(Highway Iceplant, Hottentot Fig)

In addition to its light yellow and pale pink flowers, the highway iceplant also yields edible, fig-like fruits late in the season. This summer blooming perennial groundcover is native to the slopes of coastal and inland South Africa. It develops a relatively shallow root system and spreads via fleshy stems across the soil to create dense mats of foliage.

The short, succulent leaves are stiff, narrow and held upright. In cross section they have a distinctly triangular shape. Younger leaves...

(Papershell Pecan, Western Schley Pecan)

The most widely planted pecan in the southwestern United States, 'Western Schley' produces an abundance of small pecans at a relatively young age. It performs poorly in humid-summer regions such as the southeastern United States. Though primarily known for its sweet pecans, this large deciduous tree also has ornamental virtues such as attractive compound leaves and a straight, furrowed, gray-brown to brown-black trunk.

Harvest takes place very late in the fall season, and the larger the tree...

(Blue Mist Shrub, Blue Spirea, Bluebeard)

The beautiful bluebeard offers amazing violet-blue flowers for fall. This vigorous small flowering shrub is as tough and drought tolerant as it is pretty. The hybrid originates from a cross between the two Asian species Caryopteris incana and C. mongholica.

The deciduous shrub has a mounding, rounded habit and becomes covered with many small green to gray-green toothed leaves that have a minty scent if crushed. In the fall, the leafy stems become lined with many colorful...

(Arthur Simmonds Bluebeard, Blue Mist Shrub, Blue Spirea, Bluebeard)

The first and one of the hardiest cultivars of Caryopteris × clandonensis, this small deciduous shrub covers itself with misty blue flowers in late summer, when most other plants are flagging. A hybrid of C. incana and C. mongholica, 'Arthur Simmonds' originated in the garden of its namesake sometime before 1933.

This rounded, knee- to waist-high shrub is densely cloaked with small, narrowly oval, gray-green leaves with silvery, felted...

(Azure Bluebeard, Blue Mist Shrub, Blue Spirea, Bluebeard)

Prized for its prolific late-summer display of blue flowers, Caryopteris × clandonensis is a small deciduous shrub originating from a cross between C. incana and C. mongholica. The cultivar 'Azure' has bright powder-blue blooms.

This rounded, knee- to waist-high shrub is densely cloaked with small, narrowly oval, gray-green leaves with silvery, felted undersides. Bruised leaves emit a pungent minty odor. In late summer and early fall dense...

(Blue Mist Bluebeard, Blue Mist Shrub, Blue Spirea, Bluebeard)

Prized for its prolific late-summer display of blue flowers, Caryopteris × clandonensis is a small deciduous shrub originating from a cross between C. incana and C. mongholica. The cultivar 'Blue Mist' has powder-blue blooms.

This rounded, knee- to waist-high shrub is densely cloaked with small, narrowly oval, gray-green leaves with silvery, felted undersides. Bruised leaves emit a pungent minty odor. In late summer and early fall dense...

(Blue Mist Shrub, Blue Spirea, Bluebeard, Dark Knight Bluebeard)

The beautiful bluebeard, ‘Dark Knight’, offers amazing deep violet-blue flowers in fall. This vigorous small flowering shrub is as tough and drought tolerant as it is pretty. The hybrid originates from a cross between the two Asian species Caryopteris incana and C. mongholica.

The deciduous shrub has a mounding, rounded habit and becomes covered with many small gray-green toothed leaves that have a minty scent if crushed. In the fall, the leafy stems become lined with many...

(Bluebeard, Pink Chablis Bluebeard)

The patented bluebeard, Pink Chablis, offers lovely soft pink flowers in late summer to fall. This vigorous small flowering shrub is as tough and drought tolerant as it is pretty. The hybrid originates from a cross between the two Asian species Caryopteris incana and C. mongholica.

The deciduous shrub has a uniform mounding, rounded habit and becomes covered with many medium-sized green toothed leaves that have a minty scent if crushed. In the fall, the leafy stems become...

(Bluebeard, Ferndown Bluebeard)

Valued for its relatively dark-hued flowers and compact habit, 'Ferndown' is named after the Dorset, England nursery where it originated about 1950. It is one of many cultivars of the small deciduous shrub Caryopteris × clandonensis (the hybrid of C. incana and C. mongholica).

This rounded, knee-high shrub is densely cloaked with small, narrowly oval, dark green leaves with a silvery sheen. Bruised leaves emit a pungent minty odor. In late...

(Blue Mist Shrub, Blue Spirea, Bluebeard, First Choice Bluebeard)

The beautiful compact bluebeard 'First Choice' offers amazing dark purple-blue flowers in late summer, earlier than other bluebeards. This vigorous small flowering shrub is as tough and drought tolerant as it is pretty. The hybrid originates from a cross between the two Asian species Caryopteris incana and C. mongholica.

The deciduous shrub has a mounding, rounded habit and becomes covered with many small deep green toothed leaves that have a minty scent if crushed. In the...