A.You can grow shrubs in containers, but you must make sure that the containers are big enough to keep the plants watered adequately,big enough to allow them to stay in there for a few years without becoming
rootbound, and big enough so that there is enough soil volume to keep them from freezing solid in winter. Use a planter box soil that drains well enough. If everything else is OK there are a lot of shrubs that will grow. Stay away from broadleaf evergreens like rhododendrons and pyracantha though. You could use standard forms of shrubs like lilacs, hydrangea etc.or larger flowering shrubs like hibiscus, butterfly bush, burning bush or forsythia.