Yaupon, Redbud & Landscape Plants

Hollies

• Most hollies are evergreen shrubs with different shapes, depending on variety. Yaupon hollies are natives of the Southeastern United States that form distinctive vase shapes. They are evergreen shrubs growing 20 to 30 feet tall and bear red berries, which are food sources for birds, deer, raccoons and other wildlife. Burford hollies are rounded shrubs displaying leaves with single spines at terminal ends. Foster hollies are fast-growing shrubs forming conical shapes. Nellie Stevens hollies grow in pyramidal shapes with familiar holly stickers on the leaves.

Redbud Trees

• Redbuds are small, deciduous, understory trees. Their ornamental features include heart-shaped leaves and flower clusters blooming on bare stems before the leaves emerge in spring. Four redbud varieties are winners of the Georgia Gold Medal Plant Award: Forest Pansy with purple leaves; Oklahoma with magenta flowers; Texas White with uncharacteristic white flowers; and Lavender Twist Covey. Lavender Twist is a prized landscape specimen plant with four seasons of interest. In the spring, lavender-pink flowers cover its cascading branches. In the summer, its heart-shaped leaves form an umbrellalike shape. In the autumn, leaves turn shades of yellow. In the winter when the leaves drop, bare cascading branches create a waterfall effect.

Shrubs

• Azaleas, camellias and hydrangeas are flowering shrubs with many flower colors and shapes. They offer staggered bloom seasons. All these plants are shade tolerant and thrive in slightly acidic soil. Most azaleas bloom in the early spring with some ever-blooming varieties available. Camellia flowers are single, double, picotee or bicolor. These shrubs have different bloom times, depending on the region. Hydrangea varieties have different sizes, shapes, bloom times and flower colors.

Herbaceous Perennials

• Perennial, herbaceous, understory plants fill in shady spots near trees or shrubs. Prized for their foliage, hostas are shade-garden staples with countless variations in leaf shape, size and color. Solomon’s seal is a native plant bearing tiny, white, bell-like flowers in spring. Spreading by underground rhizomes, Solomon’s seal’s foliage is solid green or variegated with cream splashes. Lenten roses, or hellebores, bear small cup-shaped flowers in a rainbow of colors and patterns. Prolific reseeders, Lenten roses form groundcovers in understory plantings.