(Matted Sandmat, Prostrate Spurge)

Practically every gardener has come across this warm-season, summer weed. Prostrate spurge forms nearly flat, spreading mats of small, deep green or green and burgundy-blotched leaves that can be found in sunny beds and pavement crevices across the whole of the United States, southern Canada and northern Mexico. It is an annual weed that produces loads and loads of seeds, so it's essential to pull plants as soon as they pop up in the garden.

Dense, spreading mats of small, oval leaves supported...

(Fireweed)

Commonly known as fireweed in North America, this pretty wildflower bears tall spikes of bright rose flowers in summer and fall. It is native across much of the northerly regions of the northern hemisphere where it thrives in moist ditches, old fields, open woods and along forest and stream edges. It is commonly called "fireweed" because this true pioneer species responds well to fire and is one of the first plants to seed in and thrive after a fire. It spreads by both seed and wide-spreading rhizomes...

(Fireweed, White Fireweed)

White flowers don this vigorous fireweed cultivar from summer to fall. Commonly known as fireweed in North America, this pretty wildflower bears tall spikes of white flowers. Chamerion angustifolium is native across much of the northerly regions of the northern hemisphere where it thrives in moist ditches, old fields, open woods and along forest and stream edges. It is commonly called "fireweed" because this true pioneer species responds well to fire and is one of the first plants to seed...

(Lace Lipfern, Lipfern)

During a wilderness hike west of the Continental Divide in the American Pacific Northwest, you'll encounter a frilly, lacy-foliage fern growing on and among igneous rocks on slopes. The lace lipfern's narrow, upright fronds grow from a short, clumping rhizome. The native range extends from central California and Nevada northward to the border with British Columbia, Canada. High elevations protect this fern from excessive summertime heat and drought stresses.

The lace lipfern produces upright,...

(Hairy Lipfern)

Fine hairs cover the light green fronds of the hairy lipfern, delicate-looking deciduous, clumping fern. It is native to granite rocky slopes and ledges from the Catskill Mountains to central Missouri and southward to the Florida panhandle. It grows at higher inland elevations, protected from intense summertime sunlight from nearby trees, shrubs or sheltering rocks. It develops a short, slow-growing rhizome to form an attractive leafy clump.

Hairy lipfern produces upright, long, triangular-shaped...

(Beaded Lipfern, Lipfern)

Few people would think ferns grow in arid climates, but the beaded lipfern is a notable and beautiful exception. This dense, spreading fern -- via elongating rhizomes -- naturally inhabits rocky slopes and ledges across the American Southwest and into northwestern Mexico. The habitat is at higher elevations, and this species tends to proliferate on east-facing slopes nestled at the base of boulders or shrubs that cast protective shade.

Beaded lipfern produces upright, triangular-shaped fronds...

(Mexican Tea)

Long prized in Mexico as an herb and medicinal plant, this weedy annual or short-lived perennial from tropical America is naturalized worldwide from the tropics to the temperate zones. Plants form clumps of erect, waist-high stems with alternate, oval, toothed leaves. Bruised leaves emit a pungent, disagreeable odor. In summer, long spikes of small greenish flowers appear at the stem tips and leaf axils. Tiny greenish single-seeded fruits follow the flowers. Plants readily self-sow.

Mexican...

(Spotted Pipsissewa , Spotted Wintergreen, Striped Prince's Pine)

A whorl of leaves with dark and light markings and a reddish stem topped by dangling white blossoms are but three characteristics of beauty for the spotted wintergreen. A wood-like perennial subshrub, it is very low growing with its stems usually hidden by leaf litter. It's native to dry acidic woodland soils of the eastern United States and Ontario, Canada, and isolated populations have been located in Arizona, Mexico and western Costa Rica.

The evergreen leaves are waxy and whorl around the...

(Common Fringetree, Granddaddy Graybeard)

The wispy white flower clusters of common fringetree add a delightful haze to the spring garden. This native to the southeastern United States is a hardy deciduous large shrub or small tree that naturally inhabits moist woodlands. It covers a broad range of distribution, from New York State to Texas, so it is best to plant from regional stock.

When mature, the common fringetree develops an irregular, spreading crown. Its leaves are oblong and medium green with varying degrees of glossiness....

(Red Tussock Grass)

A densely leafy evergreen plant, red tussock grass brings a a graceful spreading form with thin, coppery leaves to the landscape. A New Zealand native, it flowers on lightly weeping stems among or fully above the leaves in early summer, with the flowers sparsely spaced on short branches at the top of the flowers stems. It is mostly admired for the color of the leaves, which range from a metallic golden tan to a dramatic coppery red. In winter the leaves tend to be beige at their tips, with coppery...