Are you seeking ideas for your own zone and location?

...or are you throwing out a general question for anyone to answer regardless of their own zones and locations?

Either--you could recommend what grows in your zone if you like.

One I re-discovered last year is old fashioned glossy abelia. And now it is available in a dwarf form! I planted some last year and was happy with it, so far anyway.

Corylopsis pauciflora, neat, tidy habit. Primrose yellow color of fls so much easier to look at than the other yellow, spring blooming shrub.
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Stewartia malacodendron, a native of SE USA. Exquisite shrub seldom seen in American gardens.
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Zenobia pulverulenta, Honeycups is a SE USA native shrub popular with beekeepers.
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Cryptomeria jap. 'Globosa Nana' round, well-groomed shrub with interesting texture.
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Edgeworthia chrysantha, deciduous shrub, give this one plenty of room
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Two cvs of Ilex verticillata seen here. Surely every sunny garden has room for one (or 10) of these.
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Osmanthus heterophyllus 'Fastigiata'. What's not to like here? Maintenance free, sweet fls in Fall, nothing bothers it.
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Thanks so much! I've hardly heard of any of those!

Callicarpa spp. AKA Beautyberry, another N. American native (Although there's some good non-native ones too) with fantastic purple fruits in late growing season and on into winter.

+oM

Callicarpa, various abelias, hebe, edgeworthia, eleagnus Fukurin

Thank you!

Daphne x transatlantica 'Summer Ice' - Variegated foliage, blooms all season (in my garden it's both the first other than witchhazels and the last with flowers and the entire time in between) with scented flowers, nice growth habit, and seems less fussy than other Daphnes (or at least mine has survived some indignities, including being wintered over in a too-small container, tunneled under by voles, and temperatures to -20 F.) For you it will be evergreen, and though it is never a plant that grabs attention from a distance, it is lovely up close. I can't imagine having a garden without it.

Spirea thunbergii 'Ogon' - fine-textured gold foliage, almost weeping branches, and white spring flowers. Not your mother's Spirea.

Hydrangea paniculata 'Quickfire' - H. p. 'Limelight' gets a lot of attention, but this one is my favorite. Rounded panicles of flowers (much lacier than many of the the other H. p. selections) start white in early July, a full month before any of the others and remain on the bush until hard freeze 4 months later. The fall blossom color is a rich strawberry a bit de

Fothergilla - Unusual and early spring flowers with great buds and stunning autumn foliage late in the season. I have Mt. Airy, but there are other varieties with nicer summer foliage, though it isn't awful, just a green blob.

1st week of November Fothergilla 'Mt. Airy'

Chartreuse buds at bottom, open flowers at top.

I learned about most of these plants here on GW.