(Columbine)

This series of exceptional medium sized perennials offer delicate richly colored long-spur flowers best suited to sheltered beds and borders. The ancestry of this series is quite murky with combinations of both American and European species with named hybrids to create these upstanding performers. The foliage bears three part lobed leaves of lush green that resemble that of maidenhair fern in shape and texture. They are more densely held at the base of the plant, feathering out as they rise to flower....

(Columbine)

Naturally small from the start, perennial columbine offers great flowers and the vigor of a wild plant for adding charm to protected beds and borders. It is native to woodlands of Japan and is little cultivated as a species in the west. The foliage bears three part lobed leaves of lush green that resemble that of maidenhair fern in shape and texture. They are more densely held at the base of the plant, feathering out as they rise to flower. While plants are attractive during the bloom season, the...

(Colorado Blue Columbine)

As the state flower of Colorado, this beautiful blue and white-flowered perennial offers outstanding color to early summer borders. It is native to a large part of the American west where it thrives in the woodlands of the Rockies and other mountain ranges. Its clumps of are lush and pretty when they first appear in spring. The blue-green leaves are three-parted and have a texture similar to that of maidenhair fern. While plants are attractive during the blooming season, the leaves die back when...

(Western Red Columbine)

Western red columbine is a natural wildflower for forested landscapes in the west. This species is found in the mountains from Colorado to Utah and southward into Arizona and New Mexico. It is a moderately hardy herbaceous perennial that has yet to become common in cultivation. Overall, this columbine is similar to its eastern cousin, Aquilegia canadensis, but the plant and flowers are smaller, the nodding blooms arguably more elegant, and the floral spurs more dominant.

In spring...

(Common Columbine)

Columbine is among the most beloved woodland perennials, cultivated for centuries in cottage gardens. This species is a native of Europe fondly called granny’s bonnet. The foliage bears three part lobed leaves of soft blue-green that are more densely held at the base of the plant. The leaves bear a striking similarity in shape and texture to those of the maidenhair fern. Columbine is a vigorous early season performer but the delicate foliage can suffer in the late season, so it is often paired...

(Aristate Hollyfern)

The East Indian holly fern has magnificent fronds of green arising from a furry brown creeping rhizome. This evergreen fern is usually found in dry woodlands among rocks near the coast from India, southeastern Asia into Polynesia and New Zealand. The leaves are long, quite stiff and seem made from plastic.

Grow this fern in a shady spot in a moist but well drained soil. Cold winters may find the plant deciduous and returning its fronds in spring. Once established, this fern can handle periods...

(Aristate Hollyfern, East Indian Hollyfern, Variegated East Indian Hollyfern)

The variegated East Indian holly fern has magnificent tapering green fronds with prominent midribs glowing in a pale yellow. This evergreen fern is usually found in dry woodlands among rocks near the coast from India, southeastern Asia into Polynesia and New Zealand. The leaves are long, quite stiff as if made from plastic and arise from a creeping rhizome.

Grow this fern in a shady spot in a moist but well-drained soil. Cold winters may render the plant deciduous, with new fronds arising in...

(Aralia)

An immense herbaceous perennial that forms lusty luxuriant clumps of elegant foliage, this East Asian native is grown not only for ornament but also for its edible young shoots. The large airy pinnate (feather-shaped) leaves are held on tall stems, which in some forms are a striking dark purple. Clouds of small greenish white flowers hover above the foliage in late summer, followed by showy purple berry-like fruit.

Intolerant of drought and hot sun, this gargantuan perennial does best in partial...

(American Spikenard)

American spikenard is a deciduous perennial with green compound leaves with delicate heart-shpaed leaflets. Ball clusters of white to greenish-white flowers on a tall spike in spring or summer. Tiny berries are formed and are dark purple or black. It spreads slowly by aromatic underground roots to create a colony.

Plant in moist, well-drained soils in full sun to partial shade. American spikenard makes a great addition to woodland gardens or naturalized areas with its bold presence.

(American Angelica Tree, Devil's Walking Stick, Hercules' Club)

This fierce plant is well named. Devil's walking stick is a suckering deciduous shrub to small tree with large, bold leaves that appear above nearly branchless stems covered with vicious thorny spines. In summer it produces striking plumes of creamy white flowers followed by showy clusters of black fruits on reddish stems.

This plant prefers full to part sun and is tolerant of a wide range of well drained soil types. Though it is a unwieldy to prune, it does make a bold statement in mixed borders...