Evergreen shrubs provide the garden with year-round color and interest. Variegated varieties are perfect for brightening up a shady landscape. Some of the most popular varieties include Euonymus, Holly, and Arborvitae.
Wintercreeper Euonymus (Euonymus fortunei ‘Gracillimus’) is a creeping evergreen shrub with colorful white, green, and purple leaves. Clusters of insignificant, green flowers appear in May and June among small, lustrous, green leaves with yellow margins. This variegated evergreen shrub makes excellent groundcover and is a often planted as specimens or used in rock gardens and low-maintenance gardens. Its tough and will thrive in any well-drained border in sun or partial shade.
Specimen plants, with their unique or strange qualities, command attention in the garden. If your planning on incorporating a specimen plants in your garden design the most important consideration is placement. Smaller accent plants such as a dwarf false cypress, are effective in a patio setting where they can stand out among the flowers while larger plant such as the weeping willow need room to grow. The following is an introduction to a few commonly used specimen plants.