I have Fothergilla gardenii 'Mt Airy' - It's related to Witchhazel but it's much smaller topping out at about 3 feet. It slowly colonizes in good rich soil. It has little white bottlebrush flowers which looks good with bulbs and goes a fantastic kaleidoscope of colors in the fall - orange/yellow & red. It also has a nice winter silhouette.

Dwark Korean Lilac or 'Miss Kim' Lilac is also a nice addition to the cottage garden because just one shrub forms a nice 5 foot mound about 4 feet wide without overwhelming the entire garden in a smaller cottage setting like the more traditional lilacs which can get huge.

One of my favs is Hydrangea Quercifolia, known as Oakleaf Hydrangea.

{{gwi:665799}}

It has beautiful white blooms in spring, turning to pink then tan and drying on the plant for a long season of interest. The fall foliage is maroon. Winter interest is exfoliating bark. Hardy in zones 5-9, it is a native of the Eastern U.S. It will fill a large space; there is a dwarf form available. What more could you ask?

Nell

The pic is very recent -- the blooms are not fully open yet.

I don't grow the Salix you mentioned, but my neighbor did. She had hers planted under a window by her house. It soon got too big for the area. I also did not think it looked good next to the house, which was the same color as the shrub's leaves; needless to say it blened in too much. I have also seen it growing at a local nursery's hosta garden. It was about ten feet tall and had a bit wider spread. I liked the way it lookd there. It was planted in front of some dark evergreens and maples. Very pretty.

I have several dwarf gold spireas, 'Goldmound', 'Goldflame', and 'Magic Carpet'. The last two have a bronze tinge to them. My favorite is the first, which has chertreuse/yellow foliage. They are always reliable.

You said you wanted more year round interest. The best thing for that is evergreens. Red Twig Dogwood is also a favorite of mine. Kerria japonica 'Plena Flora' has cute little yellow pom-pom flowers in spring. I like its upright habit and year round yellow-green stems.

My personal favorite shrubs in my garden? Oh, thats tough! I always love the spring bloomers, like Lilacs, Weigelia, Snowball Bush, Forsythia, Mock Orange, etc. I love my quince (Chaenomeles) shrubs. Beautiful flowers in spring and edible fruits in fall that make tasty jams! Caryopteris (Bluebeard) is a great shrub. I have two kinds; my favorite is 'Worchester Gold', with gold foliage. The blue flowers look really nice against it. Easy to take cuttings of.
I also love my Coralberry (Symphoricarpos doorenbosii 'Kordes') bush. The species has white berries, but this cultivar has pink ones. I have mine in nearly full shade and it does great there.

There are several shrubs that have been here forever that I am not sure of. One of them is a honeysuckle shrub, which could be Lonicera maackii. Beautiful shrub and sweet smelling spring flowers. Produces berries later on that the birds love. I adore it! Also the Flame Maples (which might be Acer ginnala 'Flame') The have wonderful green foliage until fall, when it turns shades of red, orange, and yellow!
Be sure to post pics of the shrubs you get in your garden!
CMK

Roses go without saying.
For me, it's flowering shrubs:

1. Lilacs
2. Mock Orange
3. Buddleia

also weigela, lavatera (which acts like a shrub), hardy fuchsia etc.

I also have many spirea with gold leaves, Ogon is different than the low growers and I love it.
Deutzia is a lovely little (or large) cottage garden shrub
I love shrub roses
butterfly bushes which I may grow again someday (which are invasive in some parts of the country)
Lespedezia (again, some are invasive)
Black willow (mine does not grow into a tree)
clethera
spice bush
hearts a bustin'
native azaleas
camellias
and I could go on and on...........

I like forsythia and Russian sage.

I like the old time ones, Rose of Sharon, Mock Orange, Beauty Bush, Spirea, Lilacs and forsythia.

So far, the shrubs I've planted are still teeny tiny, so I'm not sure if they are going to become favorites or not! I love the arching shape of my bridalwreath spirea Snowmound, but so far it doesn't seem very substantial in the winter. I'm still waiting for my lilac to bloom - I'm really hoping it will this year.

I also really like red-twig dogwoods. I'm hoping to plant some in front of the rear fenceline eventually, for winter interest. I really wish I liked more evergreen shrubs that grow well in my area.

I have two different kinds of St. John's Wort--hypericeum olympicum "Olympic" and "Sunburst" that grow in mounds and are covered with yellow flowers for about a month in July.

Love my Annabelle hydrangeas--so easy and adaptable.

Also really like my viburnum dentatums.

I have a hedge of Miss Kim's that are very nice. They bloom a little later than the regular lilacs around here.

My spirea japonica neon flash are very pretty and they bloom for months and months if I deadhead them--but I understand that they can be invasive in Illinois and I would not have planted them had I known.

I will never be without the Mock Orange Philadelphus 'Belle Etoile' in fact I have three. The fragrance from this one is so sweet and it carries throughout the garden, not too shabby to look at either. Here's a pic of one of mine, sorry I don't have a pic of the whole shrub just this and a close up of a flower, they do take up a bit of space when mature but well worth it as far as I'm concerned.

Annette

Hands down, hydrangeas. Although after seeing Annette's mock orange ... hummm ... wondering do I have room?

Shrub-type roses are a must for a cottage garden! I also love many others especially fragrant shrubs like daphne, viburnum, lilac, mock orange, and cherry laurels.

