Culver’s Root features tiny, multiple, white to pale-blue flowers, which bloom on erect spikes, June-August. The nectar is a valuable food source for native bees, honeybees, and butterflies. Culver’s Root prefers fertile, moist soil that does not dry out. Use Culver’s Root as a moist, woodland border or in your rain garden.
Wildlife Value: Butterflies and native bees, such as sweat bees, carpenter bees and bumble bees, will visit the flowers.
Cranberry is a low-growing, woody vine with small, white-pink flowers, which bloom in abundance, May-July. The flower nectar offers a valuable food source for native bees. The edible, tart fruit, which ripens in September-October, is used in pies, muffins, sauces, and other dishes. The small green leaves turn bright red in fall. Cranberry grows in wet, boggy areas in the wild. It can be used as an evergreen groundcover in moist areas of your yard, or grow it as a specimen plant in your small garden. It is typically grown in a mass for commerical production.
Fragrant Sumac features yellow flowers, which bloom March-April. It is monoecious; male and female flowers appear separately on the same plant. Female flowers produce berries, which are eaten by birds. Leaves and twigs are aromatic when bruised. Fall foliage is orange to red to reddish-purple. Branches will root themselves where they touch the ground. Fragrant Sumac is a host plant for butterfly and moth larvae (caterpillars), including Red-banded Hairstreak (Calycopis cecrops). Use Fragrant Sumac in mass plantings, foundations, borders, and for stabilizing slopes.
Common Hoptree is a small, deciduous, flowering tree or pruned shrub. Tiny, white flowers bloom in June. The flowers can have an unpleasant fragrance, and are pollinated by carrion flies. The fruit can be used as a substitute for hops. Common Hoptree is a host plant for butterfly and moth larvae (caterpillars), including Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) and Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes). Plant Common Hoptree as a specimen or in groups in your yard. It can also be used as a hedge or for a screen.
English Lavender has fragrant, gray-green foliage. Its lavender-blue to dark purple flowers bloom in the summer on long stems; they make excellent cut or dried flowers. Flowers and foliage are used to scent sachets and potpourris, and as a culinary herb. Use English Lavender in beds, borders, herb gardens, or rock gardens.
Creeping Juniper is a low-growing evergreen groundcover with long, trailing branches and soft-textured leaves. It tolerates hot and dry conditions, air pollution, and salt spray. Use massed on slopes, as a foundation plant, or in rock gardens.
The floral display of American Witchhazel is unique. Its fragrant, cream to yellow flowers with tassle-like, crumpled petals bloom September-December, persisting for some time after leaf drop.
Gingko is a deciduous tree with unique, fan-shaped leaves. It is dioecious (separate male and female trees), but only male trees should be planted, since the fruit of female trees is messy and malodorous. Its yellow fall leaves can persist for weeks, then suddenly drop within a day. This cold-hardy tree is usually deep-rooted and resistant to wind and snow damage. It tolerates salt and poor soil and air quality, making it a good choice for urban conditions. Use Gingko as a lawn tree or street tree.
Shrubby Cinquefoil is a low-growing, long-blooming, deciduous shrub. It has small, grayish-green, compound leaves and is covered with showy, yellow flowers from June-September. This plant has excellent winter hardiness. Shrubby Cinquefoil has special value for native bees, and attracts beneficial insects, which prey upon insect pests. Use as a specimen plant, in shrub borders, or as an informal hedge.