Well there’s never perfect plant but at Unique Environmental, 
we think that the Distylium shrub is almost there. Distylium is an evergreen shrub that offers three varieties – Distylium Vintage Jade, which is the low-growing variety, Blue Cascade is mid-sized and Emerald Heights is the tallest.
When you are planning your landscape, you need a canvas to get started, and Distylium serves as a fantastic canvas. Distylium is the type of shrub you would use when planning out a foundation planting and looking for consistency in your plant palette. For example, Vintage Jade is a great substitute for using hollies and junipers as it can grow in full sun and partial shade. Blue Cascade and Emerald Heights are a little taller variety which still works when you have a need for a taller foundation plant.
What makes this plant almost perfect is its flexibility in sun or shade, and its drought tolerance. It also has a small flower in the spring that adds a unique look to the shrub. At Unique Environmental, we have been using this plant for almost two years in our landscape plantings, and we have monitored its growth and flexibility.
We have great confidence that this will be a staple in foundation plantings in areas where you just can’t find the perfect plant.
To get more information on the varieties, and also read some great articles about its performance in the landscape, check out the links below.
http://www.firsteditionsplants.com/vintage-jade-distylium
http://www.caes.uga.edu/extension/cherokee/mastergardeners/documents/newsletterAprilMay13.pdf
http://gardenersconfidence.com/plants/blue-cascade-distylium
http://gardenersconfidence.com/plants/emerald-heights-distylium
