Evergreen Bonsai Care

English boxwood

Buxus sempervirens

Japanese boxwood

Buxus microphylla

Korean boxwood

Buxus sinica var. insularis

English holly

Ilex aquifolium

Broadleaf evergreen holly with separate male and female plants; female fruiting requires a compatible male pollinizer. Invasive-region caution: English holly is a 2025 Washington Class C noxious weed and should not be allowed to spread seed near susceptible forest understories.

Japanese holly

Ilex crenata

Yaupon holly

Ilex vomitoria

Native southeastern North American broadleaf evergreen holly. Leaves contain caffeine, female plants need compatible male pollen for fruit, and dwarf cultivar identity affects fruiting, growth color, and bonsai use.

Olive

Olea europaea

Common myrtle

Myrtus communis

Mediterranean broadleaf evergreen with aromatic opposite leaves, white flowers, dark berries, and Zone 8 baseline hardiness. Verify Myrtus communis before applying this page because crepe myrtle, wax myrtle, Oregon myrtle, California bay, creeping myrtle, and myrtle spurge are different plants.

Cotoneaster

Cotoneaster microphyllus, Cotoneaster horizontalis

Pyracantha

Pyracantha angustifolia, Pyracantha coccinea

Camellia

Camellia japonica, Camellia sasanqua

Shared parent page for ornamental japonica and sasanqua camellia bonsai. Verify the tag before applying flower timing, leaf scale, hardiness, or cultivar claims, and keep tea plant (Camellia sinensis) as a separate evaluation.

Chinese privet

Ligustrum sinense

Invasive in much of the eastern and southern United States; keep bonsai material contained and prevent fruit or root spread where it can escape.

Glossy privet

Ligustrum lucidum

Large-leaved, rapid broadleaf evergreen Ligustrum used as hedge or screen material. Verify Ligustrum lucidum before applying this page because waxleaf privet can also point to Japanese privet in trade, and remove flower or fruit in invasive-risk regions.

California privet

Ligustrum ovalifolium

Fast, smaller-leaved Ligustrum hedge stock that can be deciduous in cold climates and semi-evergreen or evergreen in mild ones. Verify the label against glossy privet, Chinese privet, Japanese privet, common privet, and north privet hybrids, and remove flower or fruit in naturalizing-risk regions.

Escallonia

Escallonia spp.

Genus-level parent page for mild-climate evergreen hedge-stock escallonia. Verify the tag before applying red-flowered E. rubra, E. rubra var. macrantha, or cultivar-specific hardiness and flower-scale claims.

Loropetalum

Loropetalum chinense

Warm-temperate flowering broadleaf evergreen or semi-evergreen shrub. Verify cultivar scale, purple-leaf retention, and gall-free branch health before applying bonsai refinement.

Bay laurel

Laurus nobilis

Mediterranean broadleaf evergreen culinary bay. Verify Laurus nobilis before applying this page because cherry laurel, English laurel, Portuguese laurel, California bay / Oregon myrtle, camphor, mountain laurel, spotted laurel, and sweetbay magnolia are different plants.

Mastic tree

Pistacia lentiscus

Mediterranean broadleaf evergreen Anacardiaceae material with resinous bark and small leathery leaflets. Verify against edible pistachio, terebinth, Chinese pistache, false mastic, yellow mastic, and Schinus pepper-tree labels before applying care or buying for bonsai.

Strawberry tree

Arbutus unedo

Mediterranean and western European ericaceous broadleaf evergreen with exfoliating bark, fall to winter urn-shaped flowers, red fruit, and root-disturbance sensitivity. Verify Arbutus unedo before applying this page because Pacific madrone, manzanita, Greek strawberry tree, hybrid strawberry tree, Jamaican cherry, Chinese bayberry, and actual strawberries are different care subjects.

Phillyrea

Phillyrea angustifolia, Phillyrea latifolia

Mediterranean olive-family broadleaf evergreen hedge or shrub material. Verify Phillyrea angustifolia versus P. latifolia before applying leaf-scale, size, or form notes, and separate from olive, privet, myrtle, mastic, Osmanthus, and boxwood labels.

Tea tree / manuka

Leptospermum scoparium

Small-leaf Myrtaceae broadleaf evergreen with prickly foliage, flowers, persistent woody capsules, and coastal or scrubland design character. Verify Leptospermum scoparium before applying this page because tea tree can also point to Melaleuca, Kunzea, other Leptospermum species, rosemary, or Camellia sinensis.

Pieris

Pieris japonica

Ericaceae broadleaf evergreen with fine azalea-like roots, red new growth, drooping spring flower clusters, and terminal whorls that need shoot selection. Verify Pieris japonica before applying this page because andromeda, fetterbush, mountain laurel, azalea, camellia, Leucothoe, Enkianthus, and other Ericaceae labels can overlap in trade.

Rosemary

Salvia rosmarinus

Mediterranean Lamiaceae broadleaf evergreen with aromatic needle-like leaves, square stems, blue-to-white flowers, and dry rocky habitat. Verify Salvia rosmarinus before applying this page because rosemary, sage, lavender, thyme, tea tree, and culinary-herb labels can overlap in trade.