Mountain Doghobble

Leucothoe fontanesiana

Mountain doghobble is the arching, graceful native evergreen for shaded stream banks and moist woodland floors. The long, lance-shaped leaves are deep glossy green through most of the year, turning bronze-purple to deep burgundy in fall and winter on plants that get some light. a color shift that's genuinely striking against snow or winter mulch. In spring, pendulous racemes of white, fragrant, lily-of-the-valley-type bells hang below the branches. It spreads slowly by stolons to form sweeping, layered colonies that are elegant in a woodland setting. The arching habit means individual stems reach out horizontally, creating a flowing ground cover effect unlike any other native evergreen. Deer won't touch it. It's a plant for the north-facing slope, the shaded ravine, the area under rhododendrons where nothing else fills in. Available in fall only at Hill House.