Featured Plants

There are lots of unique trees out there, but Celtis sinensis ‘Green Cascade’ is about as unusual a tree as you can find. This Chinese hackberry has a pendulous form – and it’s ornamental, too.

Flowering trees for the garden are popular choices among most bloom-loving green thumbs. But few natives can herald the gardening season like serviceberries. With gorgeous spring blooms, lovely fruit and nice fall color, these small woodland trees deserve a second look! Learn more about serviceberry trees.

Deodar cedar is an attractive tree that grows well in a container. During most of the year it can decorate your patio, but bring it indoors for the holidays and watch your Christmas turn merry and bright!

Visiting an apple orchard is fun, but even cooler is picking the crisp fruit off a tree growing in your own back yard! Here are a few basics you need to know so you and your home orchard can live appley ever after.

Some plants just capture the definition of the word “style,” and mountain ash is one of them. The trees really shine in fall with their huge clusters of glowing orange fruit. With the mild climate and cool summer nights, they’re a perfect fit for the Pacific Northwest.

A beauty year-round, chaste tree performs its biggest show in summer, displaying large, attractive blooms throughout the season. Give it a try in your garden to welcome butterflies and hummingbirds, as well as bring some bright blue to your sea of summer green.

Are you weary of the dreary…and long for something cheery? Fight the winter blues and let the delicate, fragrant, winter-blooming blossoms of Japanese flowering apricot brighten up your spirits – and garden!

Looking for a tree that’s a real desert gem? Try chitalpa. This cross between two rather ordinary trees is a multi-flowering, drought-tolerant beauty proving to be a fantastic garden star!

For some holiday decorators, picking the type of Christmas tree to display in their home can be as challenging as picking the right present for a distant relative: You just don’t know what to get. Here’s a look at some of your tree options to help you choose.

Cornelian cherry is an attractive, early flowering dogwood that brightens the late winter/early spring landscape. As we wait for the tree’s grand blooming entrance this spring, let’s take a look at where its name comes from.

Whether small or large, cut-leaf or whole, weeping or upright, you’re bound to find a Japanese maple to suit your garden’s style. While you can enjoy the beauty these trees bring any time of the year, just wait until fall because this is the season they really glow!

Summer-flowering plants help us appreciate our gardens in the hottest part of the year. Many homeowners turn to annuals to bring their yards to life. But don’t forget trees and shrubs! Here are some other plants that can help you appreciate your summer garden (and beyond) even more.

You know it’s spring when the redbuds flower! Learn more about these lovely blooming trees and consider welcoming one into your garden – along with the new season.

Apple trees come in all shapes and sizes, with surprisingly varied fruits. With just a little research, you can find the right size – and flavor – for your yard. Learn the different types of apple trees available, as well as the kind of apples they produce.

A new dwarf elm is making its way into the hearts of home gardeners. With its small stature and interesting characteristics, this deep green shrub can survive frigid temperatures and bring a touch of personality to your yard.

You would be hard-pressed to find another tree, large or small, that can equal an Arbutus species in year-round interest. This group of trees has it all – from flowering habit and fruit display to fall color and winter charm.

Nothing wakes up your garden like springtime blooms, and few flowers rival the beauty of saucer magnolias! Though they can be caught off guard by early spring freezes, the fragrance and pinkish-purplish-white tones of this wonderful early blooming tree make it worth the gamble.

West Coast gardeners living in Sunset zones 3b-9 and 14-20 are in luck: There’s a beautiful dogwood just for you! This lovely Northwest native is a drought-tolerant tree that really shines in the spring garden. Meet the Pacific dogwood…

Many gardens are small and need small, upright trees that won’t overpower the space. ‘Seiryu’ Japanese maple is such a tree, with wonderful characteristics sure to please. Learn more about this little maple, from ornamental qualities to planting tips.

Looking for a great shade tree with nice fall color and adaptability to harsh elements? Then ‘Princeton’ American elm may be the tree for you and your landscape! This beautiful elm has proved highly resistant to certain diseases and is growing in popularity.

Looking for a late spring bloomer to add a little extra punch to your garden? Consider planting fringe tree. This native’s panicles of snow-white blooms will set your garden aglow as it slowly grows into a gorgeous small multistemmed tree or large shrub.

The Bradford pear is a blooming springtime favorite of many homeowners, but its structural flaws and unusual aroma leave something to be desired. Learn how to best use this tree in your landscape…or whether it might be better to try something else.

Four great trees for very wet sites are sweetbay magnolia, sycamore, weeping willow and baldcypress. Each has unique characteristics that make it perfect for your marshy, problem spot.

Trees are the foundation of a landscape, and water conservation is a top concern for our environment. So what’s a garden to do? Go water wise! Here are five great selections for the hot, dry Southwest, sure to enhance your garden, as well as help save water.

Greet spring with the early flower show of Cornelian cherry. Blooming two weeks earlier than most other flowering trees, this small and easy-to-grow dogwood makes a giant impact in the late winter/early spring garden.

Every spring, Washington, DC, comes alive with the beauty and fragrance of Yoshino cherry trees. But you don’t need to travel to our nation’s capitol to experience the trees’ splendor – grow your own (and prepare for a breathtaking spring)!