliage that contrast nicely with the flowers.
Rock Star Features: pollinator attractor
Shop all of our Rock Star plants online or use our Find a Retailer tool to locate garden centers near you that carry First Editions® plants.
