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Alabama · Zones 7–9

Native Evergreen Plants in Alabama

Native shrubs, groundcovers, and ferns that hold their leaves through winter for year-round green, screening, and cover. Alabama sits in a landscape of Gulf Coastal Plain & Cumberland Plateau, and the natives that thrive here are the ones built for its hot, humid subtropical character. The list below — led by Crossvine and Foamflower — is filtered to species genuinely native to Alabama and the wider flora of the Southeast and hardy through zones 7–9. Evergreen natives carry the garden through the bare months, giving structure, privacy, and winter shelter for birds when the deciduous plants have dropped their leaves. Site broadleaf evergreens out of harsh winter wind and afternoon sun to prevent leaf scorch, and water them deeply going into a dry fall so they enter winter fully charged.

The plants

5 native species for Alabama

Each one native to your region and hardy in zones 7–9 · see this collection in other states.

Vine

Crossvine

Bignonia capreolata

Year-round foliage for privacy and shelter when the rest of the garden sleeps, good through zone 9 and spreading 6–10 ft.

  • Full–part sun
  • Dry–average
  • 25–50 ft
  • Blooms Apr–May
Perennial wildflower

Foamflower

Tiarella cordifolia

Doesn't drop its leaves — winter green, cover for birds, and structure, foamy white flowers and hardy in zones 3–8.

  • Part shade
  • Average
  • 6–12 in
  • Blooms Apr–May
Groundcover

Creeping Phlox

Phlox subulata

Keeps its foliage all winter for cover when the deciduous plants are bare, 4–8 in tall and for sand, rocky, and loam ground.

  • Full–part sun
  • Dry–average
  • 4–8 in
  • Blooms Apr–May
Evergreen shrub

Inkberry Holly

Ilex glabra

Carries the planting through winter with leaves intact, reaching 4–8 ft and inconspicuous flowers.

  • Full–part sun
  • Average–wet
  • 4–8 ft
  • Blooms May–Jun
Fern

Christmas Fern

Polystichum acrostichoides

Year-round foliage for privacy and shelter when the rest of the garden sleeps, hardy in zones 3–9 and happy in rocky and loam soil.

  • Part shade
  • Dry–average
  • 1–2 ft
  • Evergreen
Sourcing

Where to find these in Alabama

Seeds & live plants on Amazon

Seed packets, plugs, and starter plants for many of these species ship to your door.

Browse on Amazon

Some links here are affiliate links — we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. The surest source of locally-adapted stock is a native-plant nursery or a native plant society sale in your area.