In the South, a shrub labeled “Full Sun” likes more than 6 hours or morning sun or more than 4 hours of afternoon sun. Sun Evergreen contains all of the evergreen shrubs that like full sun. Evergreen means that the plant will not lose its leaves or needles in the winter, but is not limited to green color (yellow, burgundy, & blue/gray colors abound).
The amount of sun may range from 4-6 hours to 12+ hours all day, but the shrubs located on the Martin Garden Center “Sun Evergreen” section like sun and can tolerate as much sun as you can give them. There are some exceptions. For example, most yellow colored plants may brown in all day sun during our long hot Upstate summers.
Evergreen shrubs can have either broadleaf leaves, needles or scale-like leaves that last through the winter. Whereas, deciduous shrubs drop their leaves during the winter.
Lower Sun Evergreen is 60% of our Sun Evergreen Hill and encompasses the sun shrubs mostly used in foundation plantings because they reach heights less than the average window height at most homes. The plants range from six inches to four feet tall at maturity. The list includes:
- Juniper (ground cover) including All Gold, Angelica, Blue Pacific, Blue Rug, Blue Star, Dwarf Garden, Grey Owl, Golden Pacific, Gold Lace, Parsons, Sargent,
- Arborvitae (Thuja) including Anna’s Magic Ball, Mr. Bowling Ball, Danica, Fire Chief & Golden Globe
- Holly (Ilex) including Dwarf Yaupon, Hoogendorn, Helleri, Golden Helleri, Soft Touch, Brass Buckle, Golden Soft Touch, Gem Box, Strong Box, Lustre Leaf
- Loropetalum including Crimson Fire , Purple Daydream, Cerise Charm, Jazz Hands White, Jazz Hands Pink, Emerald Snow, and Purple Pixie (not stocked & by special order only as available).
- Abelia including Kaleidoscope, Radiance and Rose Creek Abelias are the only 3 we stock regularly as they are the most commonly available types. Others may … and we stress may … be available by special order which depends on their availability.
- Ligustrum including Dwarf Curly Leaf Ligustrum and the very popular yellow Sunshine Ligustrum.
- Chamaecyparis including Dwarf Hinoki Cypress
- Cryptomeria including Dragon Prince, Globosa Nana
- Distylium including Blue Cascade, Cinnamon Girl, Coppertone, Emerald Heights, Jewel Box, Linebacker, Swing Low & Vintage Jade
- Other shrubs in lower sun evergreen.
Middle Sun Evergreen includes those shrubs growing from 4-8 feet tall. This is a smaller portion of the Sun Evergreen hill and includes accent plants that are upright that are intended to give some proportion to an otherwise bland landscape of same sized shrubs. They add height dimension at the corners of your home or in large spaces between windows. The list of mid-sized Sun Evergreen shrubs include:
- Arborvitae including Forever Goldy,
- Cryptomeria including Black Dragon
- Juniper including Blue Point & Hollywood
- Chamaecyparis including Gold Mop, Fernleaf & Golden Fernleaf, Slender Hinoki, Golden Hinoki (Cripps), Verdoni (Golden Dwarf Hinoki)
- Loropetalum including Daruma, Ever Red, Purple Diamond, Red Diamond, Ruby, Snow Panda, Jazz Hands Bold, Jazz Hands Variegated
- Tea Olives including Goshiki, Party Lights
- Podocarpus including Maki & Pringles
- Holly including Compacta, Dwarf Burford, Sky Pointer, Sky Pencil
- Other shrubs in middle sun evergreen include Dwarf Alberta Spruce.
Upper Sun Evergreen includes those shrubs that are designed for screening. They may grow from 10 feet up to 70 feet tall. Some examples include:
- Arborvitae including American Pillar, Degroot’s Spire, Emerald Green, Green Giant, North Pole, Sugar and Spice
- Cryptomeria including Radicans, Sekan Sugi, Yoshino
- Cypress including Carolina Sapphire, Blue Ice, & Italian (when we are lucky)
- Cedar including Deodora, Weeping Atlas Cedar, ???
- Holly such as Christmas Jewel, Golden Oakland, Oakland, Oakleaf, Nellie Stevens, Weeping Yaupon (rare to find)
- Tea Olives including the regular non-patented Tea Olive, Apricot Echo, Aurantiacus, Fortunes, Fruitlandi Fortunes,
- Viburnum including Chindo