Although often grown for its flowers, the foliage of yellow waxbells ( Kirengeshoma palmata ) is stunning. The bright green, hairy leaves are maple-shaped and are held nearly horizontally. In late summer, delicate bell-shaped yellow flowers hang gracefully in stalked clusters from the leaf axils near the tips of the branches, and these flowers are followed by unusual horned seedpods. This plant …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
Use royal azalea as a specimen plant or in the shrub border. This is one of the best deciduous azaleas for the Midwest due to its tolerance of higher pH soils. The flowers, which open in spring, are pale pink, fragrant and well over 2" in diameter. The leaves are dark green in summer, turning yellow, orange and crimson in fall. Native to Korea and Manchuria, the royal azalea is a rounded …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
Smooth sumac is very much like staghorn sumac, with large attractive compound leaves and an irregular growth habit. However, it lacks the velvety fuzz found on staghorn sumac. The large spreading branches grow in a picturesque irregular form. In July large upright clusters of greenish-white flowers appear. These are followed by red berries with small hairs. This large native shrub in the cashew …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
This antique rose was released by the famous Barbier firm in 1900 and features light yellow buds that open to very pale yellow to cream double flowers produced in clusters. It blooms heaviest in mid-June and will produce sporadic blooms throughout the rest of the summer. Described as a rambler, it is best planted where it can be tied into a support to the long stems or among large shrubs or low …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
This cultivar was selected for a more intense blue color to the normally green needles and a compact growth habit to 60' high by 25' wide. Tolerates acidic and poorly drained soils if planted on a slight rise. Full sun conditions preserve the blue-green coloration best. Unusual in that these plants are propagated by seed whereas most cultivars are vegetatively propagated to preserve the exact …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
The red mistletoe cactus or devil's tongue cactus is an epiphytic cactus of south America where it grows from trees and rocks in humid elevated rainforests. The red straps of this plant are its leaves, and they are completely pendulous. While this plant performs best in bright shade, the leaves become redder with more sunlight. The greenish-white flowers appear in the summer months followed by …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
Mando is in Division 1. It blooms in early to mid spring with sweetly scented bright yellow flowers. The flowers are 3 ½ inches wide with a long trumpet that is a slightly darker shade of yellow than the petals. This daffodil is commonly substituted for the cultivar King Alfred by Dutch growers which has become virus infected. Mando does best when planted in full sun in moderately rich …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
As this small, graceful tree ages, it becomes more rounded in habit. It is recommended for a naturalistic garden. The flowers are not ornamentally significant. The fruits, nutlets that mature in fall, resemble the fruit of hops. This small tree has finely shredded, attractive bark and one of the hardest of all woods. Hop hornbeam is a native tree of rich woodlands. Related to birches but without …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
This long-blooming perennial has saucer-shaped flowers on sturdy, ascending stems. The Fastigiata cultivar has a neater appearance than the species, so it is usually the best one for a perennial border. The rose, pink, or white flowers with a slight notch in each petal have a silky appearance. The gray-green leaves are three-lobed to five-lobed. Although this plant may be short-lived, it remains …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
Love™rose ( Rosa 'Jactwin') is covered with high-centered, scarlet-red flowers featuring white on the reverse of the petals. Its fragrance is described as light and spicy. The ultimate size for this disease-resistant cultivar is 5 feet high with a 4-foot spread, and it is known for having very thorny stems. This variety was released in 1980 by Jackson & Perkins and was an All-American Rose …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
