(Blue Leadwort, Plumbago)

Blue leadwort is a deciduous perennial from western China. Foliage emerges in late spring, followed by true blue phlox-like flowers summer. In fall the foliage turns a striking bronze-red.

The drought-tolerant perennial blue leadwort will perform best in rich, well-drained soil in full sun. Use it as a groundcover (even under a small tree), an edger, in a mixed border, or a rock garden. Blue leadwort is great for mixing with spring bulbs because its leaves emerge when bulbs are fading. In hot...

(Chinese Plumbago)

Chinese plumbago is a small twiggy shrub with an open habit and diamond-shaped apple green leaves. Valued for late season interest, it bears clusters of true blue flowers in late summer. Autumn brings a beautiful show of color with red to bronze foliage.

Tolerant of drought and poor soils, Chinese plumbago is a good candidate for banks and slopes. Small enough for the patio or container, this Chinese native looks best when grown in sun and lightly shaped before growth begins in the spring. It...

(Chinese Plumbago, My Love Plumbago)

Chinese plumbago is a small twiggy shrub with an open habit and diamond-shaped apple green leaves. Valued for late season interest, it bears clusters of true blue flowers in late summer. Autumn brings a beautiful show of color with red to bronze foliage.

Tolerant of drought and poor soils, Chinese plumbago is a good candidate for banks and slopes. Small enough for the patio or container, this Chinese native looks best when grown in sun and lightly shaped before growth begins in the spring. It...

(Kuster's Feather Cycad)

Bearing large, glossy, palm-like leaves on arching, spine-free petioles, this low-growing cycad makes an elegant addition to tropical gardens and greenhouses. It is a rare endemic of cloud forests in a small area of the Sierra Madre Oriental Mountains in Tamaulipas, Mexico.

The long, feathery, rich-green leaves are spirally arranged atop a short, swollen, trunk-like stem. The numerous, narrow, blade-shaped leaflets are soft and pliant when new, becoming leathery and rigid with age. New leaves...

(Beach Milkweed, Pong-pong, Sea-mango)

Beach milkweed is a small, frost-tender tree grown for its sweetly fragrant white flowers and handsome evergreen foliage. It is native to ocean and tidal river shores from Southeast Asia to the western Pacific. The sap from this plant is highly toxic and traditionally used by native peoples as arrow poison.

The narrowly oval, glossy dark green leaves of this coastal tree spiral in clusters at the branch tips. Damaged leaves and stems exude a viscous white sap that should be avoided as it is...

(Chinese Redbud)

Larger in leaf and flower than eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis), this Chinese native makes a beautiful shrub or small tree for sun or light shade. The bright purple-pink pea-flowers cluster along the upright gray branches in mid-spring, before the large, glossy, heart-shaped leaves emerge. Abundant green seedpods follow the flowers, maturing to brown. The leaves turn dull yellow in fall.

Less cold hardy than eastern redbud, Cercis chinensis shares its preference for well-drained,...

(Avondale Redbud, Chinese Redbud)

When 'Avondale' came onto the scene, its small size meant that the beauty of the Chinese redbud would fit spaces and gardens too small for the species. A deciduous shrub or small tree native to China and Japan, Cercis chinensis is found thriving in a wide range of growing conditions. One aspect of its beauty lies in its leaves: rounded hearts that hang gracefully from fine, reddish stems. They are held on the upright gray branches of a vase shaped shrub or multiple-trunk tree.

The gorgeous...

(Chinese Redbud, Don Egolf Redbud)

Larger in leaf and flower than eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis), this Chinese native makes a beautiful shrub or small tree for sun or light shade. The bright purple-pink pea-flowers cluster along the upright gray branches in mid-spring, before the large, glossy, heart-shaped leaves emerge. Abundant green seedpods follow the flowers, maturing to brown. The leaves turn dull yellow in fall.

Less cold hardy than eastern redbud, Cercis chinensis shares its preference for well-drained,...

(Chain Flowered Redbud, Pendulous Redbud)

Having the pretty heart-shaped foliage common among all redbuds, this species is unique with its pendent clusters of light pink flowers in mid-spring. Chain flowered redbud is an attractive decidious tree from western China that has a rounded canopy, pretty as a dual-purposed specimen flowering and small shade tree in the landscape.

The grayed sandy brown bark of the branches becomes less interesting in mid-spring once the pastel pink flower buds and glossy light green new leaves emerge. Leaves...

(Cereus, Night-blooming Cactus)

While grown for its nocturnal flowers, Cereus aethiops displays an attractive bluish stem with starry black spine clusters. It is native to central South America, primarily in northern Argentina, but also into nearby southern Brazil and Paraguay.

This upright, columnar cactus rarely branches and has clusters of long black spines. There are no leaves, but the attractive green-blue, eight-ribbed stem photosynthesizes sunlight. In winter or in intense sunlight, the stem blushes lavender...