Break the dreariness of winter with the fragrant flowers that don the wintersweet. Native to the woodlands in China, this slow-growing shrub with an upright but broad shape can begin to look a bit leggy and unkempt with old age. Depending on climate, the bare branches reveal many bowl-shaped flowers that face downward, appearing anytime from midwin..

Break the dreariness of winter with the fragrant flowers that don the wintersweet. Native to the woodlands in China, this slow-growing shrub with an upright but broad shape can begin to look a bit leggy and unkempt with old age.Depending on climate, the bare branches reveal many bowl-shaped flowers that face downward, appearing anytime from midwint..

Brilliant and cheerful strings of yellow flowers drape down from the branches of the golden chaintree in late spring. It is a delightful, spreading small deciduous tree from southern Europe (France to Croatia). In spring the newly emerging leaves are hairy and gray-green and eventually expand to the mature dark green color. There are three oval lea..

With prickly stems and evergreen foliage, European gorse is amazingly attractive in spring when thousands of bright yellwo flowers clothe the plant. A large hrub native to western and central Europe, it produces copious amounts of seeds that remain viable in the soil for years. For this reason this pretty plant can become invasive in temperate regi..

This rugged, cold hardy, short-lived birch from northeastern North America is useful for naturalistic plantings in its native region. Typically multi-trunked, it has gray-white, flaky bark peppered with black markings. The twiggy branches are purplish-brown. The narrowly triangular, bright green leaves are often marred by leaf miners. The foliage t..

Cornus racemosa, commonly called gray dogwood, is a deciduous shrub which is native to Missouri and typically occurs in moist or rocky ground along streams, ponds, wet meadows, glade and prairie margins, thickets and rocky bluffs. It grows 10-15' tall and features white flowers borne in terminal racemes (hence the species name of racemosa) in late ..

Lovely in all seasons, this small to medium-sized deciduous maple from Japan offers a compact rounded habit, handsome foliage, and striking bark. Its densely branched crown is set with lush, relatively large, weakly three-lobed leaves that emerge in mid-spring, about the same time as its small yellow flowers. Drooping chains of two-winged fruits fo..

Common hackberry is a deciduous shade tree native to the eastern United States nad extreme southern Canada. The foliage is reminiscent of the American elm but often suffers from small warty galls. It has purple, pea-sized fruit in the fall and readily self seeds and can become invasive. Fall foliage color is a clear yellow. Mature trees have distin..

Hardy kiwi is a deciduous woody vine that originates from eastern Asia. It is an attractive plant with dark green foliage and fragrant white flowers that appear in late spring but is primarily grown for its tart and sweet pale green fruits. Kiwi are dioecious, which means individual plants have either female flowers or male flowers. So, it is neces..

Tolerant of shearing, pollarding and hard pruning, hedge maple is a densely branched deciduous tree with excellent heat and drought tolerance. Historically, this slow-growing tree has been used to create large hedgerows along the roadways in its native Europe.In early spring, small clusters of bright yellow-green flowers appear and develop into pre..

it is culinary edible bean that is cooked or fried before use, with both astringent and diuretic properties. Indicated for urinary tract sisorders. Also it makes good green manure. It is in flower from July to September, and the seeds ripen from August to October. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated b..

Hydrangea quercifolia, commonly known by its translation oakleaf hydrangea or oak-leaved hydrangea, is a species of flowering plant native to the Southeastern United States, in woodland habitats from North Carolina west to Tennessee, and south to Florida and Louisiana. A deciduous shrub with white showy flower heads, it is a commonly grown garden p..

Although having lovely green foliage, the desert false indigo's habit find few gardeners in love with it. The blue-violet to indigo colored flower spikes occur in midsummer. A spreading but also upright, rather unkempt deciduous shrub, it is native to a wide expanse of the eastern United States and southcentral Canada as well as in moister canyons ..

Glossy green leaves and the persistent brown seed fruits make Japanese alder a great shade tree with a broad adaptability to landscape soils and moisture. A pyrimad-shaped deciduous tree that does not get too wide, it hails from Japan, Korea and China's Manchuria. Its barks becomes light gray-sandy brown with shallow fissures.In early spring this t..

Purpleleaf Japanese barberry is a dense, vase-shaped shrub that originates from eastern Asia. It has glossy, purple-green leaves that turn shades of red, purple and orange in fall. Bright red berries, which are attractive to birds, appear in late summer to fall and persist into winter.This is a tough, sun-loving plant that is tolerant of many soil ..