19 Min Evergreen Shrubs To Brighten Up Your Yard Throughout The Entire Year

Shrubs can be a reliable presence in your garden, providing screens between different growth zones, acting as borders between the outside world and your leafy sanctuary, or just ensuring that as annuals come and go, you'll always have something growing. This last point is a major reason to choose evergreens — which endure in even harsh winter conditions –- when you're planning what shrubs to plant in your garden. That way, the changing of the seasons doesn't have to mean farewell to all of your garden plants. You can also cultivate variety within the evergreens themselves by planting species with contrasting textures and colors near one another.

Evergreen shrubs may bloom, or produce eye-catching fruit, feeding pollinators and wildlife while adding interest in an otherwise barren season, but keep in mind that the dioecious varieties will need both a "male" and "female" plant to produce the desired flowers or fruit. If you're looking for flowers, incorporate broadleaf evergreens into your garden. The draw of narrowleaf varieties, which don't develop obvious flowers, is needle-like foliage reminiscent of pine trees. As you can tell already, there's no shortage of options: From pines to junipers to fruiting yews or flower-producing rhododendrons, a yard with evergreens is your own personal canvas.

When most people think of beautiful hardy evergreens, the red fruits and spiny leaves of American holly (Ilex opaca) come to mind.  These native evergreens make a charming hedge or privacy screen, since they can grow to 60 feet tall and 20 feet wide in symmetrical pyramid shapes. If you want them to produce fruits, which look like small, bright berries, it's necessary to plant "male" and "female" holly plants next to each other. And it's worth doing this, because the shrub feeds and shelters birds and butterflies while being resistant to deer. American holly can be grown in USDA hardiness zones 5 through 9.

Planting gardenia (Gardenia jasminoides) is a good choice if you like your evergreens to flower. Its white flowers are showy, giving off a delicate fragrance. It's best to plant them as a specimen in a spot where the blooms and their scent can be enjoyed. This shrub has dark green, glossy oval-shaped leaves that are sometimes described as leathery. Depending on the species of gardenia you choose, the plant can reach anywhere between 2 and 15 feet. To make sure you get a good bloom, wait to prune the plant until it's done flowering for the season. The buds are lighter green and have a pinwheel shape. Grow these shrubs in zones 7 through 11.

Rosebay rhododendron (Rhododendron maximum) is a late-blooming evergreen that's best grown as a specimen in your pollinator garden and is especially ideal for shady and wet patches. Its dark green or blue-tinted leaves are long and narrow, and its flowers, which emerge in late summer, can be pink, purplish, or white. The rosebay can grow well outdoors in zones 3 through 7 and tolerates deeper shade than its rhododendron relatives. Be aware that below-freezing temperatures may cause droopy leaves, though. This resilient shrub forms thickets that reach 10 to 25 feet high.

Boxwood (Buxus spp.) is one of the deer-resistant shrubs you can grow to protect your garden in zones 5 through 8. These evergreens have glossy green round or oval leaves with yellow undersides, and they shine as hedge plants, especially when pruned into shape. Make sure they don't get too much direct sun, as this can turn the leaves bronze. Some cultivars of boxwood grow taller than others. If you're looking for a narrow leafy screen that grows high, the Green Tower boxwood (Buxus sempervirens 'Monrue'), which can grow up to 8 feet tall while staying only 2 feet wide, may be a perfect choice.

Growing lower to the ground than other evergreens, blue star juniper (Juniperus squamata 'Blue Star') is set apart by the bluish cast of its needle-shaped foliage. In addition to these needles, which grow densely in whorls of three, the shrub's little blue fruits that look like berries add a pop of delight. Because it tends to grow just up to 3 feet tall and 4 feet wide, it's often used as a groundcover to fill compact spaces in the garden. Blue star juniper can be grown in zones 4 through 8.

Sporting needles and red berry-like arils, the yew (Taxus) is a festive sight. Plant male yews nearby to make sure the female plants produce the arils that add an ornamental element. These shrubs, with green needle-like leaves growing in flat rows, look good planted as a border near your home, or as an accent plant. They are hardy to zones 4 through 8. To prevent a case of 'winter burn,' in which the needles can turn brown, plant them on the north-facing side of the house. Importantly, avoid planting Japanese yew (Taxus cuspidata), which has demonstrated a tendency to be invasive and may harm the local ecosystem.

Native plant lovers will want to consider Yaupon holly (Ilex vomitoria), an evergreen indigenous to much of the eastern and central U.S. with dark green rounded leaves and stunning red fruit. The leathery leaves are less pointed and spiky than other holly varieties. You'll most likely find a female plant in nurseries, but will need to plant a male nearby so it keeps producing fruit. Plant this shrub, which can grow to 20 feet tall, in zones 7 through 9. It can be used as a specimen in a native plant garden, or you can cluster many of them together (or in nearby containers) to make a privacy screen.

Is backyard birdwatching your thing? Try growing wild coffee (Psychotria nervosa), a fast-growing evergreen shrub that birds and butterflies find irresistible. It's a good choice for hedge or specimen planting, or to espalier (train to grow against a wall or trellis). The 4- to 10-foot shrub has green oval leaves and small white flower clusters in the warmer months, followed by red fruits that look like the beans harvested for coffee, even though the plant doesn't contain caffeine. The impressed leaf veins give them a ripple effect. Wild coffee plants are outdoor hardy in zones 9 through 11, where they prefer partially shaded areas.

