(Endive)

Big gorgeous heads with tender blanched hearts make escarole ‘Natacha’ a favorite of commercial and home gardeners. The plants are resistant to tipburn, bolting and bottom rot. Natacha is ready fro harvest 48 to 60 days from planting. This selection is great in salads or cooked.

This leafy vegetable is surprisingly a member of the daisy family along with radicchio and chicory and easily grown in the home garden. Thought to be native to India and possible Asia, endive is naturalized in Europe,...

(Radicchio, Wild Chicory)

Native to Europe and the Mediterranean and naturalized worldwide, wild chicory is a clumping perennial grown for its long, lobed, edible leaves and for its stout taproot, which is used as a coffee substitute. It also has medicinal uses, and is sometimes cultivated in ornamental gardens for its flowers.

"Leaf chicories" come in several types. The bitter, dandelion-like leaves of loose-leaf chicories are good in salads (when young) or in cooked dishes. Witloof or Belgian endive bears erect heads...

(Bugbane)

Native to Russia and a large part of eastern Asia, autumn snakeroot is a tall perennial with leafed flowerstalks topped by arching racemes of white flowers in autumn. These are borne above clumps of bright green or purplish green foliage with toothed leaflets.

Autumn snakeroot prefers fertile, humus-based, well-drained soil and a partially shaded, evenly moist location. A graceful plant, it may need staking to best show off its stately form. Use it as an accent plant in a woodland garden or...

(Black Bugbane, Black Negligee Bugbane)

Black Negligee autumn snakeroot is a tall, striking perennial with very attractive dark foliage from eastern Asia. Its leafed purple flowerstalks are topped by arching racemes of clear white flowers in autumn. These are borne above clumps of ashy dark purple foliage with toothed leaflets.

'Black Negligee' prefers fertile, well-drained soil with humus and a partially shaded, evenly moist location. A graceful plant, it may need staking to best show off its form, especially in windier locales when...

(Brunette Bugbane, Bugbane)

Brunette autumn snakeroot is a tall, striking perennial with rich, exquisite foliage from eastern Asia. Its leafed purple flowerstalks are topped by arching racemes of creamy, purple-tinged flowers in autumn. These are borne above clumps of deep brownish-purple foliage with toothed leaflets.

'Brunette' prefers fertile, well-drained soil with humus and a partially shaded, evenly moist location. A graceful plant, it may need staking to best show off its form, especially in windier locales when flowering...

(Bugbane, Hillside Black Beauty Bugbane)

Hillside Black Beauty autumn snakeroot is a tall, striking perennial with rich, black foliage from eastern Asia. Its leafed purple flowerstalks are topped by arching racemes of white or light pink flowers in autumn. These are borne above clumps of lustrous dark purple to black foliage with toothed leaflets. The fragrant flowers will attract butterflies.

'Hillside Black Beauty' prefers fertile, well-drained soil with humus and a partially shaded, evenly moist location. A graceful plant, it may...

(Camphortree, Hardy Cinnamon Tree)

While the most famous cinnamon and camphor trees are best suited to subtropical and tropical climes, the hardy cinnamon is a species perfect for warm temperate climates, too. A broadleaf evergreen tree, it's native to China. As it ages, it develops a dense canopy of foliage on an upright pyramidal frame.

Hardy cinnamon's leaves are elongated, pointy ovals with three obvious parallel veins. As new leaves emerge in spring, they blush a rich rosy copper color with lighter green veins. These highly...

(Japanese Camphor)

Fragrant in foliage, bark and flower, Japanese camphor has lustrous green leaves and a smooth sandy sienna-brown bark. A broadleaf evergreen tree, it is native to Japan, Korea and a narrow band in eastern China, including Taiwan. The thin leathery leaves are oval to lance-shaped and are glossy deep green with a gray, blue-green underside. Crush a leaf or scrape a twig or bark and a camphor-cinnamon scent is released. A new leaf emerges a coppery light green. By late spring, the branch tips bear...

(Canada Thistle)

Canada thistle is a fierce and aggressive weed foe. Impossibly extensive, deep root systems make this one of the toughest weeds to eradicate from garden spaces. It's small, purplish, brush-like flower heads produce loads of puffy airborne seeds that float away to colonize new space, and its prickly foliage is painful to the touch. Despite the common name, Canada thistle, this species was introduced to North America from Eurasia. Its remarkable tolerance to many growing conditions means it can be...

(Kangaroo Ivy Cissus, Kangaroo Vine)

The common name "kangaroo vine" fittingly traces this tropical evergreen vine to northern Australia. In its native environment, it grows in or near the rainforest. In the home and garden, it is valued for its glossy, deep green, leathery leaves that remain attractive in both sunshine and shade. It makes a trusty houseplant, tender patio specimen or tropical outdoor vine.

Pointed, oval leaves with serrated edges and prominent veins densely line the climbing stems of kangaroo vine. Nor surprisingly,...