Common name:Eastern White Pine
Botanical name:Pinus strobus

Eastern white pine is a fast growing, pyramidal tree with strong, horizontal branches, growing about 50 to 80 feet tall and 15 to 20 feet wide. It has long, blue green needles that lends it an airy, open appearance. 8-inch long cones are pendulous and ripen in the fall. A columnar form, P. s. 'Fastigiata" has a similar, open habit but grows only about 7 to 10 feet across.

Common name:Purple Coneflower
Botanical name:Echinacea purpurea

The Purple Coneflower is a long-lived, reliable standby for the perennial garden. And while not xeric, it manages quite well with just weekly watering. Rosy purple petals fall below the prominent orange-tinged cone and blooms in late June to September. Foliage is large, with a rounded lance shape. An excellent cut flower, they provide nectar for bumblebees and butterflies, and the seeds provide forage for migrating song birds, so don't cut them all!

Common name:Bugleweed, Carpet Bugle
Botanical name:Ajuga reptans

This colorful groundcover grows in shade to part sun, though the more sun, the more water it needs. Spreads by runners, forming dense mats. Foliage color varies and ranges from bright green, to bronze, to purple, and nearly black, and variegated forms with white, cream, green, and pinks. Evergreen in mild winters. Blue or pink spires up to 8 inches tall in April and May. 2-4" x 12-18"

Common name:Spreading English Yew
Botanical name:Taxus baccata 'Repandens'

Repandens Yew is a wide spreading evergreen with dark green needles and branches with graceful, pendulous tips. Can grow 2 to 4 feet tall, though also as high as 6 feet, and eventually 10 to 15 feet across. English Yews grow well in part to full shade, and Repandens is valuable as an understory shrub for taller shrubs and trees. Bright red fruit in winter; branches are lovely in floral arrangements. New spring growth is a beautiful bright green.

Common name:Mugho Pine
Botanical name:Pinus mugo

Mugo Pine is an evergreen shrub or small tree that grows slowly, from 5 to 20 feet tall and half as wide. There is a great deal of variation in size, depending on source. Needles are long and dark green. Cones are 1 to 2 inches long, oval, and tawny to dark brown. Generally a bushy, twisted, somewhat open pine, mostly grown as a shrub. If you are wanting a dwarf mugo, make certain the plant tag reads P. mugo v mugo or P. mugo pumila.

Common name:Weigela
Botanical name:Weigela florida

Weigela are a group of shrubs characterized by their rounded, arching habit, tubular flowers, and attractively colored foliage. As a rule, they are rounded, with an arching to spreading habit, but size is dependent on cultivar, with shrubs as small as 3 feet to ones as large as 10 to 12 feet. Leaves are simple, finely serrated, and green to red to bronze, depending on cultivar. Flowers appear in May to June, are tubular, and range from white through every conceivable pink, to dark ruby red. Use in foundation or shrub borders, mass planting, or as hedges or screens.

Common name:Creeping Jenny, Moneywort
Botanical name:Lysimachia nummularia

Creeping Jenny is a trailing groundcover that grows in most situations, but prefers shade and moderate moisture. Its yellow fragrant flowers have 5 rounded petals nestled in the round leaf pairs in May and June. It forms dense mats that can become invasive, but is well suited as a ground cover with larger, woody shrubs. Is attractive in rock walls and cascading out of pots. There are cultivars available, ones with yellow to chartreuse foliage.

Common name:Wintercreeper
Botanical name:Euonymus fortunei

This group of euonymus are evergreen to semi-evergreen, and have a spreading and climbing habit. As a groundcover, it has a humpy, mounding habit; as a climber, it needs a little assistance to get started but will eventually cling to and climb up any available surface. Purpleleaf Wintercreeper has particularly attractive fall color; variegated forms are nice in dry shade areas to lighten things up.

Common name:Balloon Flower
Botanical name:Platycodon grandiflorus

Balloon flower is so named because the flower buds puff up like balloons, before opening to star-like blossoms. Stems are tall and lanky (see notes below). Flowers appear throughout the summer, with the heaviest blooming early on. Colors are blues, purples, pinks, and whites, depending on cultivar. A lovely addition to a perennial border, and an excellent cutting flower. Grows about 24 to 30 inches tall and 12 to 18 inches wide.