Evergreen Shrubs With Color

Chinese Juniper

• Chinese juniper (Juniperus chinensis) is a tree native to China with many shrub cultivars possessing colorful aspects. This needled evergreen grows to 60 feet in Japan and China, but hybrids of it, including Fairview and Blue Point, grow to 15 and 8 feet respectively. The foliage is typically the highlight of these cultivars. For example, Fairview has blue-green needles as does Blue Point. In some cases, the needles are a golden hue, as is the case with the Old Gold and Gold Coast hybrid forms. Berry-like cones also enhance the appeal of some of these shrubs, including the bluish-silver cones of Fairview.

Zebra Plant

• Only in the warmer climates found in USDA plant hardiness zones 11 and 12 can you use the zebra plant (Aphelandra squarrosa) outside as a typical shrub. In some of the warmer parts of the country, it remains small enough to employ as a houseplant. Native to Brazil, where it thrives in the humid, tropical weather, the zebra plant takes its name from its dark green foliage, which features obvious white veins throughout. Yellow flowers with their yellow bracts (modified leaves) also bring color to this shrub, which grows between 4 and 6 feet. This shrub requires constant moisture.

Japanese Pieris

• Foundations and shrub borders are suitable sites for a broadleaf evergreen with colorful features known as Japanese pieris (Pieris japonica). The shrub grows as tall as 12 feet. The new foliage on Japanese pieris starts out colored orange-bronze, turning a shiny shade of green in time. The drooping clusters of flowers this shrub produces bloom in April; the flowers bear resemblance to those of the lily of the valley. Japanese pieris does its best when you place it where it has some protection from the wind and where it gets shade during the afternoon. It grows from USDA zones 5 through 8.

Rhododendron Stewartstonian

• The clusters of vibrant orange-red flowers of the Stewartstonian hybrid of rhododendron bloom during April. The evergreen shrub grows to 5 feet and has many uses as a landscaping plant. Appropriate for foundations, hedges, mass plantings or alone as a specimen, Stewartstonian handles shade, with hot sun sites poor choices for this shrub. In cold weather during the winter, the green leaves take on a red-brown cast. Stewartstonian features a shallow root system, so mulching it with pine needles or wood chips helps keep moisture in the soil and regulate temperatures.