The blue fruits on this tree are actually fleshy cones. Often used as a screen by planting in one or two fairly dense rows. Also useful as a background tree.  Can be a specimen tree.

Understory tree. Can be trimmed to keep sized as a shrub. Accent shrub or can be trained as a hedge.

The natural distribution in Florida is predominantly related to soil and drainage conditions.  If you provide them, it should grow successfully from Lake County northward. Specimen tree especially for moist sites.

If grown in a freshwater environment, S. patens will grow much bigger. Use as a shoreling stabilization plant on edges of sand beaches and saltmarsh.

Makes a good border plant that becomes a pink haze in the fall.

Groundcover for moist to wet sites.