ahs heat zone 3

What a pretty shrub for early spring! White forsythia is a multi-stemmed, deciduous shrub native to Korea. It has arching branches that put forth fragrant, four-petaled, white to faintly pink blooms in late winter to mid spring, prior to the emergence of its glossy, dark blue-green foliage.

A location with full to partial sun and moderately fertile soil is best for white forsythia. It makes a nice addition to a mixed shrub border or foundation plantings. Early in the season, before bloomtime,...

Hairy foliage and pretty, colorful hibiscus-like flowers make the musk mallow a favorite warm season garden accent. A tender herbaceous perennial from southern Asia that is most often grown as a bedding annual, its flowers occur from summer to frost and are usually bicolored yellow with a purple eye, but variations with pink, orange or red blossoms with a white eye are now common as both named and unnamed garden cultivars, too.

The busky plant with many upright stems will be clothed in coarse-textured...

Hairy foliage and pretty, deep rose-magenta hibiscus-like flowers make the Mischief musk mallow a great selection for gardens and containers. A tender herbaceous perennial from southern Asia that is most often grown as a bedding annual, its ripened seeds smell like musk.

The bushy plant with upright stems will be clothed in coarse-textured foliage that is hairy. Each deep green leaf has three to seven lobes. From early summer onwards, tennis ball-sized flowers occur at stem tips and attract butterflies....

A tall conifer, the European silver fir has deep green needles with a silvery underside that was traditionally used as a Christmas tree before other North American fir species were favored. Upright in shape with a pyramid-like upper canopy that becomes flattened with great age, this very tall tree is native to southern Europe's mountains, from the Pyrennes eastward across the Alps and into the Caucusus. The smooth gray bark will eventually crack into plates.

Needles growing in shade are held...

Balsam fir is a tall coniferous evergreen tree native to the northeastern fifth of the United States and extreme southern Canada. It has a fine pyramidal form, is slow growing and becomes a very tall tree when mature. Its small deep green needles are soft, glossy and smell of sweet balsam. The female cones are full of resin and are brown when mature, and shatter readily when dry. This tree offers year round interest and provides habitat to wildlife, including foliage eaten by deer.

Plants excel...

Dwarf balsam fir is a compact evergreen shrub with fragrant balsam-scented foliage. It is a very slow growing dwarf that offers year-round interest due to its dense deep green needles and globose form. These shrubs prefer full sun to partial shade and do best in slightly acidic well-drained soil. They make excellent additions to Japanese rock gardens, mixed borders, and foundation plantings.

Balsams are such beautiful evergreen trees for the north, especially this super hardy variety. Canaan fir is naturally distributed in the northeastern United States and Canada. It is distinguished by its hardiness, tight pyramidal form with short ascending branches, and distinctive cones, which have long papery bracts extending from the scales.

This tall coniferous evergreen tree develops a fine pyramidal form, but is slow growing. Its fragrant flattened needles are lustrous and dark green above...

Widely adaptable with a striking silvery light blue color, white fir is a pyramidal evergreen tree native to western North America, from southwestern Canada to northern Baja California. This large coniferous tree is admired for its short, soft needles of silvery blue-green and its dense symmetrical habit. The female cones are green when immature, then brown at maturity, usually only found in the upper third of the canopy. Its bark is whitish gray and new twigs have a yellow-green hue and are slightly...

Widely adaptable with a striking silvery light blue color, white fir is a pyramidal evergreen tree native to western North America, from southwestern Canada to northern Baja California. This large coniferous tree is admired for its short, soft needles of silvery blue-green and its dense symmetrical habit. The female cones are green when immature, then brown at maturity, usually only found in the upper third of the canopy. Its bark is whitish gray and new twigs have a yellow-green hue and are slightly...

Widely adaptable with a striking silvery light blue color, white fir is a pyramidal evergreen tree native to western North America, from southwestern Canada to northern Baja California. This large coniferous tree is admired for its short, soft needles of silvery blue-green and its dense symmetrical habit. The female cones are green when immature, then brown at maturity, usually only found in the upper third of the canopy. Its bark is whitish gray and new twigs have a yellow-green hue and are slightly...