If you still think boxwood is always uptight or rounded, you’ve got to see this rebellious specimen! Dwarf and spreading, this little gem gradually creeps over the landscape in a bright green wash of shiny tiny foliage, ever so slowly reaching its mature landscape dimensions. Whether casual or made formal by your pruning, this fine textured broadleaf evergreen has a different form and different foliage texture and color and is more relaxed than the other selections we offer, making it a unique presence in the landscape. ‘Tide Hill’ is maintenance-free and its bright green leaves hold their superb color all year long, even in the harshest winter weather. Plant it in full sun or partial shade and enjoy its different Boxwood appeal.

We talk a lot about “winter interest” ? let’s talk now about spring, summer, autumn AND winter interest, because that’s what you get when you plant ‘Winter Gem’. Let’s start in the spring, when lime-green new growth explodes in a burst of chartreuse on stunning yellow young stems. This vigorous grower quickly becomes blanketed with fresh green, delightfully shiny foliage for the warm summer months. Late summer brings deep green, glossy, sun tolerant leaves that will delight you as they transition into autumn with their light golden bronzing to mark the descending temperatures. ‘Winter Gem’ is one of the easiest of the Boxwoods to grow and as easy to prune as the rest. In fact, a couple of light trims in season will encourage a neat compact form that will serve it well, whether it is being used as a specimen or it is grouped in sun or partial shade to produce a hedge or border planting.

The name Styer has been part of the American horticulture industry since 1890 when Jacob Styer started his nursery in the Brandywine Valley of eastern Pennsylvania. Legend has it that J. Franklin Styer, Jacob’s son, acquired a seedling of Boxwood from Korea in the late 1960’s or early 1970’s to grow for his own personal use. Franklin, of course, realized the incredible value of this special Boxwood and must have felt compelled to share the wealth with the rest of us. This slow-growing, fine textured rounded evergreen requires minimal maintenance but still tolerates shearing well for formal use. Said to be the one of the hardiest of all Boxwoods, ‘Franklin’s Gem’ has bright green, glossy foliage, even in summer heat, that turns a rich olive color during the winter months. Plant this little charmer in well-drained soils in sun or part shade…it is perfect in foundation plantings, borders, mixed plantings, hedges or containers. ‘Franklin’s Gem’ is deer resistant, too…no wonder it’s called a gem!

Dense and compact with small, deep green, lustrous foliage this selection forms a tight pyramid that looks superb year round and has numerous landscape uses.  Perfect for small spaces along the foundation or in a mixed border. Deer resistant and easy to grow. Tolerates partial shade and pruning well. Useful in containers

Besides Clethra, there is no other plant that you will notice more when it’s in bloom than this Azalea. This deciduous native blooms from mid-June well into July with a generous supply of white to pink colored flowers that exude a heavenly sweet, space filling scent. Flowers are not this plant’s only claim to fame as it also puts on a great show of reddish-orange fall foliage color. Perfect for grouping at the edge of wooded areas, viscosum tolerates open shaded areas and a fair amount of soil moisture with ease, making it valuable for other landscape spots while it specializes in attracting many native butterflies in the American Beauties landscape. 

What a great plant for your moist, wooded area! Pink-Shell Azalea is a tall growing, open branched decidous Azalea that is a real early spring treat. Before its light to medium green leaves emerge in late April, this native beauty is already showing off its color with clusters of shell pink colored, open, somewhat flattened flowers with deeper colored throats that are shining brightly in early to mid April for all to see. While not tolerating drought, this easy to grow plant loves to take on wet feet as much as it loves to help out early spring insects and butterflies with its ample supply of early nectar. When foliated, this plant provides great nesting and cover for birds and even provides a sweet little display of light to dark red foliage color in the fall for good measure!

A rare find in the landscape but one of the great native secrets of the eastern woodlands, Pinxterbloom will thrill you with its fragrant, late April bloom that fills the air with its sweet honeysuckle scent. For those more interested in visual stimulation, this selection delivers with rounded clusters of 1 to 1.5″ diameter pink to white flowers that bloom just while the foliage is emerging allowing you to focus all your attention on their fragrant beauty. Like most deciduous Azaleas, Pinxterbloom fills a great niche in semi-shaded areas especially when planted in groups to form a sweet smelling, easy care border planting. It thrives in moist areas but is quite tolerant of drier locations, too and provides a great early spring source for nectar in the landscape.

Imagine huge, long petaled, ruffled fuschia pink blooms and from spring until fall. Autumn Sundance™ offers this, and more! These spectacular flowers sit atop dark green, glossy foliage on sturdy branches within a tidy, rounded form. Striking red hued winter foliage adds interest even through the cold winter months.

A truly remarkable dwarf Azalea, cloaked in velvety 2½-inch bicolored blooms in spring, summer and fall. This lovely plant also boasts glossy green foliage that intensifies into an attractive purple bronze hue during winter for year-round beauty. Compact growth means little pruning is required to maintain this easy-care evergreen.