Evergreen plants provide plenty of winter interest in the garden. This is something most gardeners are vaguely aware of but may not think consciously about during the spring and summer when bright flowers take center stage. Using evergreen trees and shrubs as a foundation for the rest of your garden landscape, you will have garden color year-round.
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Filling a yard with beautiful flowers, shrubs and trees can make for a wonderful array of color and foliage. However, waiting for the maturity of all those plants can be difficult when trying to plan out the way the garden will eventually look. Planting fast-growing shrubs can get to that mature level quicker and with evergreens, the gardener will not lose that wonderful foliage.
The cut-leaf philodendron is a perennial evergreen that is fast growing and shade tolerant. It is botanically known as Philodendron bipinnatidfidum from the arum family. Leaves are large and glossy with a tall purple-red inflorescence of flowers.
The entire plant will grow 15 feet high and 15 feet wide. For best results, plant it in moist well-drained soil with partial shade. USDA hardiness ranges for the cut-leaf philodendron are 9 through 11. Propagate the plant via cuttings.
Clerodendrum ugandense, the blue butterfly bush, is from the verbena family and is an evergreen fast-growing perennial shrub. It has flowers that look like blue butterflies and egg-shaped leaves are 3 to 4 inches long. It can grow 10 feet high and 10 feet wide. Planting conditions should be partial shade and any soil. It will be hardy in USDA hardiness zones of 10 and 11 with the propagation of the plant being from cuttings and from suckers.
The fatshedera shrub is from the ginseng family and is called Fatzhedera x lizei botanically. It is a lovely evergreen, fast-growing, and easy to grow. The shrub is hardy in the USDA hardiness zones of 8 through 11. The leaves are 8 to 10 inches wide and shiny while the stems are hairy when new and woody when aged. The flowers are white and in clusters. Plant a fatshedera in partial to full shade with regular watering. Propagate via stem tip cuttings.
Ilex x attenuate ‘Savannah’, otherwise known as the Savannah holly, is a fast-growing shrub that is evergreen and attractive to songbirds. With gray bark and red berries, it also has typical holly leaves. Plant this shrub in the shade for an open growth and in full sun for a tightly compacted form, with well-drained soil that is moist. It is hardy in USDA hardiness zones of 7 through 9. Propagate via cuttings.
Chartreuse evergreen plants have bright green, almost lime or neon in appearance, stand out in the winter landscape. Even with overcast, muddy or drab winter weather, these chartreuse gems will add sparkle.
This chartreuse evergreen conifer is hardy in zones 4-8. The Lemon Thread falsecypress is a bright yellow-green conifer that, like other falsecypress trees, has almost threadlike foliage. A very unique conifer, falsecypress looks less like a “pine tree”, as many gardeners might suspect.
I find the unique texture of the falsecypress, a small tree that blends easily into the mixed border or garden landscape. A gardener could add falsecypress to almost any garden space with success. Falsecypress prefers full sun to part shade.
Lemon Thread falsecypress will grow 3-5 feet tall and about 3 feet wide with a loose pyramidal shape. The threadlike foliage hangs down slightly, giving this chartreuse evergreen a slightly weeping appearance.
While oftentimes Japanese cedars can grow to be rather large specimen trees, there are dwarf forms available suitable for smaller gardens. They are often used for rock gardens, pond plantings or Japanese gardens as well. The chartreuse form is known as ‘Elegans Aurea’ or golden Japanese cedar and has bright yellow-green needles instead of dark green needles.
Gardeners can expect the golden Japanese cedar to grow on average between 6-12′ tall and wide with some of the larger specimens stretching to 20 feet. These evergreen trees are hardy to zone 6 and prefer full to part sun.
Japanese cedars have short, aromatic needles that some people find irritating to the touch. Others will have no reaction. The flowers are nondescript and rather unnoticeable, so these evergreen trees are usually grown from their colorful foliage and long-lasting color.
When watering this bright-colored evergreen tree, remember to not let the soil dry out too much while the tree is still being established. Most conifers are moderately drought tolerate, but will appreciate extra watering during very hot, or windy conditions.
Use these bright, chartreuse evergreen trees and shrubs to add some excitement to the backbone of your garden. Winter doldrums will be brighter with these uniquely colored plants as part of your year-round landscape.
Variegated evergreen shrubs provide loads of color and interest to the garden, year-round. These shrubs all have green with white, yellow or cream-colored leaves.
Evergreen shrubs add color to the garden year-round and often become the foundation around which we plan the rest of our garden landscape. The wonderful thing about these evergreens is that they already provide stunning color accents because each of these evergreen shrubs have variegated foliage with two different colors.
Polemonium shrubs do best in part shade and in zones 8 and 9 it is a must that they are provided shade or the plant with dieback.
