So it's a bit of a mystery since the description is vague. It is awakened with passive perception 10, knows one language known by its creator, and has intelligence of 10, which is more than the Barbarian in our group can claim. 

After having found an awakening pot and carrying it around forever, I'd love to be able to use the little guy as a scout, spy, and alarm system. 

The awakened shrub stat block neither say's it's blind or deaf, so yeah, I'd say it can see and hear. It also knows one language known by its creator, with no restriction on reading, writing, speaking or understanding, so yeah, it can speak.

If it knows one language can it then speak as well? [Aha, you edited your post after I'd started typing. Thanks!]

Davedamon already answered that.

Quote from Davedamon >>

The awakened shrub stat block neither say's it's blind or deaf, so yeah, I'd say it can see and hear. It also knows one language known by its creator, with no restriction on reading, writing, speaking or understanding, so yeah, it can speak.

Usually the basis for interpreting the rules is that they tell you what you can do, not what you can't do. I'd say you were jumping to conclusions here (respectfully), however the Awaken spell is a lot more specific on the details and tells us explicitly that the plant gains senses like those of a human as well as the ability to speak from being awakened.   

As a general rule, a listed language means the creature can speak it. From the Monster Manual:

The languages that a monster can speak are listed in alphabetical order. Sometimes a monster can understand a language but can’t speak it, and this is noted in its entry. A “ — ” indicates that a creature neither speaks nor understands any language.

Quote from Kotath >>

Quote from pangurjan >>

Quote from Davedamon >>

The awakened shrub stat block neither say's it's blind or deaf, so yeah, I'd say it can see and hear. It also knows one language known by its creator, with no restriction on reading, writing, speaking or understanding, so yeah, it can speak.

Usually the basis for interpreting the rules is that they tell you what you can do, not what you can't do. I'd say you were jumping to conclusions here (respectfully), however the Awaken spell is a lot more specific on the details and tells us explicitly that the plant gains senses like those of a human as well as the ability to speak from being awakened.   

 

With due respect, I disagree. There are notable examples where a description will say 'Can understand languages but cannot speak.' Thus it is reasonable to conclude that, unless stated otherwise, any given creature type can speak. Now you might house rule that differently, but RAW is RAW.

 I prefer the clarity of the spell description, but that's fair.

Trivia: An awakened shrub samurai follows the code of bush-ido.

Quote from pangurjan >>

Quote from Kotath >>

Quote from pangurjan >>

Quote from Davedamon >>

The awakened shrub stat block neither say's it's blind or deaf, so yeah, I'd say it can see and hear. It also knows one language known by its creator, with no restriction on reading, writing, speaking or understanding, so yeah, it can speak.

Usually the basis for interpreting the rules is that they tell you what you can do, not what you can't do. I'd say you were jumping to conclusions here (respectfully), however the Awaken spell is a lot more specific on the details and tells us explicitly that the plant gains senses like those of a human as well as the ability to speak from being awakened.   

 

With due respect, I disagree. There are notable examples where a description will say 'Can understand languages but cannot speak.' Thus it is reasonable to conclude that, unless stated otherwise, any given creature type can speak. Now you might house rule that differently, but RAW is RAW.

 I prefer the clarity of the spell description, but that's fair.

 So I guess all PCs and monster's that don't list "vision Xft" are blind since the stat block doesn't say they have eyes.  

Blinded is a condition in D&D so it is very safe to assume that things without said condition are in fact not blind.

So to summarize, the answer to this is that the awakened shrub is written in the same way a commoner is. It can see, it can hear, and it can speak a language.

This is supported by both the Awaken spell and the stat block, which states that it has a passive perception, and can speak/hear a language known by its creator.