(European Hornbeam)

A stately tree with muscular gray branches and trunk, the European hornbeam has glossy green foliage and produces interesting strings of lobed, yellow-brown fruits in fall. This tall, oval-canopied deciduous tree is native to much of Europe and eastward into Asia Minor.

The leaves are oval and have unequal but doubled rows of teeth on their edges. Veins are very depressed and the upper leaf side is a dull, deep green and undersides a lighter shiny green. These leaves are held late into fall and...

(American Hornbeam, Musclewood)

A slow-growing, spreading-canopied deciduous tree, American hornbeam is native to southeastern North America from Canada to Mexico. The ridged, gray, smooth bark looks like there are flexed muscles under it, yielding another common name of musclewood. It may also grow with many trunks and attain a form much more shrub-like, albeit large.

The pretty, oblong, tapered leaves have depressed veins and double-teeth on their edges. In spring, male and female flowers appear separately on the same tree,...

(American Hornbeam)

A slow-growing, spreading-canopied deciduous tree, American hornbeam is native to southeastern North America and subspecies virginiana has a more northerly natural range. The ridged, gray, smooth bark looks like there are flexed muscles under it, yielding another common name of musclewood. It may also grow with many trunks and attain a form much more shrub-like, albeit large.

The pretty, oblong, tapered leaves have depressed veins and double-teeth on their edges. These leaves are slightly...

(Caraway)

The aromatic, strong-tasting seeds of caraway are best known as a flavor in rye bread. This Eurasian herb is a hardy biennial. The aromatic oils in its seeds have a warm, earthy, almost anise-like flavor. If not harvested, the abundant seeds fall to the ground causing new plants to spring forth the following season. Caraway seeds are most popular in northern and eastern European and Russian cooking.

Clumps of feathery foliage are produced by caraway plants in the spring and summer of the first...

(Bitternut Hickory, Pignut Hickory, Swamp Hickory)

One of the best hickories for ornamental use, bitternut is a tall deciduous tree from eastern North America. Its straight trunk and strong spreading branches form an oval or cylindrical crown. The gray bark is rough and flaky at its surface, lacking the deep fissuring and plate-like scales typical of other hickories. The compound leaves are divided into 7 to 9 lance-shaped leaflets, with one leaflet at the tip and the others paired. They emerge from yellow buds somewhat later than the leaves of most...

(Bluebeard, Moustache Plant)

Bluebeard is an open-formed deciduous shrub that brings a magnificent display of bold violet-blue flowers among gray leaves in late summer and fall. Native of China and Japan, it blooms from the current season's growth. Gray-green leaves, each oval but with jagged lobes, appear in pairs along the stems and are fragrant if crushed. In late summer and into early autumn, clusters of violet-blue to deep true blue flowers emerge from the paired leaf joints. Butterflies and bees will visit the plant when...

(Autumn Pink Bluebeard, Bluebeard)

Autumn Pink bluebeard is a compact deciduous shrub that brings an unexpected display of light rosy-pink flowers among bright green leaves in late summer and fall. Native of China and Japan, it blooms from the current season's growth. Bright green leaves, each oval but with jagged lobes, appear in pairs along the stems and are fragrant if crushed. In late summer and into early autumn, clusters of very pale pink flowers emerge from the paired leaf joints. Butterflies and bees will visit the plant when...

(Blue Mist Shrub, Blue Spirea, Bluebeard)

The beautiful bluebeard offers amazing violet-blue flowers for fall. This vigorous small flowering shrub is as tough and drought tolerant as it is pretty. The hybrid originates from a cross between the two Asian species Caryopteris incana and C. mongholica.

The deciduous shrub has a mounding, rounded habit and becomes covered with many small green to gray-green toothed leaves that have a minty scent if crushed. In the fall, the leafy stems become lined with many colorful...

(Arthur Simmonds Bluebeard, Blue Mist Shrub, Blue Spirea, Bluebeard)

The first and one of the hardiest cultivars of Caryopteris × clandonensis, this small deciduous shrub covers itself with misty blue flowers in late summer, when most other plants are flagging. A hybrid of C. incana and C. mongholica, 'Arthur Simmonds' originated in the garden of its namesake sometime before 1933.

This rounded, knee- to waist-high shrub is densely cloaked with small, narrowly oval, gray-green leaves with silvery, felted...

(Azure Bluebeard, Blue Mist Shrub, Blue Spirea, Bluebeard)

Prized for its prolific late-summer display of blue flowers, Caryopteris × clandonensis is a small deciduous shrub originating from a cross between C. incana and C. mongholica. The cultivar 'Azure' has bright powder-blue blooms.

This rounded, knee- to waist-high shrub is densely cloaked with small, narrowly oval, gray-green leaves with silvery, felted undersides. Bruised leaves emit a pungent minty odor. In late summer and early fall dense...