Colorado Blue Spruce is a medium to large, evergreen conifer. It is valued for its stiff, blue-green needles and pyramidal shape. Colorado Blue Spruce displays attractive light-brown cones. Use it as a specimen tree in your yard, or plant in groups to use as a border or screen. Colorado Blue Spruce is commonly used as a holiday tree.

Common Ninebark is a wildlife-friendly, spreading, deciduous shrub, featuring clusters of pinkish-white flowers which bloom May-June. Flowers provide an excellent nectar source for native bees. Drooping clusters of red fruit offer food for birds in the summer. Common Ninebark is valued for its exfoliating (peeling) bark, which reveals layers of reddish-brown inner bark, offering winter interest. This plant tolerates poor soil conditions. Use Common Ninebark in your shrub border, or as a hedge or screen in your yard.

Canby’s Mountain-lover is a broadleaf evergreen groundcover. Its glossy, leathery, dark green leaves turn bronze-purple in winter. This low-maintenance plant is drought-tolerant once established. Use Canby’s Mountain-lover in your shade garden, as a groundcover, along woodland edges, in rock gardens, and in naturalized areas of your yard.

Allegheny-spurge is a low-growing, spreading perennial. Its dark green, toothed leaves crowd on top of short, erect stems. Small, fragrant, greenish-white flowers bloom March-May, before new leaves emerge. It spreads to form colonies, making it an excellent groundcover for your yard. Use it in shady areas in place of lawn, massed on banks or slopes, or in areas of your shade garden.

Sourwood, or Sorrel Tree, is a small to medium, flowering, deciduous understory tree. It offers four seasons of ornamental interest for your yard. Numerous small, fragrant, white flowers bloom on drooping stalks, June-July. The fall foliage is stunning crimson, red, and purple. Dried seeds persist through colder months and offer winter interest. Plant Sourwood as a specimen in your yard, around your patio, or in your shade garden.

Hophornbeam, or Ironwood, is a small to medium deciduous tree. It is monoecious; insignificant, reddish-brown male flowers and greenish-yellow female flowers appear separately on the same tree. The male catkins persist throughout winter. The female catkins lead to uniquely-shaped seed pods resembling the fruit of hops. Plant Hophornbeam in your small yard or woodland garden, or use it as a street tree.

Northern Bayberry is a densely branching, evergreen shrub. The waxy coating is used to make candles, scented by the fragrance of the crushed leaves. The berries are an excellent food source for birds. Use Northern Bayberry in mass plantings for your shrub border or for naturalized areas in your yard.

Star Magnolia is a small, flowering deciduous tree. Delicate, fragrant, star-shaped white flowers bloom in March, offering an early sign of spring. Star Magnolia is valued for its compact size, which easily accommodates small yards or small spaces in larger yards. Situate this tree where it will be protected from frost. Use it in your yard as a specimen or accent plant, or in groups as a shrub border or informal hedge.

Spicebush is a deciduous shrub, which grows with a rounded form. The fragrant white-yellow-green flower clusters bloom in March. Use Spicebush as a shrub border, in naturalized areas, or along woodland edges around your yard.

The tiny, purple flowers of Lavender Thrift resemble Baby’s Breath, and bloom June-August, adding a delicate accent of color to your yard. This salt-tolerant plant grows in a variety of consistently moist, well-drained soils. For best appeal, plant in masses to add large swaths of wispy texture to your garden. Lavender Thrift also makes a lovely addition to dried flower arrangements.