‘Snow and Sapphire’ is an improvement on other polemonium plants because it can tolerate the heat better than other cultivars, but the bright shade is still best. The leaves of the polemonium are crisp and gorgeous looking, green with bright white edges and the flowers that appear early each summer are a bright sapphire blue.
‘Snow and Sapphire’ will grow about 2’ tall and 1 ½’ wide. An interesting fact about this evergreen shrub is that the plant is attractive to cats that will come and roll in the plant if you bruise the foliage and release the scent. Jacob’s Ladder is not known to be poisonous.
Weeping form evergreen shrubs keep their foliage providing extra interest to any garden area. See six favorite weeping evergreen shrubs; broadleaf and conifers.
Golden Threadleaf False Cypress is suitable for hardy zones 4-8 although in zone 8 heat may be a factor if planted in full sun. A beautiful specimen planting, this false cypress has golden weeping foliage that adds a sparkle to the garden all year.
Prefers well-drained soil and full sun or part shade (deeper shade may cause the foliage to turn green instead of golden). Its height at 7 years is listed at 5-10’ and at 20 years a maximum of 15’. This weeping form false cypress was a Missouri Botanical Garden Plant of Merit award winner and it is obvious why.
The ‘Aurea Pendula’ is a variegated form of the common or European boxwood that already provides interest through variegated evergreen foliage but is also a weeping form. The leaves are dark with golden-yellow markings throughout and the branches are gently arched to create unique weeping growth habit, unlike most boxwoods.
These boxwoods are shallow rooted so use caution when weeding near them, and they prefer neutral soil but will tolerate slight variances in either direction. Sun dappled shade is preferred.
A beautiful evergreen shrub, the Camellia is a long time favorite for acidic soil gardens. However, this weeping form camellia is compact enough to grow in a large container because it only grows 2-3’ tall by 5′ wide so if your soil isn’t right for camellias you can still amend a container’s worth and enjoy this long-lived beauty.
Lovely planted in a singly or in a mass, the glossy green leaves hold interest year-round while the bright rose-pink flowers are beautiful double forms suitable for cutting arrangements. Winter flowers make this weeping camellia an especially nice cultivar as the cascading blooms will be on display from October through December. This cascading camellia prefers full sun to part shade.
Unlike the broadleaf evergreen above, this false cypress has scale-covered leaves that are thin and flexible, like a mop, giving it the common name. Compact and graceful, this cypress will grow a maximum of 5’ tall and wide but would take a decade or more to reach that size.
The ‘Gold Mop’ false cypress holds its golden color better than most other gold cypress, especially when planted in full sun although it will tolerate part shade. In northern zones, some winter burning can harm the pendulous foliage but it will soon recover in the spring.
This American holly is unusual in that it has a low, compact, cascading growth habit and larger evergreen leaves than most other American hollies. This spreading holly will produce red berries each year and never grow taller than 3’ making it an excellent holly choice even in small garden spaces. This broadleaf evergreen, cascading shrub has large, glossy leaves that are deep green color all year long.
This arborvitae is a most unusual weeping form. The thin, evergreen foliage is filamentous and drooping with little branching horizontally. Dense and beautiful this shrub grows to a mature size of 3-4’ tall and wide.
Preferring full sun this evergreen shrub would look beautiful weeping beside a water feature or as an accent specimen. It is the long, thread-like strands of foliage that give this evergreen its common name.
Charming evergreen shrubs, these conifers are often used in a Japanese garden to provide color year-round and give structure to a meditation garden. Many juniper cultivars are available in a variety of colors, forms, and sizes.
Most junipers produce attractive blue berries that are not only used as a flavoring for gin alcoholic drinks but also used to produce an essential oil helpful for relieving muscle tension. Juniper shrubs need full sun and are drought tolerant once established.
Japanese cheesewood (Pittosporum) plants are very distinctive with curled, wavy foliage. The leaves are leathery and glossy and the stems are black or purple on some shrubs, especially the darker species. Pittosporum shrubs with variegated foliage are less hardy than the green or purple varieties.
Pittosporum tobira is a heavily scented shrub with clusters of creamy flowers. The flowers deepen to a yellow as the season progresses and they will enchant from late spring to summer. It has shiny dark green foliage and the blossoms are reminiscent of orange.
If allowed a free rein it can grow to very tall, up to 30ft., so choose the site carefully and prune accordingly from the outset. However; this pittosporum is a slow-growing shrub and is often seen in large tubs. The confinement of the tub contains the speed of growth.
Gold Globe Arborvitae (Thuja Occidentalis ‘Gold Globe’) is an evergreen shrub that has dense, bright golden foliage on the outer part of the plant and bright green foliage on the inside.It’s a native American shrub that will attract bees to the flowers and the birds love to build nests in it because of the dense foliage. The shape is a rounded and global and can easily be maintained as a smaller shrub if desired.
It makes a great foundation plant usually planted by itself or in groups of 3 or 5 in front of some windows or along the edge of a sidewalk. Gold globe arborvitae can also be used as a small hedge or border plantings in an island bed to give some extra color.