Edna, Mock Orange can be planted as a whip and then just allowed to grow up through something else. I have one growing up through a Dogwood (Cornus florida), which blooms and then the Philadelphus blooms (we used to call them English Dogwood) for an extended time of white blossoms. Mine is P. inodoratus, no fragrance. (Sob.)

Nell

I could not be without lilacs, forsythia, red dogwood. I just got some cutting for mock orange - can't wait, as I remember this from my Mother's garden. It will be planted near my driveway!!! Shrub roses, spirea of any kind, hydrangea - all are good!!!

Nancy.

My last garden included several shrubs and my favorites were the lace-cap hydrangeas. Because my garden there was so small, I used mostly real workhorse plants that could provide structure, color, and cut flowers in the same plant, and the hydrangeas did all three.

Now we're in a new (to us) house, and six hydrangeas went into the ground as soon as the nursery had them available. I am planning to put in at least three more when they go on sale later in the season.

This house has a very large small-leaf lilac that is blooming right now, pretty flowers that work well in a vase, and a heavenly scent as a bonus. I think it will be a new favorite.

Azaleas (Encore bloom in spring and again in fall for me)
Gardenia Kleim's Hardy and August Beauty
Knock Out Roses 'Radrazz' (but I am coveting the new sunny yellow)
Spirea 'Neon Flash'
buddleia 'Adonis Blue' and 'Pink Delight'
Lady Banks rose

Although not shrubs, my lavender grows shrub size!

My 'Miss Kim' lilac is blooming right now and the fragrance of this ONE shrub just about knocks me over -- it's fantastic!

In winter, my Winter Daphne is very fragrant and a great shrub for shade.

Cameron

{{gwi:665804}}

{{gwi:665807}}

At the back of the house, I'm trying create a bed that will have all the fragrances in succession as well as blooms. I've got fragrant tea olives, then nicotiana, followed by mock orange. Gardenias and oriental lilies will take over. For the hottest part of the summer, there's ginger lilies. In late summer, when it's starting to cool back down, the brugmansias should put out one last flush before frost. I need a white fragrant shrub for winter.

My favorite fragrance so far is definitively the tea olives. Although these brugs could change the game.

Annette, I love your photo and have actually recently purchased a small plant of Philadelphus Belle Etoile - but haven't planted it out yet as I'm not sure of how fast it will grow and how big it will get?

Spireas are gorgeous but I find they get so huge - I chop my bridal wreath back to half every year and it doubles again in size - also spreads.

In our dry conditions I'm having lots of luck with cistus - I especially like Brilliancy with its dark pink flowers - it's proving to be a great back of the bed shrub and a good colour contrast for the scabiosa and iris.

Here's a pic of Cistus Brilliancy
{{gwi:665810}}From various

Tracey if you can give Belle the room it forms a fairly large arching shrub. I have to prune mine back because of where I have them growing, I want the fragrance to waft in the kitchen and bedroom windows :o). My third is still in a pot and hasn't found it's spot yet.

Annette

Thanks Annette, would you call it a fast grower? What can I expect?

I've had mine for a long time, I think it was in a one gallon pot when I bought it so it wasn't very big. It is a fairly fast grower but will take a few years to reach it's 6ft. (give or take a bit) height with a spread about 4 feet.

Annette

A white fragrant shrub for winter, Tom? One does exist.

Lonicera fragrantissima (Winter Honeysuckle) -- it is an invasive. We used to call it January Jasmine. I saw it in a garden in the next county about 10 years ago.

I would be content with Tea Olive for winter.

1. Roses
I know only some of them are technically "shrubs" but I love, love, love them.

2. Annabelle Hydrangea

3. Mountain Laurel
Anyone that can grow this really should. I have 5 Tiddlywinks. They have great evergreen foliage and when they bloom shortly I will post a picture. Wow. The general drawbacks are they aren't easy to find and they are slow growers. I don't hear many people talk about them so I am spreading the word.

My tea olives didn't bloom this winter. As soon as buds formed, they'd get zapped by a hard freeze.

I'll check out the Lonicera. I think we had some come in the other day. Didn't know the name.

Token,
Sarcococca (sweetbox) is an evergreen shrub that has fragrant white flowers in winter. There are two varieties: S. hookeriana var. humilis, and S. confusa. I think S. confusa is supposed to be the more fragrant. These grow in shade.

Also white forsythia (Abeliophyllum distichum) is supposed to be fragrant.

We have the sarcococca at the store. I've been eyeing it.

I want Mountain Laurel. I haven't gotten far enough along in my garden to have purchased one, yet. Several variaties can be ordered from Wayside Gardens.

Privot
Lilacs
Azaleas
Rose of Sharon

And, I have a brand new Oak Leaf Hydranga, just sprouting leaves. I can't wait for it to bloom!

Bumping this up to say that Mountain Laurel is a native here. The seeds are just beginning to mature. If planted on July 4, they will germinate easily. We usually get 100% germination with our seeds, with no preparation at all.

They are slow growers, (that is what makes them so expensive) but in my garden, getting fed every once in a while, they put on tremendous growth. I have been astonished at how fast they are growing. The blooms have the fragrance of grape koolaid.

If you would like to have seeds, let me know. I am an enabler, I am told. lol

Janie