Need ideas for a good hardy shade plant

[Katy9532]

I have two small beds that are surrounded by concrete with a very very large oak tree in the middle of both. I had planed on planting boxwoods in both, but my neighbors (I live in a condo community) are saying they would like me to do something different in each garden. I have the boxwoods in my back yard and they LOVE this area, so I know I will do them in one of the gardens.

SO, I need a good idea for some kind of shrub that has a similar growth pattern to the boxwood. The area does have the tree so is mostly shaded but does have some flittered sun. What ever I plant must be able to handle the heat of a TX summer and the cold freezes that we get every winter.

Again this is why I love my boxwood, I did not even cover them when it froze this summer!

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!! Thanks!

[Haesuse]

do you really want something similar to boxwood? i ask that, because of the condo association concern. if the neighbors want something different, then wouldn't getting a shrub that's very similar defeat the entire purpose???

but, if you do want something similar in shape and size and relative ease of maintenance, you could try privet hedge.

[Katy9532]

i see your point, and ill look into the plant you mention. I really ment something that could handle the summer heat and winter freeze of north TX like the boxwood can.

I ended up finding a Japanese Mnt Fire at home depot that the guy there said would work well. Also due to the amount of roots in that bed from the tree I know I cannot dig the holes I thought I would be able to. So I now am thinking one good accent plant and some pretty ground cover.

Any good ideas on ground cover?

[a0c8c]

This may not be a shrub, but I planted my caladiums under my tree in the back and they grew real well. They didn't need real deep holes for the bulbs so I was able to get them in there amongst the tree roots no problem, the tree also hasn't robbed them of water. Theres 14-15 around my tree. Always worth a thought

[img]https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v355/OakHillCars/caladiums.jpg[/img]