Yellow flowering shrubs are one of the best ways to brighten up the mood of your garden. Yellow is a very uplifting and joyful color. And, it complements greens as well as reds, pinks and whites very well.

This allows it to blend in easily within your garden.

And, in doing so, liven up the entire area.

The best thing about these yellow flowers is that they come in different sizes, shapes and feature varying looks. As such, you can use them in ways to produce very different design and landscaping effects.

If you love yellow, you’ll find tons of shrubs and bushes that give yellow flowers. Here are the seven most beautiful ones that are easy to grow and will add a burst of color into your garden.

Yellow Roses

Yellow roses are not as common as the red or pink ones. But, they are amazing to look at especially if you feel that your garden lacks bright colors.

Like other roses,, it is a deciduous shrub that enjoys full sun. But, you do want to give it a little shade especially during hot afternoons. It needs a minimum of 6 hours of sunlight daily to grow at its best.

This will give you big beautiful blooms with bright colored flowers.

Unfortunately, if you see its color start to get bleached, it means it is getting too much intense exposure or heat. So, a quick solution it to give it more shade during the hottest times of the day.

Do note that yellow roses are prone to black spots. Older yellow cultivars are weaker making them more susceptible. But, this is not the case with the ones we have today.

Mahonia Shrub

There are several kinds of Mahonia, a shrub in the barberry family. They are closely related to the better-known barberry shrubs that are so commonly grown in home landscapes. Japanese mahonia (M. japonica) has pale-yellow flowers that bloom in April. Also called Oregon grape or Oregon grape-holly, it grows 5 to 7 feet tall and 7 to 10 feet wide at maturity.

Forsythia

One of the best spring-blooming plants ever, Forsythia is that bright burst of yellow we all need after the long days of winter. And, when Forsythia blooms, it’s like the bush explodes with all the yellow flowers.

When the blooms appear, there is little to no foliage yet, so it’s impossible to miss them. Every branch is covered with flowers, one after another, like rays of sunshine marching up (or down) the stems.

After the flowers fade, the dark-green leaves emerge and stay all summer, creating an attractive green landscape plant. Forsythia is hardy to zones 5-8.

Witch Hazel

Witch hazels are yellow flowering shrubs that give you a different look.

These are large shrubs that are fragrant and colorful. Yellow is just one of the colors available. But, it is perfect if you want to brighten up your garden.

That said, their blooms are not big and bold like that of the roses and camellias. Instead, they’re small and many in number covering the branches.

Witch hazel is a great choice if you don’t like to do a lot of maintenance. They’re especially helpful to gardeners because you don’t have to bother about pests and disease since they’re resistant.

That said, they do enjoy full sun. Although, they’ll appreciate more filtered the sun during hot afternoons.

Yellow Azaleas

There are both evergreen azaleas, which are in the subgenus Tsutsusi, and deciduous azaleas from the subgenus Pentanthera.

Azaleas are my all-time personal favorite flowering shrub. I used to work at a historic plantation in Charleston, South Carolina and adored the beauty of azalea season in early spring.

According to the Azalea Society of America, some North American native species azaleas are yellow, but no evergreen azaleas (which are primarily native to Japan) are yellow.

St. John’s Wort

St. John’s Wort is a perennial yellow flowering shrub that blooms from mid-summer until fall, followed by reddish colored berries.

It grows 1 to 3 feet (30 to 90 cm) tall and up to 2 feet (60 cm) wide and does best in a position with morning sun and some afternoon shade.

St. John’s Wort is a prolific self-seeder, so it’s a good idea to remove the berries before they ripen to prevent unwanted plants popping up in your garden.

Compact Coral Barberry

In case you prefer something a bit on the orange-yellow side, rather than just straight up bright yellow, check out the compact coral barberry. These will give you a darker shade of yellow.

They feature beautiful bulbs and smaller leaves. But, be careful as they are thorny.

Compact coral barberry are hardy to USDA zones 6 to 9.

As its name will tell you, it is a compact plant that grows up to 6 to 12 inches high and about the same width. It is drought tolerant and will can take full sun to partial shade.