(Oregon Alder, Red Alder)

Glossy dark green leaves with red veins, platy gray bark and the persistent brown seed fruits make red alder a great shade tree with beauty and landscape adaptability, including salty soil. Native to extreme western Canada southward into Oregon and California in the United States, it's a vigorous, cone-chaped deciduous tree. Its bark becomes ghostly gray-sandy brown that cracks into flat plates. The inner bark will turn red when exposed to air.

In early spring this tree flowers before leaves...

(Foxtail Grass)

The foxtails are a group of perennial clump or tufted grasses that are native to Eurasia. They achieve a height of 12 to 40 inches, and have seed heads on tall showy stems. They are used as ornamental grasses, pasture and silage in agriculture, and are some species are considered weeds. They are adapted well to wet conditions.

(Meadow Foxtail)

Meadow foxtail is a perennial cool-season grass native to Eurasia. It is versatile and forms spreading clumps that can be used ornamentally, as a pasture grass or for silage in agriculture. In some locations it is considered an invasive weed.

Its clumps spread by rhizomes (underground stems). It has large upright blades that are flattened and rough to the touch. The tiny inconspicuous flowers are borne on tall cylindrical spikes held well above the foliage. Meadow foxtail grass grows best in moist...

(Meadow Foxtail, Variegated Golden Meadow Foxtail)

This variegated perennial grass has linear blades with attractive golden yellow and green stripes. It is a clump-forming grass that spreads more slowly than average meadow foxtail, so it is less apt to be weedy.

Meadow foxtail is a perennial cool-season grass native to Eurasia. It forms spreading clumps and has large upright variegated blades that are flattened and rough to the touch. The tiny inconspicuous flowers are borne on tall cylindrical spikes held well above the foliage. Meadow foxtail...

(Golden Meadow Foxtail, Meadow Foxtail)

This yellow-hued perennial grass has linear blades that are golden yellow to yellow green. It is a clump-forming grass that spreads more slowly than average meadow foxtail, so it is less apt to be weedy.

Meadow foxtail is a perennial cool-season grass native to Eurasia. It forms spreading clumps and has large upright yellow blades that are flattened and rough to the touch. The tiny inconspicuous flowers are borne on tall cylindrical spikes held well above the foliage. It grows best in moist locations...

(Lily-of-the-Incas, Mauve Majesty Alstroemeria)

Alstroemeria or lily-of-the-Incas is a bulbous perennial grown for its multicolored dainty flowers that bloom on tall stalks throughout the summer. Mauve Majesty alstoemeria produces clusters of rosy violet florets with hints of pink on petals and creamy yellow throats. Dark red or brown specks cover the petals as well. A hybrid developed in 2002 by Mark Bridgen of Cornell University, 'Mauve Majesty' is exceedingly winter hardy and produces extra sturdy stems with upward of 15 flowers per stem cluster....

(Partytime Alternanthera, Thread Alternanthera)

The colorful foliage of ‘Party Time’ is especially eye catching. Its green, wavy leaves have hot pink streaks and blotches. Some leaves are entirely pink and others entirely green. It is a lovely garden compliment to colorful tropicals or more subdued bedding plants.

Joseph’s Coat is a low-growing tropical perennial valued for its bushy habit and glossy, colorful leaves. It is native from Mexico to Argentina where it naturally inhabits open forests with ample precipitation. The variable leaves...

(Mountain Madwort)

Mountain madwort is native to the Mediterranean. It is a mound forming perennial that produces fragrant clusters of yellow flowers borne above gray-green hairy foliage.

Mountain Madwort thrives best in dry rocky soil and has a preference to full sun, although it will tolerate light shade. Add vibrancy to the facade of stone walls by planting mountain madwortin empty crevices or plant towards the front of dry borders. Interesting addition to the edge of a large alpine trough container. Cultivars...

(Mountain Gold Madwort, Mountain Madwort)

Mountain madwort is native to the Mediterranean. It is a mound forming perennial that produces fragrant yellow flowers borne in clusters above gray-green hairy foliage. Mountain Gold is one cultivar that is worth its weight, since it covers itself entirely with yellow flowers that its foliage becomes hardly visible.

Mountain Gold madwort thrives best in dry rocky soil and has a preference to full sun, although it will tolerate light shade. Add vibrancy to the facade of stone walls by planting...

(Love-Lies-Bleeding)

Though grown in American gardens primarily for its curious tail-like clusters of colorful flowers, this large annual has long been a staple grain in the northern Andes, where it originated. Once more popular than corn, amaranth grain and greens fed the Incas for thousands of years, and are still a vital crop for peoples of the Andes. Two other species of amaranth are important grain (and ornamental) plants: Amaranthus cruentus and Amaranthus hypochondriacus.

This fast-growing,...