(Pinemat Manzanita)

Within its range, this cold hardy carpet-like manzanita provides a valuable wild groundcover in areas challenged by lean acid soils and long periods without rain. It is found beneath the evergreen forests from Washington state to California where it can be the dominant vegetation. Depending on elevation these plants may become semi or wholly deciduous in winter. This mountain dweller is slow growing, bearing oval green leaves that gradually weaves itself through rocky outcroppings or spreads out...

(Coralberry)

This Asian native is a small tender evergreen shrub with glossy, dark green, serrated leaves. Fragrant white to pinkish flowers appear in late spring and early summer, followed by showy drooping clusters of red berries that remain on the plant through much of the winter.

This shrub requires little maintenance in partial shade and humus-rich, well drained, acid soil. It adds vivid color to shady gardens and greenhouses in winter. Use it as a tall groundcover, in the foundation planting, or as...

(Japanese Ardisia, Marlberry)

This low, suckering, evergreen shrub is native to East Asia. Its glossy, toothed, dark green leaves cluster in whorls at the stem tips. Pale pink summer flowers give rise to clusters of bright red berries in fall and winter. Several variegated cultivars have been selected.

Marlberry does best in shade and humus-rich acid soil. It makes an excellent ground cover, foundation plant, or potted specimen.

(Hakuokan Japanese Ardisia, Japanese Ardisia, Marlberry)

Marlberry is a low, suckering, evergreen shrub native to East Asia. The cultivar 'Hakuokan' has whorled gray-green leaves with powder-white, slightly scalloped margins. Pale pink summer flowers give rise to clusters of bright red berries in fall and winter.

Marlberry does best in shade and humus-rich acid soil. It makes an excellent ground cover, foundation plant, or potted specimen.

(Japanese Ardisia, Marlberry, Red Tide Japanese Ardisia)

Marlberry is a low, suckering, evergreen shrub native to East Asia. The cultivar 'Red Tide' has whorled dark green leaves with yellow centers, borne on red stems. Pale pink summer flowers give rise to clusters of bright red berries in fall and winter.

Marlberry does best in shade and humus-rich acid soil. It makes an excellent ground cover, foundation plant, or potted specimen.

(Japanese Ardisia, Marlberry, Variegated Japanese Ardisia)

Marlberry is a low, suckering, evergreen shrub native to East Asia. The cultivar 'Variegata' has whorled gray-green leaves with creamy white, slightly scalloped margins. Pale pink summer flowers give rise to clusters of bright red berries in fall and winter.

Marlberry does best in shade and humus-rich acid soil. It makes an excellent ground cover, foundation plant, or potted specimen.

(Japanese Ardisia, Marlberry, White Caps Japanese Ardisia)

Marlberry is a low, suckering, evergreen shrub native to East Asia. The cultivar 'White Caps' has whorled glossy dark leaves with creamy white, slightly indented margins. Pale pink summer flowers give rise to clusters of bright red berries in fall and winter.

Marlberry does best in shade and humus-rich acid soil. It makes an excellent ground cover, foundation plant, or potted specimen.

(Dwarf Sugar Palm, Formosa Palm)

Valued for its large, lush, tropical leaves and its remarkable cold hardiness, this small clump-forming palm is native to moist forested slopes in Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands. Its stems are monocarpic, each individual trunk dying after it flowers and fruits.

The enormous, feather-like, upright fronds are borne atop short slender trunks clothed with black hairy fibers. Each frond comprises numerous long narrow blade-shaped leaflets, paired along a midrib (or "rachis"). The stiff leaflets are...

(Flatbud Pricklypoppy, Pricklepoppy)

The enormous white crepe paper flowers are beguilingly at odds with the rest of this prickly short-lived perennial from dry regions of western North America. Borne on stout spiny stems that can vary from calf- to waist-high, the white, four- to six-petaled blooms open from bristly buds in late spring and summer. A powderpuff cluster of numerous yellow stamens ornaments the center of each flower. The blossoms are held above handsome dense clumps of deeply lobed gray-green leaves that are prickly on...

(Argyranthemum, Marguerite Daisy)

The tough shrubby Marguerite daisy is popular for both its beauty and resilience. The genus Argyranthemum is comprised of about 24 species of evergreen perennial subshrubs native to the Canary Islands, Madeira and other regions in Macaronesia. They are often grown as perennials in frost-free climates and bedding annuals in cooler zones.

The rounded bushy plants are spreading to erect and clump-forming. The leaves are generally deeply lobed or dissected, held alternately on the stem...