Evergreen z7

well you might consider broadleaf evergreens like selections of southern maganolia, sweetbay (magnolia virginiana), various rhododendrons like the native r. maximum and r. catawbiense, mountain laurel (kalmia latifolia)---those three can become nice small trees over time and with proper "training", southern bayberry (myrica cerifera) and American holly (ilex opauca) plus several evergreen viburnums which can be trained into small trees and even some hardy camellias. like c. olifera for conifers you might consider some of the southern pines like loblolly pine, some Asiatic firs like abies firma, some redwood relatives like taxodium or glyptostrobus (aka "Chinese water fir")---though both of these are winter deciduous. nurseries like "rarefind" and "woodlanders" which stock rare and unusual plants might be worthwhile looking into and of course the collections in the National Arboretum may show more stuff that is adapted to your area. like hope this helps.

the leaves could just as easily come from a skimmia (or even an osmanthus as the leaves SEEM to be opposite) as a magnolia???