Plants That Grow Well in the Sun in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania sun shines on native plants in a range of hardiness zones.Wataru Yanagida/Photodisc/Getty Images

Pennsylvania sun shines on native plants that can thrive across its range of hardiness zones, from USDA zones 4a to 7a. Those zones reflect Pennsylvania's range of terrains, including the Allegheny Mountains that run diagonally through the state, the coastal plains in the southeast corner and the Lake Erie lowlands in the northwest corner.

Northern Bayberry (Myrica Pensylvanica)

A rugged, sun-loving Pennsylvania shrub with lustrous, olive-green leaves ranging from 1.5 to 4 inches, the northern bayberry (Myrica pensylvanica) can reach an equal height and spread of 6 to 8 feet. It does well in a range of soil types, from wet to dry, and is drought resistant. The female plants produce silvery-gray waxy berries that last well into the winter. Those berries can be the only change in color for the northern bayberry since its leathery, aromatic leaves typically stay green. Sometimes they can slowly bronze or tan through the autumn before they fall. An excellent shrubbery screen, northern bayberries can also grow into trees, as tall as 25 feet but more likely ranging between 10 to 20 feet, with their lower branches pruned to accentuate a tree form.

Another deciduous sun-loving and winter-fruit-bearing Pennsylvania shrub with brighter colors, including dark green leaflets that mature into showy reds, yellows and oranges each fall, the smooth sumac can spread and grow equally, from 10 to 15 feet. Each fall, female smooth sumacs bear 0.25-inch hairy red berries called drupes that come in upright panicle clusters that can contain as many as 100 to 700. Those drupes often serve as winter food for local wildlife and songbirds. Preceding the drupes are greenish-yellow flowers that bloom in midsummer. Smooth sumacs need full sun but can adapt to a range of soil types, including slightly acid soils. A hardy ornamental planting, the smooth sumac can be invasive if not tended.

Pennsylvania's state flower blooms on the sun-loving mountain laurel shrub, which grows more densely with prolific blooms the more sun it receives. The mountain laurel's typically pink flowers vary in size, up to 1 inch across, and collect in clusters that can range in size from 4 to 6 inches in diameter. Different mountain laurel cultivars can produce pure white blooms or blooms with a cinnamon tint. Its lightly-ridged bark on often twisted trunks is a draw for local wildlife such as rabbits. Mountain laurels mature with an equal height and spread of 5 to 12 feet in full sun. They can survive in shade but they grow more loosely and shorter as well as with less blooms.