Sure, you can grow different plants to satisfy these dual needs. But, in small yards, you would eventually run out of space doing it that way. It would be much better to have these needs satisfied with one and the same plant wherever possible. Evergreen shrubs of the broadleaf variety multitask nicely to fill this need for evergreen flowering plants. But it is nice to have other options, too, especially when a problem area in the yard demands a ground cover, or when there is a vacant spot in a flower bed that could really use a perennial that has both beautiful flowers and evergreen leaves. Their evergreen leaves are valued almost as highly as the blooms and can be quite large. Those on ‘Cynthia,’ a cultivar of the Catawba rhododendron shrub, are 6 inches long. Cynthia (zones 5 to 8) grows 8 to 15 feet tall and wide and has rose-pink flowers. Grow it in full sun to partial shade. What’s so great about Rhododendron x Gable ‘Stewartstonian’ is that it offers beauty during three seasons of the year: Red flowers in the spring, red folliage in the fall, and evergreen leaves in the winter months. The plant becomes 4 to 5 feet tall, with a similar spread. Grow it in zones 5 to 8. The flowers are equally magnificent. They appear in large clusters in late spring. The unusually-shaped buds are of a darker color than the opened flowers (which are often white or light pink) and draw just as much interest. Mountain laurel shrub (5 to 12 feet tall x 5 to 6 feet wide) does well in full sun to part shade.
‘Red Mill’‘Mountain Fire’‘Red Head’
Even during the winter, Pieris japonica offers:
Red flower buds, before they open to become hanging clusters of white blossomsEvergreen leaves
Grow it in partial shade in zones 5 to 7. It becomes 6 to 8 feet in height, with a similar spread. “Heath” is not only a genus (Erica) but also a family. Erica, Rhododendron, Kalmia, and Pieris all belong to this great family of evergreen flowering plants. But compared to the other three, the leaves of Erica are quite needle-like. The heath family loves acidic soil. But the foliage is so attractive in its own right that it’s tempting to call this early-spring bloomer a foliage plant. Grow Lenten rose in zones 4 to 9 in partial to full shade.
