(White Valerian)

This is a white-flowered selection of valerian. It is a perennial with flowers borne on stalks above the foliage throughout the summer. The parent species is red-flowered and native to dry, rocky slopes surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, so ‘Albus’ is well-suited to a dry area of the garden. The flowers are borne in three-inch clusters called cymes and are lightly fragrant. The leaves are fleshy and mid-green but with hints of yellow or blue.

Grow ‘Albus’ in well-drained soils of poor to average...

(Red Valerian)

This selection of valerian is a compact perennial with white flowers borne in clusters on a profusion of stalks above the foliage throughout the summer. Originally from dry, rocky slopes surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, it is well-suited to a dry area of the garden. The flowers are borne in three-inch clusters called cymes and are lightly fragrant. It is a clumping plant with leaves that are fleshy and mid-green with hints of yellow or blue.

Grow ‘Albus’ in well-drained soil of poor to average...

(Common Buttonbush)

The American native shrub, common buttonbush, develops striking pincushion-like flower balls of ivory in summer and early fall. These are followed by attractive fruits and russet red autumn leaves. This rounded, deciduous shrub is native to much of eastern North America as well as Cuba and regions in Mexico. Wild specimens can be found growing in moist or wet soils around lakes, ponds and streams.

Buttonbush has shiny, medium green leaves that are oval to almost lance-like in shape. The leaf...

(Harrington's Plum Yew, Spreading Plum Yew)

Harrington's plum yew is a needled evergreen shrub or small tree with an upright to arching and spreading habit. This native of Korea and Japan is yew-like in appearance and has glossy, flattened dark green needles with silvery bands on their undersides. It is technically coniferous, but much like true yews its round fruits have a fleshy, purple-red exterior. Fruits only exist on female plants and appear in late summer to fall.

Plum yew grows well in sandy, well drained soil. Where climates...

(Duke Gardens Harrington's Plum Yew, Harrington's Plum Yew)

Semi-formal in appearance without the need for pruning, the Harrington's plum yew selection 'Duke Gardens' grows as a wide oval mound with upward branch tips. It is yew-like (Taxus) in appearance and has glossy, flattened dark green needles with silvery bands on their undersides. Though technically coniferous, its round fruits have a fleshy, purple-red exterior, much like that of true yews. Fruits only exist on female plants and appear in late summer to fall. This cultivar originated as...

(Fastigiate Harrington's Plum Yew, Harrington's Plum Yew)

Harrington's plum yew is a needled evergreen shrub or small tree with an upright to arching and spreading habit. This native of Korea and Japan is yew-like in appearance and has glossy, flattened dark green needles with silvery bands on their undersides. It is technically coniferous, but much like true yews its round fruits have a fleshy, purple-red exterior. Fruits only exist on female plants and appear in late summer to fall.

Plum yew grows well in sandy, well drained soil. Where climates...

(Harrington's Plum Yew, Prostrate Plum Yew, Spreading Plum Yew)

This is an elegant, underused needled evergreen for the landscape. Prostrate plum yew has a spreading habit and attractive arching branches. It is yew-like in appearance and has glossy, flattened dark green needles with silvery bands on their undersides. Though technically coniferous, its round fruits have a fleshy, purple-red exterior, much like that of true yews. Fruits only exist on female plants and appear in late summer to fall.

Plum yew grows well in sandy, well drained soil. Where climates...

(Harrington's Plum Yew, Spreading Plum Yew)

This East Asian native is a wide-spreading evergreen conifer with flat, dark green, sharply pointed needles. Plants with female flowers produce edible fruits that resemble small plums.

Spreading plum yew thrives in partial shade (or full sun in cool climates) and moist, well drained soil, and is an attractive feature plant that also works well in masses. This tough conifer is more tolerant of heat, shade, and alkaline soils than many conifers, ideally suiting it for regions such as the southern...

(Snow-in-Summer)

Snow-in-Summer is an easy-care, mat-forming perennial that flowers so profusely in sproing that it resembles a drift of snow. This is a rampantly-spreading plant with small, wooly silver leaves that can persist through a mild winter. In spring, a carpet of clear white, star-shaped flowers with button centers rise above the leave on short stems and cover the plant into summer.

Grow Snow-in-Summer in full sun and average well-drained soil, A native of Italy and Sicily, it tolerates hot, dry conditions....

(Snow-in-Summer)

Tough and hardy, snow-in-summer is a vigorous, mat-forming perennial native to Italy. Its low-growing, fine, wooly, silver-gray leaves often persist through winter. In late spring to early summer, it blooms showily with five-petalled, star-like white flowers on stalks, covering the plant so densely that it resembles a mound of snow. This selection, ‘Columnae,’ lifts the flowers slightly higher than the parent species. The flowers draw many pollinators.

Give ‘Columnae’ full sun and average to poor...