Know your plants. Help your garden thrive.

Cornus kousa 'Wolf Eyes'

Creamy-white leaf margins brighten this slow-growing dogwood beyond its white-bracted flowering season, with red fruit and pink autumn tones adding further interest to the garden.

Summer Gold Kousa dogwood

Cornus kousa 'Summer Gold'

Yellow-edged green leaves, white flower bracts, red fruit, and colorful autumn foliage give Summer Gold dogwood a long season of interest in a small-tree space.

Summer Fun Kousa dogwood

Cornus kousa 'Summer Fun'

Cream-edged leaves, white late spring bracts, red fruit, and colorful autumn foliage make this Kousa dogwood a distinctive small tree for a sheltered focal point.

Cloud Nine flowering dogwood

Cornus florida 'Cloud Nine'

White spring bracts, red fruit, and autumn color distinguish this flowering dogwood; give its layered canopy ample room, steady moisture, and careful disease-aware siting.

Flowering dogwood

Cornus florida

A layered small tree with spring bracts, red fruit, and autumn color; flowering dogwood needs moisture, airflow, and protection from stressful heat and disease.

Royal Star magnolia

Magnolia stellata 'Royal Star'

Fragrant white star-shaped flowers make Royal Star an early garden feature; its rounded form needs generous space, moist soil, and shelter from flower-damaging frost.

A young Thuja occidentalis 'Emerald Green'

Emerald Green arborvitae

Thuja occidentalis 'Emerald Green'

A narrow, bright green evergreen for screens and vertical accents, Emerald Green needs consistent moisture, room to fill out, and protection where deer browse.

Leyland cypress

Cupressocyparis leylandii

Fast-growing Leyland cypress creates substantial evergreen screening, but its eventual tree size, regular pruning needs, and sensitivity to crowded conditions demand generous space.

Nova Zembla rhododendron

Rhododendron hybrid 'Nova Zembla'

Red spring flower trusses rise above evergreen foliage on this substantial rounded shrub; provide acidic, freely draining soil, summer moisture, and protection from afternoon heat.

Seiryu Japanese maple

Acer palmatum 'Seiryu'

Seiryu pairs finely cut green leaves with an upright small-tree silhouette and warm autumn color, making a refined focal point for a sheltered garden.

Baby Blue spruce

Picea pungens 'Baby Blue'

Blue-green to silvery needles give Baby Blue spruce a strong evergreen presence; confirm the individual tree's eventual size and provide sun, drainage, and airflow.

Conical conifer with spreading branches & glaucous needles.

Stem & needles, which are borne singly on "pegs" & are sharp.

Colorado blue spruce

Picea pungens

A large pyramidal evergreen with stiff branches and blue-green to silver needles, Colorado blue spruce needs ample space, full sun, drainage, and good airflow.

Dwarf Alberta spruce

Picea glauca 'Conica'

A slow-growing evergreen cone with fine green needles, dwarf Alberta spruce needs long-term growing room and protection from reflected heat, drying wind, and mites.

Feelin Blue deodar cedar

Cedrus deodara 'Feelin Blue'

Blue needles and low, spreading branches make Feelin Blue a distinctive cedar accent; confirm whether the plant is prostrate or trained before planning its space.

Compacta Hinoki cypress

Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Compacta'

Dense evergreen foliage gives Compacta Hinoki cypress a sculptural presence; confirm the individual plant's eventual size, since this name does not guarantee a dwarf form.

Deciduous & Flowering Shrubs

Baileyi red-twig dogwood

Cornus sericea 'Baileyi'

Red winter stems, spring flowers, and pale berries give Baileyi seasonal interest; this vigorous dogwood needs moist-site space and renewal pruning for its brightest color.

Sungold false cypress

Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Sungold'

Golden threadlike foliage forms a softly cascading mound on Sungold false cypress, adding year-round color where there is room for its gradual outward growth.

David viburnum

Viburnum davidii

Bold veined leaves give David viburnum year-round texture; this rounded evergreen can add white flowers and blue fruit when compatible pollination and growing conditions align.

Native Plants

Golden currant

Ribes aureum

Fragrant yellow spring flowers and variable-colored berries make golden currant useful in informal edible planting, provided its suckering habit and regional provenance are considered.

Deciduous & Flowering Shrubs

Prairie Fire dogwood

Cornus alba 'Prairie Fire'

Colorful foliage and red winter stems make Prairie Fire a bold ornamental dogwood; allow space for its vigorous growth, suckers, and periodic renewal pruning.

Small conifer with chartreuse needle foliage.

Wilma lemon cypress

Hesperocyparis macrocarpa 'Wilma Goldcrest'

A narrow yellow-green evergreen, Wilma lemon cypress brings bright vertical color to sheltered outdoor planting; its ten-year size is not its eventual maximum.

Deciduous & Flowering Shrubs

Pacific ninebark

Physocarpus capitatus

Pacific ninebark combines white flowers, reddish fruit clusters, and peeling bark in a large informal shrub suited to moist, spacious, regionally inspired planting.

Star jasmine

Trachelospermum jasminoides

Fragrant white summer flowers and glossy evergreen leaves make star jasmine useful on supports or as groundcover in warm, sheltered gardens with room to manage growth.

Cherry Cheesecake rhododendron

Rhododendron hybrid 'Cherry Cheesecake'

White flowers with deep pink-red edges stand out against dark evergreen leaves on Cherry Cheesecake, a mounded rhododendron for acidic, moist, freely draining soil.