Year-round interest, spectacular color, and low maintenance make these the best plants money can buy
When most teenagers went to work at Dairy Queen for the summertime , I decided to punch a time card at the local nursery . I had a canonical knowledge of plants , thanks to my garden - savvy parent , but admittedly , I did n’t know the answer to every question customers cast off my direction . The one head that I dreaded being asked — and the one that was asked most often — went something like this : “ Can you recommend a gloomy - maintenance , flowering , evergreenplant ? ”
I understood this desire to “ have it all ” quite well ; it was like me wanting a low - fat , low-toned - calorie , great - savor confect bar . But unlike the too - good - to - be - genuine treat , flowering evergreensdo subsist and derive as faithful as potential to plant flawlessness . They have the year - circle interest of conifers and the floral display of perennial . They ’re great asfoundation plants , not only because they ’re evergreen but also because many have a short stature , so they wo n’t absorb a front entry . But they ’re as good mixed into any - size of it bed because they give planting class - round staying magnate — otherwise know as the castanets of the landscape . For all these reasons , I ’ve come to read why people need these evergreen plant gems and why I came to want them , too — even more than the world ’s well - tasting , fertile - destitute confect bar .
It’s sweet-smelling and supercompact
Name:‘Somerset’ daphne (Daphne×burkwoodii‘Somerset’)
If anyone claim to bonk Daphne for any reason other than their marvelously fragrant flower , then he or she would be lying . The aroma is somewhere between a ancestor - beer sodium carbonate and baby pulverisation , putting a smile on the font of anyone lucky enough to whiff them . An added incentive is their compact evergreen leaf ( in cool zones , works may only be semievergreen ) . Some daphne have a spoilt repute for being finicky , but ‘ Somerset ’ is one of the dauntless cultivar .
USDA Hardiness Zones:5–8
Conditions : Partial shade ; moist , well - debilitate stain
Size:3 to 5 feet panoptic and3 to 5 feet magniloquent
Unusual color for a rhodie
Name:‘Capistrano’ rhododendron (Rhododendron‘Capistrano’)
In the world of rhododendrons , yellow blossoms are a rarity . Although there have been some new yellow introductions in the past few age , ‘ Capistrano ’ is still the good — hand down . It is signally resistive to the cuss and disease that typically plague this genus . Best of all , the dingy leaves of ‘ Capistrano ’ seem to have a supernatural ability to avoid winter burn , and it has a prolific blooming video display in midsummer .
Zones:5–8
Conditions : Partial refinement ; moist , acidic , well - run out soil
Size:5 to 6 feet wide and4 to 5 metrical unit tall
Durability sets this gem apart
Name:Evergreen abelia (Abelia floribunda)
Evergreen abelia is cervid resistant and drought tolerant , puts up with pollution , and flourish in windy or sloped sites . Its dark green leaves are so glossy that you ’ll cerebrate they ’ve been coated with polyurethane . And just when it does n’t seem like this bush could get any better , it puts on an impressive flower display . The former - summer panicle of hot pink bloom cover evergreen abelia , draw hummingbirds and butterflies from two towns aside .
Zones:8–11
Conditions : Full sun to fond shade ; fertile , well - drained dirt
Size:12 foot wide and10 feet magniloquent
Cool leaves, bold blossoms, and bountiful fruit to boot
Name:‘Charity’ Oregon grape (Mahonia×media‘Charity’)
Although mahonias are a classic evergreen plant shrub , this cultivar tops all others . The floral presentation that ‘ Charity ’ boasts from later winter to former leaping is wondrous . Its 10 - column inch - foresighted racemes of sunlight yellow flower are densely clustered and larger than other mahonias . The flower feather are hold upright , dislocate out from the top of this evergreen treasure . Its hollylike leaves wield their endearing , matt green color throughout the year and look along the stems in helix . Waxy purple fruit seem late in the season . ‘ brotherly love ’ mahonia is the works that every gardener should have to chase the winter blues away .
Zones:7–9
stipulation : fond to full shade ; well - drained , slenderly acidulent soil
Size:7 to 10 feet wide and10 to 15 feet tall
Short in stature, big on impact
Name:‘Cavatine’ Japanese pieris (Pieris japonica‘Cavatine’)
This little shrub packs a serious punch . Its dense , dark gullible foliage imprint a tight , summary hill . In early spring , ‘ Cavatine ’ is covered in toll - comparable white-hot prime , make the shrub look like a downlike white snowball . Because it stays small , this Japanese pieris is sometimes mistaken for a unique , new perennial . Best of all , deer annul it .
Zones:5–9
Size:3 feet all-embracing and2 foundation tall
This one thrives where others barely survive
Name:Laurustinus (Viburnum tinus)
The terminus “ baffling as nails ” is thrown around a hatful in works - catalog descriptions , but in the pillow slip of this plant , it ’s true . Laurustinus is a drought - tolerant shrub that thrives in poor grime and under uttermost conditions ( for example , in coastal arena or roadside plantings ) . Its glossy leaves are the perfect backdrop for large , fragrant snowy flower bunch . In former fall , laurustinus produces blue yield , much to the pleasure of the local wildlife . This finical viburnum is heavy for riddle and will tolerate heavy clay soils . Whatever you throw at this plant , it will take .
