(Lamb's Tail, Solar Yellow Lamb's Tail)

Selected for its colorful foliage, 'Solar Yellow' is a seed-grown cultivar of Chiastophyllum oppositifolium, a hardy succulent perennial from the Caucasus. It spreads slowly to form a mound of fleshy oval blue-green leaves. Arching, drooping chains of small yellow bell-shaped flowers are borne atop calf-high flower stems in spring and early summer.

This beautiful succulent prospers in well-drained soil and partial shade, doing best in areas with relatively moderate summers. It looks...

(Desert Willow)

An upright, multi-stemmed, deciduous shrub or tree native to the deserts of Mexico and the southwestern United States, this willowy-leaved plant bears large, fragrant, tubular flowers from late spring until fall. The white, pink, or lavender flowers have yellow, purple-veined throats. Long bean-like pods follow the flowers. The long, green, narrow leaves drop in early fall. Many cultivars have been selected for flower color, habit, and other characteristics.

Desert willow is adapted to coarse,...

(Bubba Desert Willow, Desert Willow)

Bubba desert willow is an upright, multi-stem, evergreen to semi-evergreen shrub or tree with a rounded to spreading crown. Leaves are green and narrow giving desert willow a slightly weeping habit. Flowers occur abundantly in summer and are tubular, showy, fragrant and dark pink with yellow throats. Bubba desert willow does not typically produce fruit pods.

Desert willow is native to the southwestern United States and Mexico where it is adapted to coarse, dry alkaline to acidic soils and full...

(Burgundy Desert Willow, Desert Willow)

Burgundy desert willow is an upright, multi-stem, evergreen to semi-evergreen shrub or tree with a rounded to spreading crown. Leaves are green and narrow giving desert willow a slightly weeping habit. Tubular burgundy flowers with yellow throats occur abundantly in summer and are showy and fragrant. These produce elongated fruit pods.

Desert willow is native to the southwestern United States and Mexico where it is adapted to coarse, dry alkaline to acidic soils and full sun. It is a colorful...

(Desert Willow, Lucretia Hamilton Desert Willow)

Lucretia Hamilton desert willow is an upright, multi-stem, evergreen to semi-evergreen shrub or tree with a rounded to spreading crown. It is slightly smaller than most desert willow selections. Leaves are green and narrow giving desert willow a slightly weeping habit. Tubular deep pink to purple flowers with yellow throats occur abundantly in summer and are showy and fragrant. These produce elongated fruit pods.

Desert willow is native to the southwestern United States and Mexico where it is...

(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...

(Japanese Allspice, Wintersweet)

Break the dreariness of winter with the fragrant flowers that don the wintersweet. Native to the woodlands in China, this slow-growing shrub with an upright but broad shape can begin to look a bit leggy and unkempt with old age.

Depending on climate, the bare branches reveal many bowl-shaped flowers that face downward, appearing anytime from midwinter to early spring. The fragrant flowers' waxy petals are light lemony yellow with a center that is sienna to purplish brown in color. Dry fruits...

(Chinese Fringetree)

The billowing, wispy, white flower clusters of Chinese fringetree bring a magnificent touch to the spring landscape. Native to eastern China, Korea and Japan, this deciduous plant grows as a shrub naturally but can be trained as a small tree if lower branches are removed. Taking a while for new spring leaves to emerge, the bright green oval foliage has slightly lighter colored undersides that can be hairy. By mid to late spring, the new growth is topped by masses of clusters of white fragrant blossoms,...

(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....

(Chionodoxa, Glory-of-the-Snow)

Carpeting the garden with starry flowers very early in the year, these little bulbs from the eastern Mediterranean are wonderful for massing in borders and lawns. Hardy and self-reliant, they produce clusters of blue, violet, pink, or white blooms atop short leafless stems in late winter and early spring. Two short grass-like leaves emerge with the flowers, going dormant within a few weeks. The flowers and leaves grow from small rounded bulbs covered with brown tunics. Plants often self-seed to form...