Who says you can't have blooming lilacs in summer, or even dogwood? Not just harbingers of spring, a good variety of flowering trees and shrubs can keep the bloom going throughout the summer.

In July, visitors to the Morton Arboretum are always curious about Stewartia trees, says Doris Taylor, the Arboretum's plant information specialist.

"Stewartia has a white flower with tufts of yellow stamens," she says. "It's the closest to a camellia our climate will support."

Korean stewartia and Japanese stewartia have pyramidal or oval shapes and are relatively small -- 20 to 40 feet tall, with the Korean species in the lower range.

The Japanese species has exfoliating bark and the Korean type has a particularly long bloom period. "Although they're not as common as other summer bloomers, if you site them out of the wind, stewartia will offer a long, satisfying flower show," says Taylor.

Of similar stature, the 30- to 40-foot golden rain tree displays showy yellow flower clusters in July followed by interesting papery brown seedpods that look like miniature lanterns.

These "lanterns" persist for weeks, turning a faint red and providing additional seasonal interest. The tree is relatively pest-free and tolerates drought well.

Among the larger summer blooming trees, try silver linden. Reaching 50 to 70 feet tall, silver linden offers clusters of yellow-white flowers in late June to early July, right after its relative, littleleaf linden. It is one of the relatively few fragrant summer blooming trees.

More well known perhaps is smoke tree. "Most people buy the purple-leaved variety," Taylor says. "It works well as an accent, although I have seen hedges of smoke tree that are very effective."

She says smoke tree can be cut back to the ground in renewal pruning if it is particularly overgrown. More like a shrub, this multi-stemmed plant grows 10-15 feet tall and sports feathery, plume-like flowers. Purple-leafed favorites include 'Nordine' and 'Royal Purple.'

Another longtime favorite is butterfly bush whose spikes of purple, pink, white or lavender are famous for attracting butterflies. These shrubs can flower from July through September. Most die back to the ground in winter, only to sprout again in spring.

"Everyone should have a hydrangea in their yard," asserts Taylor of this popular summer blooming shrub. "There are so many new cultivars today."

Wild hydrangea includes cultivars such as 'Annabelle' and 'Grandiflora.' Oakleaf hydrangea offers four season interest with whitish pink flowers, exfoliating bark, and persistent dried flowers in winter. Newer hydrangea introductions include cultivars that promise recurrent blooms throughout the summer.

Summer flowering trees are not immune from diseases. Doris Taylor explains, "verticillium wilt, a soil-borne fungus, is usually prevalent after dry weather in July and August, causing root damage."

The symptoms usually appear as dried leaves, wilting on the plant. Also, if you peel the bark on an infected branch you'll often see brown streaks where the tree's "plumbing" has been plugged.

Verticillium is difficult to control, because it persists in the soil. The best remedy is to keep your tree well-watered and healthy, and prune off dead branches.

Q. What are some native summer blooming shrubs?
A. Bottlebrush buckeye is a large (8-12 feet), colony-forming shrub with July blooming flower spikes for which it is named. Bush honeysuckle is a wonderful shade-lover whose flowers begin in June and often last into August.

Q. Are there any edible, fruit-bearing summer bloomers?
A. Native elderberry forms dark purple-black berries that can be eaten or made into jams and wine. Serviceberries, sometimes called Juneberries, produce showy red berries in June and are quite delicious for humans or birds. Flocks of cedar-waxwings could consume all the fruit from just one tree, in little more than an hour.

For more on verticillium wilt or for other tree and plant information, visit the Plant Clinic page on The Morton Arboretum Web site: www.mortonarb.org.

Cathy Jean Maloney is a writer for the Morton Arboretum in Lisle.