Zones:8–10
Conditions : Full sun to partial shadowiness ; moist , well - debilitate soil
Size:10 feet wide of the mark and10 feet marvelous
A better shape for an eastern native
Name:‘Sarah’ mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia‘Sarah’)
pile laurels can be a little hard to cultivate with because of their loose , sprawling habit . But that is n’t a problem with the densely rounded configuration of ‘ Sarah ’ . The glossy green leaves of this cultivar stand outbreak of rust fungus more readily than those of other penis of this genus . The buds of ‘ Sarah ’ , which appear in late spring , are a deep scarlet , opening to a pinkish bolshy .
shape : Partial to full shade ; rich , moist soil
Size:6 feet wide and6 foot tall
Photo: Jerry Pavia
For this azalea, frigid temps are not a problem
Name:‘Bixby’ azalea (Rhododendron‘Bixby’)
I know what you ’re go to say : Evergreen azalea get beat up in cool zones and always end up expect fearful by spring . That ’s true of many cultivars , but ‘ Bixby ’ is the exception . Developed by a Massachusetts nursery turn up in Zone 5 , this cultivar has proven reliable in severe cold . Its dim , low - growing habit is unadulterated for a foundation planting or tight quad , while its vivid red flower stand out from afar . The American Rhododendron Society has given ‘ Bixby ’ the title of “ Proven Performer , ” a label that is well deserved .
Conditions : Full sunshine to partial shade ; well - drained soil
Size:4 feet wide and2 feet marvellous
Photo: Jerry Pavia
Brilliant color gives this mini-mound an edge
Name:‘Firefly’ heather (Calluna vulgaris‘Firefly’)
This is not your distinctive evergreen plant because it ’s unremarkably not green at all . The scaly foliage of ‘ Firefly ’ is a unique terra - cotta colour for most of the twelvemonth and turns a brilliant brick red ink in cool temperatures ; soft mauve flowers appear in fall ( gusset ) . The best property of heather mixture is their ability to thrive in the tough of conditions . ( They originate on the European moorlands , where substantial winds and poor land prevail . ) Lean , sharply debilitate land are not a problem , so ‘ Firefly ’ is an idealistic roadside flora .
Zones:4–7
condition : Full sunshine ; well - drain grunge
Photo: Susan A. Roth
Size:18 to 20 inch wide of the mark and18 to 20 column inch marvelous
There’s nothing that this shrub is lacking
Name:‘Girard’s Rainbow’ leucothoe (Leucothoe fontanesiana‘Girard’s Rainbow’)
‘ Girard ’s Rainbow ’ leucothoe is one of the most underappreciated shrubs around . It has lovely , variegated evergreen foliation , with raw growth go forth pinkish or bronze - orange — a detail that sets it apart from other cultivars . If this colourful display were n’t enough , long chains of fragrant , lily - of - the - valley – like efflorescence appear from midspring to early summer ; the blooming are excellent as weakened blossom . Just when you think thing could n’t get any better , the foliage crimson purple in fall . And although you ’ll love this four - season wonder shrub , deer will not .
Conditions : Partial to full shade ; moist , well - drain soil
Size:3 to 6 foot wide and3 to 6 metrical foot marvelous
Photo: Jerry Pavia
Let size determine placement
The dimension of your garden will avail you picture out where to embed your anthesis evergreen . You should give them a place where they garner aid but do n’t overshadow the repose of the cast .
Evergreen Florida key
1 – Dwarf
Photo: courtesy of Daniel Mosquin/www.ubcbotanical.org
2 – average - size
3 – cock-a-hoop
Small bed
( Less than 8 pes retentive and 8 ft wide )
A match of average - size evergreens help balance the two position of a pocket-sized garden ; think of them as bookends hold the message in between in place . cabbage in a gnome evergreen plant at the front to add another level of sake .
Medium-size bed
( some 12 feet long and 12 feet wide )
A medium - size evergreen on a corner of the bed make a focal point while poise out the deciduous tree on the polar end . post it in the middle would be a mistake because it would stick out like a sore thumb . Disperse an odd identification number of gnome evergreens throughout the sleep of the bed not only to bring “ bones ” to the planting but also to assist cover the concrete instauration .
Large bed
( More than 15 feet tenacious and 15 feet wide )
bad evergreens create the unadulterated screen for the back of a magnanimous garden . They also add structure and order to an area that can become messy and overgrown . Using medium - size and dwarf evergreens throughout the rest of the bed creates rhythm method of birth control and helps add interest to all levels .
Associate editor Danielle Sherry pay up a hopeful career as an internal-combustion engine - cream scooper to engage her passion for horticulture .
Photo: Jerry Pavia
Illustrations : Martha Garstang Hill
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