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look for plants that are
easy to grow and aesthetically
pleasing,” says
Monica Twigg, landscape
designer and owner
of Five Oaks Nursery.
Twigg’s current top favorites
I
are the Drift Roses. This is a
group of roses, not a specific variety,
so there is no Latin name for the popular
Knock Out group of roses now
seen everywhere. They grow about two
feet tall by three feet wide.
“They’re very hardy, and they
bloom from early spring to Christmas,
some years,” Twigg says.
Drift Roses bloom in red, coral,
pink, white and peach.
“Another plant I like is Breeze
Grass (Lomandra longifolia). It’s evergreen,
hardy, dwarf, tolerates harsh
conditions,” she says.
Breeze Grass grows about two-anda
half feet high by three feet wide.
Twigg also prefers Purple Pixie
Loropetalum (Loropetalum chinense
“Purple Pixie”) for its unique growth
habit — 18 inches high by about three
feet wide — and its deep purple, evergreen
leaves.
“It needs to be watered and cared
for to get it established, of course,”
she says.
And she loves Crapemyrtles for
their long-bloom period.
Al Hight, director of the New
Hanover County Arboretum,
agrees with Twigg regarding the
Crapemyrtle.
“Many of the Crapemyrtles
(Lagerstroemia indica and hybrids)
have beautiful bark — great for landscape
lighting — and fall color. They
are long blooming,” Hight says. “As
long as you give them good sun, average
soil and decent drainage, they will
perform beautifully for you.”
Hight has studied Crapemyrtles and
has his favorite varieties: clear pink
Osage for its bark and open, arching
growth habit; medium pink Sioux for
its slender habit; dark pink Miami
for its long-bloom period; red Tonto