Fairly low maintenance shrubs, they can be pruned for shape and size to fit any garden setting.
Dense, waxy green leaves create a solid wall of greenery and an excellent backdrop forcompanion plants.
Here are 12 beautiful bloomers to plant front and center of your boxwoods.
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With more than 450 varieties of fragrant, perennial lavender available, one exists to grace almost every garden.
Plants exhibit a low mounding growth habit with spikes of blooms that range from small to showy.
This is a long-lived clumping perennial that requires little care once established.
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Lily of the Valley is easily divided to improve flowering.
It is considered invasive in certain areas and is toxic to people and pets.
Best blooming occurs in spring andautumnduring cooler temperatures with flowers that emit a honey-like fragrance.
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Sweet alyssum is considered invasive in parts of California.
Flowers are highly fragrant with a scent said to resemble vanilla and fresh mown hay.
Pachysandra
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Pachysandra features waxy green foliage that resembles a petaled flower.
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This evergreen groundcover’s small white flowers add interest to the landscape in spring.
It spreads easily to establish a nice low-growing contrast in and around a boxwood planting.
Several cultivars are available including one with white variegation in the foliage.
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Pachysandra does best with some shade and is considered invasive in certain areas.
Deer- and rabbit-resistant, it spreads by rhizome and seed.
Hosta
Hostasgive gardeners plenty of options for adding ornamental plants to foundation beds.
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Mass plantings add a lush look to soften the structured appearance of a boxwood hedge.
Hostas are toxic to dogs, cats, and horses.
Hellebores are toxic to people and animals.
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Periwinkle
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Who can resist a plant with ‘winkle’ in its name?
It’s drought-tolerant but prefers a bit of shade.
Periwinkle is considered invasive in some areas and is toxic to people and pets.
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A two to three week bloom period is followed by needle-like foliage that remains green until frost.
A layered shrub planting is suggestive of a formal garden with great curb appeal.
Hydrangea is toxic to people, dogs, cats and horses.
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Shrubs with large showy blooms include hydrangea, butterfly bush, azalea, and spirea.
California Invasive Plant Council
Native Plant Alternatives to Pachysandra terminalis (Japanese Spurge).Gardenia
Hosta.ASPCA
Hellebore.
Ohio State University
Periwinkle.
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ASPCA
Common Perwinkle (Vinca minor).National Capitol Poison Control
Are Hydrangeas Poisonous Plants?Plant Indes
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