(Chocolate Vine, Fiveleaf Akebia)

Named for its delicate, hand-shaped, compound leaves, five-leaf akebia is a fast-growing, semi-evergreen twining vine native to China, Japan, and Korea. The small, clustered, vanilla-scented flowers of its cultivar 'Amethyst Glow' are apple-blossom pink maturing to light amethyst. Male flowers are darker than female flowers, giving a bicolor effect. Dark-purple to black sausage-shaped fruits ripen in fall. The leaves - comprising five rounded leaflets - are dark green with blue-green undersides....

(Chocolate Vine, Fiveleaf Akebia, White Fiveleaf Akebia)

Named for its delicate, hand-shaped, compound leaves, five-leaf akebia is a fast-growing, semi-evergreen twining vine native to China, Japan, and Korea. The sausage-shaped fruits and small, clustered, vanilla-scented flowers of its cultivar 'Alba' are white rather than the usual purple. The leaves - comprising five rounded leaflets - are dark green with blue-green undersides.

An adaptable plant, fiveleaf akebia accepts most soils and exposures, including shade. It can twine up a structure, shrub,...

(Chocolate Vine, Fiveleaf Akebia, White Fiveleaf Akebia)

Named for its delicate, hand-shaped, compound leaves, five-leaf akebia is a fast-growing, semi-evergreen twining vine native to China, Japan, and Korea. The small, clustered, vanilla-scented flowers of its cultivar 'Leucantha' are white rather than the usual purple. The leaves - comprising five rounded leaflets - are dark green with blue-green undersides.

An adaptable plant, fiveleaf akebia accepts most soils and exposures, including shade. It can twine up a structure, shrub, or tree, or clamber...

(Begonialeaf Alangium, Chinese Alangium)

Lovely green leaves with short pointed lobes adorn the zig-zagged branches of Chinese alangium. Blooming in early summer and again in mid-autumn, the small oval fruits turn dark blue in autumn, too. A large shrub to small tree that is evergreen in frost-free climates but deciduous elsewhere, it is native to a large expanse of southern Asia's Himalayas eastward into the highlands of southeast Asia. Natural variant forms can also be found in eastern Africa.

The leaves are rounded when young, having...

(Persian Silktree, Pink Siris, Silky Mimosa)

Though pretty, Persian silktree is weak, fast-growing, invasive and short-lived. It is a small to medium-sized, hardy, deciduous tree native to central and eastern Asia, which has become naturalized in temperate regions globally. In the United States it has become naturalized in areas from California to New York.

Pleasing feather leaves line the branches in summer and fold up at night. The compound leaves are comprised of many small, oval, leaflets of bright green. Fragrant, puffy, round flowers...

(Flame Silktree, Persian Silktree, Pink Siris, Silky Mimosa)

A favorite of hummingbirds, silk tree is a multi-stemmed, spreading deciduous tree native from Iran to Japan. Its cultivar 'Flame' bears fragrant, fluffy, rose-pink flowerheads in summer and tan seed pods in fall. The ferny light green leaves emerge in late spring, and fold at night.

Silk tree thrives in most well-drained soils and flowers best in full sun. Its dome-like canopy is good for shading patios. It often self-sows prolifically.

(Persian Silktree, Pink Siris, Silky Mimosa)

A favorite of hummingbirds, silk tree is a multi-stemmed, spreading deciduous tree native from Iran to Japan. Its natural form rosea bears fragrant, fluffy, rich rose-pink flowerheads in summer and tan seed pods in fall. The ferny light green leaves emerge in late spring, and fold up at night. It includes the cultivar 'Ernest Wilson', a hardy selection that succeeds into USDA zone 5.

Silk tree thrives in most well-drained soils and flowers best in full sun. It is tolerant of drought,...

(Alcantarea)

No tropical garden is complete without a giant alcantarea! Larger than a bushel basket, the rosette of strappy light green leaves eventually forms a towering red flower stalk with curving yellow bracts and ivory flowers. This evergreen perennial bromeliad is a lithophyte (growing among and upon rocks) native to the montane cliffs in extreme southeastern Brazil.

Each leaf is light green, occasionally with speckles or a casting of gray, and strap-like. It tapers to a soft point while the base...

(Alcantarea, Fragrant Alcantarea)

No tropical garden is complete without a fragrant alcantarea! Larger than a bushel basket, the rosette of strappy light green and silver-banded leaves eventually forms a towering red flower stalk with canary yellow flowers. This evergreen perennial bromeliad is a lithophyte (growing among and upon rocks) native to the montane cliffs in extreme southeastern Brazil.

Each pointed, strappy leaf is light green to silver with phantom bandings. It tapers to a soft point while the base of the leaf congregates...

(Hollyhock, Peaches 'n Dreams Hollyhock)

Hollyhock is a tall, short-lived, herbaceous perennial native to western Asia. In summer, large rosettes of characteristically rough, hairy leaves give rise to very tall, leafy stalks lined with show-stopping flowers. Hollyhock ‘Peaches ‘n’ Dreams’ produces masses of double flowers in shades of peach, white and raspberry even in the first year. Hollyhocks do produce large numbers of seedling which may or may not grow true to the parent.

Hollyhocks are attractive to butterflies and bees and thrive...