Toni, arborvitae, or Thuja, are pretty much our only choice of evergreen here. We have western red cedars, but they are rough in appearance and full of insects, where green giants, particularly, have a neater look. Pines are all dying from pine wilt disease, spruce all died off when the temps hit 105, hemlock can't take the soil and dryness, and leland cypress don't hold up to the wind or the cold.
I love the Norway Spruce, but they fell off the recommended list for Kansas when they died in the heat last summer.
I've been experimenting with cryptomeria but it is struggling. Our conditions of alkaline soil, wind, drought, extreme heat and cold, dry winters, makes it tough for any evergreen.
