Japanese Camellia (Camellia japonica) - Providing flower after
flower over the course of several months (November-April for us!), the Japanese
camellias make up a large portion of The Elizabethan Garden's plant collection.
There are over 300 Japanese camellias in The Gardens represented by over 125
cultivars. Flower colors range from the purest white to the reddest red and
flower forms can be very simple (single) or very complex (formal double). Hardy
in zones 7 to 9.
Pansy(Viola x wittrockiana) - Pansies are to our winters what mums
are to our falls. The bonus is that they take us through to spring! Pansies are
available in a wide range of colors, some with faces and some without. We
choose new combinations each year to create a tapestry of colors in our
Courtyard beds and throughout The Gardens. It is truly magical come April when
the tulips emerge through the pansies for even more color and texture!
Japanese Aucuba (Aucuba japonica) - The Japanese aucuba is a great
evergreen shrub for the Southern shade garden. There are many cultivars
offering different degrees of gold variegation and dentation of leaves. If you
are fortunate enough to have a female plant, red berries will form in November,
but persist through the winter. We have aucuba growing throughout The Gardens.
Hardy in zones 7 to 10.
Daphne (Daphne odora) - Fragrant daphne is a rounded evergreen shrub that
typically grows to 3 to 4-feet in height. We have both the green form (white
flowers) as well as the variegated form (pink flowers). The flowers appear in
February and provide a lovely fragrance that coaxes visitors along the paths of
The Gardens. Daphnes are temperamental so site yours carefully. They require a
well-drained soil and a very green thumb! Hardy in zones 7 to 9.
Lenten Rose (Helleborus orientalis) - This evergreen, shade
loving perennial has been gaining popularity over the last few years.
Relatively care free, the Lenten rose puts forth its flowers in late winter. It
grows to be a rounded 1½ foot plant and if left alone it will seed prolifically
so that you are left with a nice colony of hellebores. The long lasting flowers
are typically white to mauve to plum with speckled centers. We have Lenten
roses in the Woodland garden. Also look for the stinking hellebore (H. foetidus)
in the Front Entrance border. Hardy in zones 4 to 9.
Laurustinus (Viburnum tinus) - Laurstinus is an upright evergreen shrub growing to
6-12 feet. We grow the cultivar 'Spring Bouquet' which is more compact than the
species (to 6-feet). The flowers have a multi-color effect because the buds are
pink before they open to white in January. This viburnum is adaptable to light
shade and can tolerate salt spray. Hardy in zones 8 to 10.
Yaupon Holly (Ilex vomitoria) - The yaupon holly is our native
small-leafed holly. For gardeners in the south, I. vomitoria should be
chosen over I. crenata for hardiness. The pleached allee around
the Sunken Garden is formed by clipped yaupons. It is a wonderfully versatile
shrub or small tree. It can be found in many different forms around the
Gardens: formal hedge, wild thicket, or specimen tree. We have one particularly
interesting yaupon growing outside of our woodland garden with yellow berries.
Hardy in zones 7 to 10.
