Your favorite evergreen shrub?

Hi everyone. I'm trying to plan my landscaping and choose shrubs for either side of my front yard. Does anyone out there have a favorite evergreen shrub? I'd love any input. Thanks and happy gardening!

Pinus culminicola, closely followed by Cupressus abramsiana. The latter (from Calif.) might possibly succeed in El Paso, if you're looking for shrubs to try out. The former is from Mexico, but at very high altitude so probably wouldn't; some of the other related pinyons might be worth a try though.

Resin

Daphne, some are not very tall, but they are wonderfully fragrant.

I don't really care for evergreens and they don't do very well in the desert. Except for the native brooms. I got mine from our local Native Plant Society but they only have a sale once yearly.

Just because they are green doesn't make them evergreens! LOL! There are AZ junipers and a Seuss-like evergreen that do well, but in general the landscape looks much prettier in the desert with a cactus or desert willow than an evergreen tree to me. JMHO ; ) Plus cactus and desert willows don't spew nasty pollen like so many of the evergreens.

I didn't realize evergreens spread pollen.

Juniper, pine and cedar are my worst allergies so I am painfully aware of their pollen. I am sure that not all evergreens spread pollen. Just that many of the folks around here seem to plant those. It is really annoying as many people move to the desert to avoid just those pollens that don't occur naturally here, although they can be blown here by the wind. Just something to think about as any of us can develop allergies. And my allergist told me that those are the most common allergies. They give me a sore throat, sinus headache, itchy and gunky eyes, and asthma attacks when they are spreading pollen. When they aren't spreading the pollen I will get a rash from touching them.





This message was edited Jul 31, 2007 5:10 PM

Pine and cedar (and other genera in the family Pinaceae) are very unusual culprits for pollen allergies - they have fairly smooth-surfaced pollen that doesn't irritate the lung linings much.

Juniper, cypresses, and other genera in the cypress family are all bad to very bad; they have rough-surfaced to spiny pollen that causes far more problems.

Resin

Pine? Resin the pine pollen gets so thick around here that everything gets covered with it. If you leave your windows open over night your whole house will have a layer on it. It's incredible in a bad year and everyone starts to sneeze. Your right in low doses pine pollen doesn't give people problems but in huge doses it's a different matter. Towards the end of the pine pollen, oaks kick in and that's when the allergy people really start having fun. LOL. We have many bald cypress around here to. If you have bad pollen allergies you would really hate this place in the spring.

See, that's why I love DG you learn something new everyday.

Thanks for all of the responses. I actually don't want to plant anything in they cypress family. I'd heard about the terrible allergies they cause people. Here in El Paso I think they're one of the leading causes of plant allergies, second mainly to Mulberry Trees. I'm still hoping to find some shrubs that will remain evergreen, but don't have that juniper look (mabe that conifer look). I'm looking at things like Indian Hawthorne and Euonymus.

Drinnian, sorry to have got us off track! I have had some luck with boxwoods. But everything I have planted along the line of Indian Hawthorne and euronymus haven't done real well. We have alkaline soil and if you are good about adding sulfur and Miracid to the soil they do well, but I get forgetful and they suffer, I eventually pulled them out. One tip I learned years ago was to add sulfur to plants in our area (I am just 80 miles north of you) It is cheap and you just pour some in the planting hole and scratch around plants. Even though we have a lot of iron in our soil, it can't be absorbed without sulfur! You might call your county agent and see what they recommend. Sometimes they have handouts of recommended plants for your area. I looked at mine from when I took the MG class here in Otero Co. and it doesn't list evergreens. Good luck!

My personal favorite is Glossy Abelia, which is classified as semi-evergreen, but has remained evergreen in my garden here in the DFW area so far. It has bloomed straight through mid-spring to now. You might see if they stay evergreen there in El Paso too and give it a thought.

How about Oleander? It does very well and the blooms are lovely. I have a few that don't do as well when we get a freeze, but in El Paso I am sure they stay green all winter right? I like that they can grow into a tree or you can keep them pruned. Of course mine freeze so they get pruned every year here.

There are tons of Oleander growing around El Paso, Alamogordo, and La Luz. I have cats and kids in my yard and have never had a problem. Probably would not plant one by a barn though! I have never seen them to have invasive tendencies. Maybe it is our climate that limits them? Or maybe we aren't talking about the same varieties?

Drinnian, it is a good evergreen for our area. I imagine you have seen them all over El Paso? I think the malls have them in the parking lots if memory serves correctly? I have a white flowering one, some reds and several pink double blooms. I have seen some peach ones too.

Yaupon holly performs well in dry areas here and in east Texas, not sure about El Paso though.

Sorry it took so long to reply. Lost the thread for a bit. Oleander makes me nervous. I know it's toxic, although we have it everywhere in this city. I think I may have an idea for what to plant. I've been keeping track in my journal. :) I'm thinking abelia and viburnum, then putting a few accent shrubs around them. We'll see if it works. lol

I was thinking abelia as the hedge. Then accenting it with butterfly bushes and dwarf burning bushes. The abelia should stay green all winter, then the others will provide neat color contrast in the spring and summer. That's the plan, anyway. This will be the first time I've planted shrubs, so we'll see if things work out according to plan. lol I'm not sure if there's actual gardening terminology for accent shrubs. I just kind of made that up. :)