Re: more deep shade evergreens

Thanks everyone for all the great ideas. I have a lot of thinking to do.
Nancy S.

>Some of my shade plants have not been mentioned yet. I have checked
>the hardiness of these plants according to Roger Phillips and Martyn
>Rix in Shrubs.  They are all pictured there.  These are hardy to
>minus 20 celsius which is minus 4 Fahrenheit, or minus 25 celsius
>which is minus 13 Fahrenheit.  I will give a few commonly grown
>plants for each of those temperatures, and if you are able to grow
>those, then perhaps you'd want to try these less-common plants.
>
>Common plants for minus 20 - most Forsythia, Pieris japonica, Mahonia
>aquifolium
>Common plants for minus 25 - Pieris floribunda, Rhododendron yakushimanum
>Common plants for minus 30 - Rhododendron maximum
>
>Elaeagnus x ebbingei shiny evergreen leaves, white underneath.  I
>grow the common plain green one which is rampant here - it seems to
>be part vine and sends great branches out at all angles.  It is hardy
>to minus 20, so might be less enthusiastic in a colder place than
>here.  There is one with a broad cream edge "Gilt Edge" that I
>haven't grown yet.
>
>Daphne laureola shiny evergreen leaves, clusters of green flowers in
>February which are supposed to be scented in the evening, but I
>haven't yet caught them at it. Of course, I don't spend much time
>outside at that time of year. Black berries which are eaten by birds
>and the seeds dropped under trees.  No one in this area has ever
>planted this, but everyone has it and thinks it is a rhododendron.
>It quickly puts down a deep tap root and thrives in dry shade. It is
>a very handsome low shrub immune to everything.  Minus 20
>
>
>Osmanthus x burkwoodii has small tubular white scented flowers in
>each leaf axil in the spring, and small dark green evergreen leaves.
>It used to be considered a bigeneric hybrid, x Osmarea when it was
>thought to be a hybrid between Phillyrea and Osmanthus, so your books
>may list it as that.  Minus 20
>
>Its parent Osmanthus decorus is also minus 20, with fragrant flowers
>and deep purple berries.  I haven't grown this yet.
>
>Prunus lusitanica, Portugal laurel.  Dark green leaves, long racemes
>of white flowers, black berries.  This can form a tree if it is
>pruned correctly.  Mine kept growing branches down to the ground
>where they would root and grow another tree, so I ended up with a
>small forest.  Minus 20
>
>Rhododendron sutchuenense  - well, I grow lots of rhododendrons, and
>have been hybridizing them for about 30 years, so I won't mention
>them all. This has just ordinary leaves, and clusters of
>unexceptional pink flowers but is totally dependable. It has never
>missed flowering in mid March. It forms a small tree.  minus 20
>
>Gaultheria shallon, salal  This is a suckering native from here south
>to California.  It grows in our dark conifer forests and is picked in
>enormous quantities and shipped out to be used as "lemon leaves" by
>florists.  It is a member of the heather family and has pretty pink
>flowers followed by purple berries that make delicious jelly.  minus
>20
>
>Euonymus fortunei forms.  Some of these climb but the ones I grow
>just form a mound.  These come in the most incredible range of
>coloured evergreen (evergold, evergreenand white etc) leaves. They're
>probably gas station plants, and maybe some people are snobs about
>them, but I love the cheery brightness of 'Emerald'n'Gold on a gray
>winter day.  minus 25
>
>Hedera helix - I buy houseplant ivies  and plant them out.  The ones
>with broad green leaves can be a menace, and even ones like Goldheart
>will take off.  (My Goldheart climbed the neighbour's housewall up to
>the  eaves on a side of the house where they seldom went.  It was the
>prettiest thing in their garden until a friend of theirs visited and
>cut it off at the base.  Now for several years I have had to look at
>the dead plant, still up to their eaves.) But ones with tiny little
>leaves don't grow too much.  minus 25
>
>Diane Whitehead    Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
>zone 8, Sunset zone 5, rainy winters, rainless summers
>
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