Regional Picks: Focal-Point Plants – Southeast

1. ‘Morgan’ Oriental Arborvitae

Name:Platycladus orientalis‘Morgan’

USDA hardiness zones:6 to 9

Size:3 to 4 feet tall and 18 inches wide ( matures in 10 years )

Conditions : Full sun ; fair grease

This woody chameleon is eff for its power to transform its foliage colouration . As the thermometer degenerate , ‘ Morgan ’ changes from green to purple to coppery orange . The foliation stay green within the plant , create a spectacular direct contrast . To get the most dramatic winter colour , establish it in a sunny , expose site . ‘ Morgan ’ is a keen substitute for midget Alberta spruce ( Picea glauca‘Conica ’ , Zones 2–6 ) , which suffers in heat and humidness . Like most arborvitae , however , cervid will nibble on it .

2. ‘Winter Flame’ Bloodtwig Dogwood

Name:Cornus sanguinea‘Winter Flame’

Zones:4 to 7

Size:6 to 8 feet marvelous and extensive

Conditions : Full Lord’s Day to fond nicety ; average soil

‘ Winter Flame ’ struts its stuff during the frigid months , when its stems evolve a fervid orange - sensationalistic colour at their fundament , flushing to knock and finishing with Marxist at the tips . To insure sweet , colorful stem each year , make out back the old ace closelipped to the soil in late winter or early fountain . warm new stems will quickly emerge . The vivid stems tote up coloring material and use to a dreary winter and make great slash branch to employ for indoor and outdoor decor .

3. ‘Color Guard’ Yucca

Name:Yucca filamentosa‘Color Guard’

Zones:4 to 11

Size:2 to 3 feet magniloquent and all-embracing

Conditions : Full sun to bright spectre ; average to poor soil

When someone asks me for a plant life that is easy to mature ; has twelvemonth - round color ; and does n’t command supplementary lacrimation , spraying , or pruning , ‘ Color Guard ’ yucca is my solution . It is all of the above — and more . Its wide of the mark , leathery leafage pop in the landscape painting . folio edges sport fine spiral of threadlike filaments — hence , the metal money name . Creamy white pendant flower appear on 4- to 6 - invertebrate foot - grandiloquent stalks in summer . If you find the flower spike undesirable , cut it out when it first begins to form . And , no , this plant life does n’t necessarily make your garden look southwestern .

4. ‘Diana Clare’ Lungwort

Name:Pulmonaria longifolia‘Diana Clare’

Zones:3 to 8

Size:1 foot marvelous and 18 to 24 inches all-embracing

Conditions : Prefers morning Lord’s Day and afternoon tone ; fair to moist , well - drained ground

Lungworts , in cosmopolitan , are not befit to the South , butP. longifoliaand its cultivars are the exception . In our gardens , ‘ Diana Clare ’ has support the mental testing of time , growing in less - than - idealistic soil with little supplementary water . An abundance of violet - blue flowers come out in spring , along with silver - speckled , apple green foliage . As they mature , leaves become entirely silver , drawing attention even when the plant is n’t in flower .

Jason Reevesis a plantsman and conservator of the University of Tennessee Gardens at the West Tennessee Research and Education Center in Jackson .

Photos : courtesy of Jason Reeves

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Regional Picks: Focal-Point Plants - Northeast

Regional Picks: Focal-Point Plants - Midwest

Regional Picks: Focal-Point Plants - Southwest

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