Evergreens are foundational plants for the garden, creating the year round visual structure that you can design the rest of your garden around. Use evergreens to create a relaxing, private retreat that you and your family can enjoy year-round. Evergreens come in a large variety of textures, forms, and yes even some variations in color including smoky blues and bright yellows to creamy whites. Whether you prefer a more formal setting, one that is more wild, or even want to bring in some Asian aesthetics, we have many many plants to choose from, including some gorgeous and unusual specimen plants.
Here are 10 examples of some of the plants that we currently have available:
Camellias are broadleaf evergreen shrubs. They are happiest with morning sunlight only or filtered sunlight throughout the day. Camellias have incredible flowers ranging from white to pink to red, and extremely handsome foliage. Camellias are best situated in a sheltered location where they are protected from harsh winter winds.
We also carry Camellia sinensis, which is the plant used to make tea.
See our Camellia selections here
See our Camellia Garden Guide here
See our Camellia sinensis Garden Guide here
Cryptomeria, or Japanese Cedars, come in a range of sizes and offer unique textures. From petite ‘Dragon Warrior’ 3’T x 3’W, to the classic ‘Yoshino’ 40’T x 20’W, these are excellent choices for year round color.
They can be planted in full sun to partial shade and prefer deep, well-drained soils and warm, moist conditions.
They are of cultural importance in Japan, where they are believed to be from, although the fossil record reveals a much larger distribution across East Asia. The oldest Cryptomeria tree is thought to be over 2000 years old!
See our Cryptomeria selections here
Cupressus aka Cypress includes the ever fantastic and fragrant Cupressus arizonica ‘Blue Ice’ and ‘Carolina Sapphire’ (Blue Ice pictured here). Native to the US Southwest and Mexico, these resilient and drought-tolerant plants offer amazing foliage color to the landscape. Put them in your hot and sunny areas and watch them thrive!
Their fragrant foliage is wonderful to use in arrangements and wreaths. When we create custom wreaths during the winter holidays, this is a must-have ingredient!
See our Cupressus selections here
Ilex aka Hollies. You can’t go wrong with Hollies! While not all hollies are evergreen, those that are include our native Ilex opaca, which has the spiky leaves (a good natural deterrent) and is a robust plant in general. Many Hollies are dioecious, meaning you need female and male plants present for good berry production. Pictured here is a large Ilex opaca ‘Delia Bradley’.
Cedar waxwings enjoy the berries in winter, the branches can also be used for winter arrangements. Planting Hollies now will bring festive vibes and color to the winter garden.
See our evergreen Holly selections here
Juniperus aka Junipers come in a range of sizes, colors, and textures but the majority that we carry are low-growing and make excellent groundcovers. We do also have some that are shrubs.
It is popular to plant them on hot, sunny slopes where mowing is impractical.
These are very resilient plants and are an excellent choice for difficult sunny areas.
See our Juniperus selections here
Leucothoe includes the ever-fabulous Leucothoe fontanesiana ‘Girard’s Rainbow’, pictured. This is a variegated form of a plant native to WNC with gracefully arching branches, striking red stems, with colorful creamy white and green mottled foliage with scarlet accents and showy drooping clusters of white flowers.
Leucothoe fontanesiana fills in the unusual niches of being native, evergreen, AND it prefers to be in filtered light of the understory. It is common to see it when hiking near waterfalls, where it is very moist and humid. Related to Rhododendrons, they prefer acidic soils.
See our Leucothoe selections here
Picea, more commonly known as Spruce, is another large genus of evergreen trees and shrubs that have many uses in a sun-filled landscape. From the diminutive Norway Spruce Picea abies ‘Little Gem’ 2’T x 2’W, to Picea abies 60’T x 30’W, these plants can be anything from low hedges to stately specimens. We have an excellent selection of Colorado Blue Spruce AKA Picea pungens in their many different gorgeous hues of blue (the beautiful mature one behind our tropical room is ‘Montgomery’). We also have multiple cultivars of yellow-tipped and yellow-tinted foliage to add additional color and contrast to the landscape. Pictured here is Picea orientalis ‘Gowdy’.
If you’re thinking of the holidays or something with a more formal presence, the Dwarf Alberta Spruce Picea glauca ‘Conica’ is an excellent option for a living Christmas tree.
Pieris japonica are unusual broadleaf evergreen shrubs in the Rhododendron family, with drooping trusses of fragrant white to pink flowers in spring. New foliage can be fiery reds, yellows, and bronze-oranges that turn to green, with a finer texture than either Camellias or Rhododendrons, which they combine well with. These acid-loving understory plants are good for shady locations. They are generally quite slow growing and long-lived.
In Japan, these have traditionally been planted in mixed hedges at tea gardens and at sacred sites.
See our Pieris selections here
Rhododendrons are the queens of the forest, the quintessential Appalachian shrub, with handsome broadleaf evergreen foliage and showy flowers. Flowers are available in the white, pink, red, and purple colors. These acid-lovers enjoy moist, well-draining soil and thrive in either filtered light or morning sun and afternoon shade.
For inspiration, check out Craggy Gardens on the Blue Ridge Parkway and alongside numerous local waterfalls to see these beauties in the wild.
See our evergreen Rhododendron selections here
See our Rhododendron Garden Guide here
Thuja, commonly known as Arborvitae, are workhorses in the garden. These resilient conifers create fantastic privacy hedges (‘Green Giant’, ‘Emerald’), striking narrow silhouettes (‘Degroots Spire’), and a variety of smaller hedge forms with different foliage colors.