When using Gold Globe Arborvitae as a foundation shrub, keep it spaced at least 3 feet away from a sidewalk or house to prevent it from touching and causing more maintenance. I think this shrub goes well Crimson pygmy Barberry planted beside it or Rose Glow Barberry planted behind if to give good color contrast.
Some other good ideas for this plant is using it around an electric box to block the view, planting it in a semicircle around a dwarf tree on the corner of a house, or planting a single shrub and then planting three perennials around it, perhaps some Liriope or Stella De Oro daylily. It’s a very hardy shrub that can take most conditions and will not brown out in the full sun like many other golden shrubs.
This semi-evergreen shrub gets slender leaves that get to be about eight inches long and have a slight shine to them. The back of the leaf has powder on it, so be careful when you handle them. They get creamy white flowers that have a pleasant fragrance, followed by clusters of bright red berries that attract wildlife such as birds and yet they are deer resistant.
The berries form in summer and will turn black by the end of summer and fall off. The branches grow upright to form a rounded to slight shape. Allegheny Viburnum is a very strong shrub that can handle the most growing condition, so it is a very versatile shrub.
Allegheny Viburnum can be used in many ways in your landscape to give your yard year-round interest. It makes a good hedgerow for blocking wind, when planting in a hedgerow, spacing them four to five feet away from each other so they will form a solid wall.
Another good use of them is using them as a foundation shrub, planting it in a sitting area, or near a door, to take advantage of the fragrance of the flowers. You could also plant them in island beds and plant some shorter shrubs or perennials in front of them to create a beautiful look.
Prague Viburnum (Viburnum x Pragense) one of my favorite Shrubs. It has large shiny leaves that are thin and grow 2 to 4 inches long. The large clusters of flowers start out as a light pink and turn into large white clusters. Prague viburnum has large clusters of attractive red berries in the summer that attract birds, rabbits, and other wildlife.
The overall form is upright with a round shape. Prague viburnum is a very quick growing shrub that will not take as long as most shrubs to become fully mature. The Mature height is about ten feet tall and wide if untrimmed so make sure to space it properly, although I have seen one at a store near my house that is kept at 3, tall all year it will need to be trimmed several times a year to maintain that size.
Prague viburnum is a great shrub for a hedgerow to block the wind and view but is also good as a specimen shrub in your lawn or island bed. Just make sure to space it away from a sidewalk or a house at least five or six feet. The only bad thing I can say about Prague is that it has powder on the branches that might irritate your skin if touched but it’s not really that bad.
Alberta spruce (picea glauca) is a dwarf tree that has short light green needles that are not as jaggy as most other spruces. The foliage is very dense and has soft fuzzy needles that shed in the center of the shrub in the fall or winter.
It’s a very slow grower and may only grow a couple of inches a year so if you buy one that is bigger you will pay a lot. The mature height can be 10 feet tall but will take many years and it can easily be trimmed to maintain its size.
The slow growth, sturdy drunk, and the dense foliage make this an ideal shrub to trim into many shapes such as a poodle, pompom, or a spiral. Alberta spruce also makes an ideal plant for growing in a container of your porch or deck because it can withstand winter without being planted in the ground.
Alberta spruce is ideal for planting on both sides of an entrance to a door to create a formal look. The only problem I have seen with Alberta spruce is that it may get spider mites that can kill off the foliage but can be taken care of with spraying it. It’s a good shrub if you want something that almost never needs trimming.
Blue Maid Holly is one of the hardiest Hollies in the meserveae family (Blue Hollies). They have small dark blue-green leaves that show veins. The leaves are somewhat sharp and leathery. In late spring to early summer Blue Maid Holly will get an abundant amount of small white flowers that are not fragrant.
The flowers are nice, but they are not the main attraction, the bright red berries are. They appear in late summer to fall depending on your growing zone. The berries will hang on the shrub for months and will make Blue Maid holly a focal point. Blue Maid Holly has stems that are an attractive feature also, they have a purple color as does the trunk.
Often confused with Blue Princess Holly, Blue Maid Holly will get slightly bigger and the leaves are broader. It can grow up to ten feet tall and eight feet wide if left untrimmed, but most people keep Blue Maid Holly trimmed to about four feet tall and wide.
Blue Maid Holly has many uses in a landscape. They make a good foundation shrub and can be planted under windows, in front of an air conditioner to block the view, planted in a semi-circle around a dwarf tree on the corner of a house, or one on either side of a door.
When using Blue Maid Holly as a foundation shrub, keep it planted at least four feet away from sidewalks and houses to prevent extra trimming. They also make a good hedge to block wind and view. When using it as a hedge, space them four to five feet away from each other. If you want a formal look you can plant a row of Blue Maid Holly on either side a sidewalk or a driveway and keep them trimmed into a box shape or a round shape.
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