Regional Picks: Unusual Evergreens – Northern California

1. Michelia

Name:Michelia yunnanensis

USDA Hardiness Zones:8 to 10

Size:15 feet tall and encompassing

term : Full sun to full shade ; moist , fertile , well - drained soil

A seldom encountered magnolia relative with glossy , 2- to 3 - column inch - prospicient evergreen leaves , michelia can be classified as a large bush or a pocket-sized Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree . It blooms in early leap with fragrant white flowers . As an extra fillip , the bloom come forth from velvety , dark , rust - colored buds , which are almost as beautiful as the blooms . I have a plant in full sun and one in full shade ; both bloom heavily — although the one in the shade blooms later , which extends the unfold sentence in my garden .

2. Siberian Cypress

Name:Microbiota decussata

Zones:3 to 10

Size:18 inches tall and up to 6 animal foot wide-cut

Conditions : Full sun to fond shade ; moist , fertile , well - enfeeble dirt

This is a great option to ground - cover junipers ( Juniperusspp . and cvs . , Zones 2–9 ) and is more refinement patient of . Siberian cypress is a low - spreading evergreen plant with great feathery foliage , which is arranged in symmetrical pair of planate sprays . The leafage is shiny gullible and then turns purplish , bronzy , or reddish brownness in cold weather . plant life tolerant of cool zone sometimes do not do well here , but I ’ve been turn Siberian cypress successfully for many age in Zone 10 . This conifer rarely needs rationalise — only to remove stray ontogeny .

3. Camellia

Name:Camellia transnokoensis

Zones:8 to 10

Size:6 to 10 foot magniloquent and wide

Conditions : Partial shadiness ; full-bodied , acidic , well - drain soil

When this shrub flowers in my garden , everyone who witness it want it . This camellia has little glossy leaves ( about 1½ inch long ) with serrate leeway , and the new foliage emerges with a red tint . The blossoms are modest and fragrant , and they come out in clustering along the fore from winter to natural spring . Unlike some camellias whose spent peak hang onto the plant indefinitely , making them take care unsightly , the flower on this particular variety fall down off cleanly .

4. Golden Elaeagnus

Name:Elaeagnus pungens‘Maculata’

Zones:7 to 9

Size:12 fundament tall and 15 feet wide

Conditions : Full sun to fond shade ; well - drain grime

This evergreen plant bush has leathery leafage with rippled border and splashes of bright yellow - Au variegation . The strange diversification traffic pattern is different on each of the leave . During garden tours of our attribute , artist are always attracted to halcyon elaeagnus because of its unusual colouring . Although some sources say that it can arise up to 15 feet grandiloquent and wide , my plant has delay about half that size and is a bright position in high nicety . This works also tolerates high temperature , wind , and seashore conditions .

Pat Wells has an extensive garden with hundreds of evergreens in Trinidad , California .

photo : ( 1 , 3 and 4 ) , Joshua McCullough ; ( 2 ) , Brandi Spade

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Regional Picks: Unusual Evergreens – Northeast

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