(Vernal Crocus)

Providing a welcome splash of color at winter's end, this 1916 introduction is among the oldest of the many widely grown, large-flowered selections of the European native Crocus vernus. Like all other crocuses, it is a diminutive herbaceous perennial that grows from a small bulb-like storage organ known as a corm. In late winter or early spring, one or two large lilac-blue flowers with pale tips and dark bases arise on ankle-high, stalk-like floral tubes. The up-facing blooms have six "petals"...

(Vernal Crocus)

The glorious crocus 'Remembrance' offers glossy violet-purple flowers at the end of winter. This small ephermal “bulb” is actually borne from corms. Crocus vernus originates from the alpine regions of southern Europe from the Pyrenees and Alps eastward to the Carpathians.

Crocus foliage appears in early spring. The grassy leaves have thing midveins of white and fade away towards the end of spring. The glory of the vernal crocus is its flower. From late winter to late spring, its foliage...

(Golden Crocus)

Glowing like drops of sunlight in the late winter and early spring garden, the golden yellow flowers of this hybrid crocus are wonderful among snowdrops and tommy crocuses. A small herbaceous perennial that grows from a corm (bulb-like storage organ), it is sterile and thus does not self-sow. It slowly forms larger clumps through multiplication of its corms.

Golden, cup-shaped, six-"petaled" flowers, one to two per corm, arise on short stalk-like floral tubes in early spring, blooming with the...

(Golden Crocus)

Glowing like drops of sunlight in the late winter and early spring garden, the golden yellow flowers of this hybrid crocus are wonderful among snowdrops and tommy crocuses. A small herbaceous perennial that grows from a corm (bulb-like storage organ), it is sterile and thus does not self-sow. It slowly forms larger clumps through multiplication of its corms.

Golden, cup-shaped, six-"petaled" flowers, one to two per corm, arise on short stalk-like floral tubes in early spring, blooming with the...

(Brown Hemp, Indian Hemp, Madras Hemp, Sunn hemp)

Prized as an agricultural forage plant for livestock and a source of fiber stronger than jute, sunn hemp is also an attractive plant producing deep yellow flowers. This upright annual, most likely native to India and Pakistan, is widely cultivated across the tropics in both the wet and dry seasons. In temperate regions, it's sometimes planted as a bedding annual.

The fast-growing sunn hemp is large, shrubby and has elongated light green to gray-green leaves. Flowering is most prolific in the...

(Japanese Cedar, Japanese Cryptomeria)

The tall, regal Japanese cedar is a lovely needled evergreen tree native to the open forests of China and Japan. It is admired for its attractive pyramidal to ovoid habit, coarse green needles and straight trunk lined with attractive reddish brown exfoliating bark. Its branches are full and form billowing, cloud-like clumps of needles which make a dense canopy. This is a long-cultivated tree with many unique and distinct cultivars to include variegated and dwarf selections.

The coarse, spirally...

(Ben Franklin Japanese Cedar, Japanese Cryptomeria)

The vigorous Japanese cedar, 'Ben Franklin', is a fast-growing evergreen tree with needles of bluish green. Unlike other selections, it retains its green color through winter. This cultivar is a large tree but still smaller than wild-type forms.

The coarse, spirally arranged needles of this Japanese cedar are green dusted with blue-gray. Its clusters of small male, or pollen, cones are borne along the axils of the second year branchlet tips and pendulous reddish brown female, or seed, cones...

(Black Dragon Japanese Cedar, Japanese Cedar, Japanese Cryptomeria)

Black Dragon Japanese cedar gets its name from its dark green needles that may become a bronzy blackish green in winter's cold and sunlight. It is a compact evergreen tree with an irregular, pyramidal shape and interesting open branching.

The coarse, spirally arranged needles of this Japanese cedar are deepest green and turn striking dark shades in winter. Its clusters of small male, or pollen, cones are borne along the axils of the second year branchlet tips and pendulous reddish brown...

(Elegans Aurea Japanese Cedar, Japanese Cryptomeria)

The tall, regal Japanese cedar is a lovely needled evergreen tree native to the open forests of China and Japan. It is admired for its attractive pyramidal to ovoid habit, coarse green needles and straight trunk lined with attractive reddish brown exfoliating bark. Its branches are full and form billowing, cloud-like clumps of needles which make a dense canopy. This is a long-cultivated tree with many unique and distinct cultivars to include variegated and dwarf selections.

The coarse, spirally...

(Dwarf Japanese Cedar, Japanese Cryptomeria)

A true dwarf Japanese cedar, 'Elegans Nana' is a tidy, bushy, rounded to flat-topped evergreen shrub that has bright green to blue-green foliage during the growing season and bronzy plum needles in winter. It is slower growing than standard forms and ideal for foundation plantings and smaller garden spaces.

The regal Japanese cedar is a lovely needled evergreen tree native to the open forests of China and Japan. It is admired for its attractive pyramidal to ovoid habit, coarse green needles and...