(Japanese Aucuba, Japanese Laurel, Limbata Japanese Aucuba)

Japanese laurel is a tall, bushy, broadleaf evergreen shrub that, as its name suggests, is native to Japan and eastern Asia. Its most ornamental features are its thick, glossy, dark green leaves and bright red fruits that appear in fall and remain throughout winter. One particularly popular selection is ‘Crotonifolia’, which has beautiful gold-spotted foliage. This shrub tolerates moist well drained soil and prefers partial shade. To avoid sunscald and leaf desiccation, protect Japanese laurel from...

(Japanese Aucuba, Japanese Laurel, Picturesque Japanese Laurel)

Picturata Japanese aucuba is an evergreen shrub bearing glossy, leathery green leaves with solid yellow centers and yellow speckles. Yellow variegation is unstable and leaves may revert to solid green. Bright red fruit occurs in fall and winter.

Aucuba tolerates most well drained soils and prefers partial shade locations protected from hot afternoon sun and winter winds. It is excellent for hedges or massing and may be grown as large houseplants.

(Japanese Aucuba, Sawtooth Japanese Aucuba)

Japanese laurel is a tall, bushy, broadleaf evergreen shrub that, as its name suggests, is native to Japan and eastern Asia. Its most ornamental features are its thick, glossy, dark green leaves and bright red fruits that appear in fall and remain throughout winter. One particularly popular selection is ‘Crotonifolia’, which has beautiful gold-spotted foliage. This shrub tolerates moist well drained soil and prefers partial shade. To avoid sunscald and leaf desiccation, protect Japanese laurel from...

(Japanese Aucuba, Japanese Laurel, Variegated Japanese Laurel)

Variegated Japanese aucuba (gold dust plant) is an evergreen shrub bearing glossy, leathery green leaves with golden yellow spots and bright red fruit in fall and winter.

Gold dust plant tolerates most well drained soils and prefers partial shade locations protected from hot afternoon sun and winter winds. It is a great hedge plant or shady foundation accent and can also be utilized as a cool-room houseplant.

(Japanese Aucuba)

Japanese aucuba is an evergreen shrub with glossy, leathery, dark green foliage. The form longifolia has narrow, bright green, lanceolate leaves. This female plant bears bright red fruit in fall and winter, preceded in spring by small purple flowers.

Aucubas tolerate most well drained soils and prefer partially shaded locations with shelter from hot afternoon sun and winter winds. Aucubas are excellent for hedges or massing and may be grown as large house plants.

(Japanese Aucuba, Japanese Laurel, Willowleaf Japanese Laurel)

Japanese aucuba is a medium-sized evergreen shrub with glossy, leathery, dark green foliage. The female cultivar 'Salicifolia' has narrow, serrated leaves, borne on sea-green stems. This female plant produces abundant bright red fruit in fall and winter, preceded in spring by small purple flowers.

Aucubas tolerate most well drained soils and prefer partially shaded locations with shelter from hot afternoon sun and winter winds. They are excellent for hedges or massing and may be grown as large...

(Oat)

Oats once fueled ancient agricultural endeavors as essential forage for livestock, but in today’s world they are a key grain for cereals and breads. Modern oats (Avena sativa) are annual grasses thought to have originated from southeastern Europe and first cultivated around 1,000 B.C. They are believed to be the hybrid progeny of wild oats (Avena fatua) and wild red oats (Avena sterilis). Historically, they were considered less than desirable weeds that infested fields...

(Carambola, Starfruit)

Carambola, also known as starfruit, is a tropical semi-evergreen tree native to Sri Lanka, Malaysia and southeastern Asia. It is a medium sized, slow growing, ackwardly-branching tree that puts forth leaf stalks with alternating green, finely haired leaves. Its fragrant pink-violet flowers are borne in small clusters on reddish stalks in spring and summer. Orange-yellow oblong, star-shaped fruits with waxy skin develop throughout the warm months and may continue into winter. Trees typically need...

(Carolina Mosquito Fern)

Native to much of the eastern half of North America, Carolina mosquito fern is a tiny, feather aquatic fern that floats on the surface of still ponds and lake edges. Populations also extend down into Mexico and Central America. Its tiny fronds are bright green, often with a reddish or purplish-red hue. It's hard to believe this aquatic, floating plant is in fact a miniscule fern. It is free-floating and may be adapted to fresh or brackish water.

Carolina mosquito fern thrives in pools with full...

A charming little "bulb" for Mediterranean- and desert-climate gardens, Babiana ambigua is grown for its late-winter and early-spring display of fragrant blue flowers. It is native to sandy habitats in the South and West Cape regions of South Africa.

This member of the iris family produces low fans of slender, lance-shaped leaves that are hairy and weakly pleated. They arise in late fall or winter from rounded, deeply buried corms with fibrous "tunics." The violet-scented, 2-inch-wide,...