Acca Sellowiana Acca sellowiana, or pineapple BROADLEAF guava, has been used in the Central Florida area for years and EVERGREENS can form the backbone of the garden as it is drought tolerant, FOR CENTRAL grows in sun or shade, is cold FLORIDA hardy, can be sheared for a hedge or grown loose as a specimen and also has attractive flowers vergreens are divided into two followed by an edible fruit. The groups: Broadleaf and needle. plant has recently been renamed, E Our concentration will be on the as many people will recognize it first group, as Leu Gardens is aware of as Feijoa. the vast variety of broadleaf evergreens Cocculus laurifolia, or available. A good number has been snailseed, is another good choice planted to show the visitor how they can for screening as the plant can get be used in the landscape. Most are easy to to be fifteen feet tall. Snailseed is grow, require little care and maintenance parviflorum, are both Florida natives, tolerant of almost any location, will and have a relatively long life span. grow five to fifteen feet tall and are used grow in sun or shade, needs little care One of the most important evergreens for hedges or large screens. The yellow and its glossy leaves provide a good at Leu Gardens is, of course, the camellia. anise has fragrant foliage backdrop for There are over 400 species and cultivars and pale greenish-yellow plants with throughout the Gardens in most areas flowers. The Florida anise lighter colored that provide dappled shade. Harry P. has a bright red flower foliage. It does Leu originally planted them on the and both plants are not lend itself to property and many of them date back to tolerant of deep shade. close shearing, the days when the Leus were residents Ter nstroemia as it tends to get here. Camellia japonica comprises the gymanthera, or cleyera as very woody as it majority of the collection, have large it is commonly called, is matures. Give it showy flowers and bloom winter into not a new shrub but lots of room if late spring. Camellia sasanqua generally lately is becoming more you want this bloom late fall into winter, have small popular. People have plant in your usually pastel begun to garden. Camellia sasanqua colored flowers ‘Blushing Bride’ realize Myrica and have a that the cerifera, wax myrtle, is another more tree-like bronze Myrica cerifera growth habit. leaves of native plant that There is also a the new growth, which lends itself to a variety of uses in the small collection turn to a glossy green as garden. It can become a small tree if left of species they mature, make a very alone with only occasional light pruning camellias attractive hedge or to shape it. It can also be used as a found in the specimen plant. The hedge or screen. Wax myrtle can be South Woods. cleyera comes in several grown in full sun or light shade and The Florida named varieties and can there is a related species, Myrica pumila, anise, Illicium grow from six to twelve which will only grow two to three feet foridana, and feet high at maturity and high. Birds favor the berries and the yellow anise, can be grown in sun or leaves have a pungent aroma when Illicium light shade. crushed. Orlando, FL • 407.246.2620 • www.leugardens.org Camellia japonica ‘Mary Jane Leu’ Gardenia the fact that it unknown plant but is beginning to find augusta, or is cold hardy. its way into the trade. The benefits are common Viburnums evergreen small shiny green leaves that gardenia, is can be grown are maroon when young. It is cold hardy, of course, in the full sun drought tolerant, relatively pest-free and grown for or light shade. fast growing. Xylosma can be sheared as the sweet Hollies are a hedge, grown as a single small tree and fragrance of always a nice can be grown in full sun or part shade. its flowers. addition to a Severinia buxifolia or boxthorn, is a There are garden. Some small shrub that may attain six feet in over a dozen varieties to be height at maturity. It can be used in full cultivars that found in the sun or partial shade and can be used in have mature Gardens are place of boxwood. It can be sheared, has heights from Ilex cassine thorns up to half an inch and can make three to ten (dahoon a good barrier in high traffic areas. feet. Most cultivars are grafted, thus holly), Ilex vomitoria ‘Stoke’s Dwarf’ Small white flowers appear in the spring making them nematode resistant. They and ‘Bordeaux’ (dwarf yaupons), Illicium floridana grow best in filtered light with fertile soil Ilex vomitoria pendula (weeping ‘alba’ as they are heavy iron feeders and lack yaupon holly), Ilex latifolia of iron will result in pale yellow leaves. (Lusterleaf holly), Ilex rotunda Viburnums have been used throughout (Roundleaf holly) and the Red Central Florida for years. Viburnum Holly Hybrids that include suspensum and Viburnum odoratissimum ‘Cardinal’, ‘Festive’, ‘Oak Leaf’, are two species that have consistently ‘Robin’ and ‘Little Red’. Some of been used for hedges and screening. One the benefits of growing hollies are viburnum that Leu Gardens is promoting obviously the red berries in the fall, is Viburnum odoratissium var. awabuki. relatively low maintenance and It is a fast growing shrub with large shiny leaves.Most hollies need full glossy leaves and can be used for hedges, sun but will tolerate partial shade. screening or as a specimen small tree. Nageia nagi or broadleaf Awabuki looks very tropical and fits in podocarpus, is another evergreen with the landscape at the Gardens plus underused in the landscape. Nagi can be followed by small black berries. This grown as a medium shrub is very drought tolerant once it is size tree, as a hedge or established. screen and as a Forestiera segregata or Florida privet, is specimen plant. It is a native evergreen shrub with dark green pest free, a moderate leaves. It grows very densely and makes grower and its dark a good screen or hedge as it can grow up green leaves set the to ten feet tall. It can be grown in sun or plant off from others light shade and is very drought tolerant. in the garden. It was For those interested in obtaining the formerly known as above-mentioned evergreens, most are Podocarpus nagi and available in the nursery trade; however, can be grown in sun Xylosma and Forestiera may take some or full shade. searching. Xylosma congestum or shiny xylosma, is – Helen BeVier and Eric Schmidt Cleyera japonica still a relatively