(Aechmea, Variegated Mexican Bromeliad)

Beautiful apple-green leaves banded with creamy light yellow and teethed edges in the shaped of a mounding fountain describes the variegated Mexican bromeliad's foliage and the flower spike is a candle-like spire of pink flowers and white fruits. A tender perennial bromeliad that can be grown as an epiphyte (mounted upon another plant) or propped in soil, it is native from Mexico southward into extreme northern South America.

The long, broad, strappy leaves are a light green with wide outer...

(Aechmea, Orland's Bromeliad)

A carnival of color and texture in its foliage, Orland's bromeliad has apple-green leaves with dark red stripes and speckles and eventually forms a red flower spike with yellow blossoms. A tender tropical perennial bromeliad that is an epiphyte (grows upon other plants like trees), it is native to southern Brazil. It may also be propped in well-draining soil to look ground-dwelling but ideally protected from frost.

The wide strap-like leaves form a vase-shaped rosette that holds water in the...

(Aechmea, Ensign Aechmea, Ensign Bromeliad, Ensign Orland's Aechmea Bromeliad)

A carnival of color and texture in its foliage, the Ensign bromeliad has apple-green and white leaves with pink-red stripes and speckles and eventually forms a red flower spike with yellow blossoms. A tender tropical perennial bromeliad that is an epiphyte (grows upon other plants like trees), it is native to southern Brazil. It may also be propped in well-draining soil to look ground-dwelling but it is very tender to frosts.

The wide strap-like leaves form a vase-shaped rosette that holds water...

(Bishop's Goutweed)

Bishop's Goutweed is a fast-spreading Eurasian groundcover that has become naturalized across the whole of North America. It spreads via rhizomes (rooting underground stems) and has green compound leaves with three to nine leaflets. The equally weedy garden variety, 'Variegatum', is the most common form in cultivation and has leaves mottled with ivory.

In mid-spring to summer, goutweed produces umbels of tiny white flowers that are insect-pollinated and produce lots of brown seeds that spread...

(Bishop's Goutweed, Snow-on-the-Mountain, Variegated Bishop's Goutweed)

Snow-on-the-Mountain is a rapidly spreading groundcover that is native to Europe and western Asia and has rampantly naturalized in North America. 'Variegatum' has three to nine widely divided, white and light green aromatic leaves that travel by way of fibrous roots and rhizomes. In mid spring to summer it produces umbels of tiny white flowers that turn to seed that will eagerly broadcast itself and freely germinate. (Removing seed heads when possible curtails unwanted volunteers from germinating)....

(Aeonium)

Grown for their architectural and often colorful foliage, aeoniums are evergreen succulent perennials or shrubs found mainly on the Canary Islands. They bear fleshy, spoon-shaped leaves in rosettes at the tips of one to several stems, with new growth appearing in late fall and early winter. Typically bright green to blue-green, the leaves are variegated, purple, or golden on some selections, and may have red-tinted margins. Many aeoniums are low mat-forming plants with short rosette stems; others...

(Aeonium, Kiwi Aeonium, Variegated Aeonium)

Its colorful foliage makes this low evergreen succulent a real stand-out in mild climate gardens. It may be a hybrid of Aeonium haworthii developed in Australia. Kiwi aeonium produces dense mounded rosettes of fleshy light green leaves that are chartreuse upon emerging in fall. The somewhat hairy, spade-shaped leaves have crimson margins and may develop pinkish variegation in cool weather. The rosettes are borne on short stems which root on contact with soil, resulting in a spreading mound...

(Tree Aeonium)

An architecturally interesting succulent for garden color and texture, tree aeonium is a heat- and drought- tolerant native of Morocco. Its branched stems are upright, each bearing a tight rosette of spoon-shaped, bright green leaves. Some plants' leaves are mottled or blushed lightly with burgundy or purplish tones. In the spring, each mature rosette produces an upright stalk that towers above the foliage. At the top of the stalk is a dense mass of bright yellow flowers, each small and with many...

(Tree Aeonium, Zwartkop Aeonium)

A wonderful plant for color and textural interest, Zwartkop tree aeonium is a heat- and drought-tolerant succulent that originates from Morocco. The words "zwartkop" or "schwarzkopf" mean "black rose or head," referring to the dark leaf clusters. Its branched stems are upright, each bearing a tight rosette of spoon-shaped near-black leaves. A leaf is rich in very dark red pigments, making it look black from a distance. In the spring, each mature rosette develops an upright stalk that reaches above...

(Aoenium, Pinwheel)

Easy to grow, this shrubby evergreen from the Canary Islands is prized for its handsome succulent foliage. It bears rosettes of fleshy light green spade-shaped leaves at the tips of branching knee-high stems, with new growth appearing in late fall and early winter. The leaves often have red-tinted margins. Where stems contact soil they will root, developing ever larger mounds with time. In spring, each rosette puts forth a large, single flower stalk topped with creamy yellow blossoms. The rosette...