If you need a dense evergreen shrub that can stand up to the cold, search for a wintergreen barberry (Berberis julianae). Although it grows in zones 6 through 9, avoid planting it in the eastern United States, where it has become invasive and poses a threat to flora and wildlife there. If you live outside the danger zone, you may enjoy it as an effective barrier or hedge since its oval green leaves, which may turn a reddish or purplish color in colder months, are small and spiny, and the plant can reach 6 to 10 feet.

Because it can tolerate even poor soil, the 'Silver King' (Euonymus japonicus 'Silver King') is a low-maintenance hedge you can plant in your yard. With its glossy green leaves lined with a creamy yellow or silvery white color, this handsome evergreen can grow quickly and reach 12 feet tall. You can grow the shrub, which also works as a tall screen, in zones 6 through 9.

For those who love the look of juniper but have more open yard space, creeping juniper (Juniperus horizontalis) is an excellent option for a groundcover. This evergreen has the scaly, needle-like foliage juniper is known for but it stays under two feet tall, spreading out rather than growing upward even if your soil is poor. The blue-green leaves that sometimes turn purple in the deep winter would make a great contrast against taller background plants. Grow creeping juniper in zones 3 through 9.

Even though yucca is most associated with the American Southwest, varieties like Adam's Needle Yucca (Yucca filamentosa) will thrive in a wide range from zones 4 through 10. Their unmistakably pointy green leaves grow in boxy clusters, but one long stalk typically soars up and may develop show-stopping white, fragrant flowers in the growing season. The leaves will be lined with tiny threads that look like the filaments their common name references. Expect the plant to grow from 3 to 8 feet tall. Because of their spikiness, the plants are best located in the back of your space rather than by a walkway. 

Its tall growing habit and romantic-looking red or pink flowers make sasanqua camellia (Camellia sasanqua) a good privacy shrub you'll want to grow right next to your windows in zones 7 through 9. Growing this broadleaf evergreen close to your home provides a screening effect since it can reach up to 14 feet high and 7 feet wide. The shrub has delicately narrow oval leaves and it flowers in the fall and winter, when other plants may be finished with their growing season, so you can look forward to some cheerful color when the cooler months roll around.

The glossy-leaved cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus) sprouts up quickly and can get up to a height of 20 feet. If you live in the Pacific Northwest, however, avoid planting these evergreens as they are being monitored for invasive potential and may threaten native plants. In other areas from zones 6 through 8, these shrubs work near the foundation of your home or around garden borders as a hedge. They got their common name from the large tapered green leaves that resemble those of a laurel. When those leaves are bruised, they give off a cherry scent.

The orange-red berries may be the calling card of a scarlet firethorn (Pyracantha coccinea), but the deep green leaves and the flowers that emerge before the berries develop in the fall provide year-round interest for the yard or garden. This evergreen grows between 6 and 18 feet tall and has green, oval leaves that taper upward. Although it can be grown in zones 6 through 9, don't plant this shrub where it's invasive, including Texas, California, and Georgia. As long as it's safe to grow in your area, scarlet firethorn is perfect to espalier or use as a dense hedge.

Sometimes an evergreen's leaves are stunning all by themselves. This is the case with mirror bush (Coprosma repens), a shrub with glossy green rounded leaves catching the light like the mirrors that inspire their name. On the Coprosma repens 'Variegata' cultivar, the leaves are a mix of yellow and green. Mirror bush, which thrives in zones 9 through 11, is used to growing in tricky spaces like exposed cliffs and a creeping variety can be grown in the shade. It can stay low to the ground or develop into a small tree, staying under 26 feet tall, so depending on the cultivar its uses range from ground cover to specimen.

New growth on a red-tip photinia (Photinia x fraseri) looks like bright sparks against the base of green leaves on the shrub, which can be grown in zones 7 through 9. The new leaves stay red for a few weeks before blending into the rest of the green, oval-shaped foliage. The plant can reach up to 15 feet high and 10 feet wide, and was used for hedging in the past, but that's not recommended anymore since it needs good air circulation to prevent a fungal leaf spot problem. You can plant them by themselves instead, or as a mass planting if there's adequate space in between them.

Did you know it's possible to get cute pinecones without growing a huge tree? Thanks to a good selection of dwarf varieties, the mugo pine (Pinus mugo) can be grown as a shrub. This evergreen tends to stay under 10 feet tall but grow wider than it is high, giving it a squat appearance. Its tiny pinecones can be seen close to the branches and surrounded by dark green needle-shaped leaves. You can harvest them in the fall for use in winter crafts. It works well planted near the house's foundation, as a screen, or as a specimen in the garden.

If you've ever thought an evergreen was boring, planting a laurustine (Viburnum tinus) just may change your mind. The shrub's oblong leaves stay a dark green color all year, but pink buds give way to light-colored flowers, and then blue or black fruits. It can grow on its own, as part of a hedge or border, or in a butterfly garden in zones 8 through 10. This evergreen has the potential to grow up to 15 feet, so you'll need to prune a laurustine if you want to keep it as a small ornamental shrub rather than a screen.