| Anybody know of a nice, evergreen flowering shrub that will get bigger fairly quickly and that will do well in this area? It needs to be able to tolerate full sun. I love azaleas, but they take so long to get bigger! |
| Rhododendron |
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Depends how tall you want. Butterfly bushes are shrubs but grow like trees -- good for boundaries or borders. But they get 8-10 feet tall and require substantial cutting back over the course of the summer, so perhaps not your thing.
Rhododendron is good as one pp noted, though related to azalea; I don't know if they have a different growth habit, but there are lots of varieties so perhaps you can find a quick-growing one. |
| Azaleas which are I think part of the Phodendron family. |
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Butterfly bushes are not evergreen and they look terrible in the colder months. Need to be cut down.
Rhodies cannot take full sun. My first choice would be laurel -- either Schippa or Otto, bottle bush white flowers, nothing spectacular about them. Try Abelia, Southern Wax Myrtle, privet, 'Manhattan' Eonymus (nondescript flowers). |
Thanks! These are great suggestions. I really like the euonymus. Do you have any favorite places to buy? I like Behnke's in Beltsville, but they're kind of pricey. |
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Mexican orange blossom. Very fast growers,
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15:29 here. If you are buying a decent sized shrub it is worth it to buy from a reputable small nursery.
Big box stores can be hit or miss b/c sometimes the plants are os rootbound, or so hopped up on fertilizer that they die soon after you get them into the ground. I like American Plant Food in Bethesda. They are a bit pricier, like Behnke's, but for shrubs I think it's worth it. They have a 1-year guarantee on their shrubs. GL. |
| I like Betty's Azalea Ranch in Fairfax, and I drive from Silver Spring to go there. Great selection, great price. |
| Knockout roses |
| Roses are not evergreen. |
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euonymus is invasive. please plant responsibly.
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/gsgp/infosheets/evertree.pdf |
Sorry, this is the link I meant for shrubs: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/gsgp/infosheets/evershrub.pdf Some camellias bloom in fall others in spring, abelias are great and attract butterflies. Both are very hearty and deer do not seem to eat them. Laurels are beautiful but can be very hard to transplant. |
| Skip jack laurels grow very fast - love them! |