(Alaska Falsecypress, Golden Alaska Falsecypress)

Selected in Germany in 1891, ‘Aurea,’ is a colorful selection of Alaska falsecypress with bright yellow new spring growth that slowly matures to bright medium green. A tall, pyramid-like evergreen tree, it is native to the humid mountainous areas of northwestern North America.

The long, semi-pendulous foliage is found in flattened, vertically held sprays of scale-like needles below the branches. The needles emerge yellow and fade to yellow-green by early summer and then mature to medium green....

(Alaska Falsecypress, Jubilee Alaska Falsecypress)

Light to medium green needles don the irregular, downward branches that look like sagging shoulders and arms on the Jubilee Alaska falsecypress. An upright, spire-like evergreen, it's native to the humid mountainous areas of northwestern North America, but resembles a tree that would appear on the cartooned pages of a Dr. Seuss book.

The long, pendulous foliage is found in flattened, vertically held sprays of scale-like needles below the branches. The foliage lacks the white markings on the needle...

(Alaska Falsecypress, Weeping Alaska Falsecypress)

Robust, drooping sprays of seafoam-green needles are the ornamental forte of ‘Pendula,’ a magnificently elegant weeping selection of Alaska falsecypress. A tall, pyramid-like evergreen tree, it is native to the humid mountainous areas of northwestern North America.

The long, pendulous foliage is found in flattened, vertically held sprays of scale-like needles below the branches. The needles are light seafoam green with blue casts, and lack the white markings on the underside common in other falsecypress...

(Alaska Falsecypress, Variegated Alaska Falsecypress)

Pale creamy yellow and bluish-green needle leaves give the stately variegated Alaska falsecypress an airy texture. A tall, narrowly pyramidal evergreen tree, it is native to the humid mountainous areas of northwestern North America. The flattened sprays of scale-like needles of 'Variegata' are grayish or bluish green with irregular, raondom light yellow blotches. Needles lack the typical white markings on the undersides of other falsecypress species. If crushed, the needles release a skunk-like...

(Golden Hinoki Falsecypress, Hinoki Falsecypress)

One of many outstanding cultivars of this elegant Japanese conifer, 'Aurea' is a pyramidal evergreen tree grown for its handsome sprays of foliage which are golden-yellow when young. The leaf color is brightest in full sun.

Hinoki cypress is a slow grower, requiring little maintenance. It does best in neutral to slightly acidic, well-drained conditions, although it tolerates some alkalinity. This showy cultivar deserves center stage as a specimen plant.

(Leatherleaf)

Leatherleaf is often the first woody shrub to colonize a bog once sphagnum peat is established. A broadleaf evergreen native to continents around the North Pole, it grows in cool wetlands, bogs and on pond edges in thickets. It spreads by underground swollen stems called rhizomes. In North America it's found across all of Canada and Alaska southward into the northern United States.

The foliage is leathery and tough and often is held upward on the many twiggy branches. The upper leaf side is...

(Matted Sandmat, Prostrate Spurge)

Practically every gardener has come across this warm-season, summer weed. Prostrate spurge forms nearly flat, spreading mats of small, deep green or green and burgundy-blotched leaves that can be found in sunny beds and pavement crevices across the whole of the United States, southern Canada and northern Mexico. It is an annual weed that produces loads and loads of seeds, so it's essential to pull plants as soon as they pop up in the garden.

Dense, spreading mats of small, oval leaves supported...

(Fireweed)

Commonly known as fireweed in North America, this pretty wildflower bears tall spikes of bright rose flowers in summer and fall. It is native across much of the northerly regions of the northern hemisphere where it thrives in moist ditches, old fields, open woods and along forest and stream edges. It is commonly called "fireweed" because this true pioneer species responds well to fire and is one of the first plants to seed in and thrive after a fire. It spreads by both seed and wide-spreading rhizomes...

(Fireweed, White Fireweed)

White flowers don this vigorous fireweed cultivar from summer to fall. Commonly known as fireweed in North America, this pretty wildflower bears tall spikes of white flowers. Chamerion angustifolium is native across much of the northerly regions of the northern hemisphere where it thrives in moist ditches, old fields, open woods and along forest and stream edges. It is commonly called "fireweed" because this true pioneer species responds well to fire and is one of the first plants to seed...

(Chionodoxa, Glory-of-the-Snow)

Carpeting the garden with starry flowers very early in the year, these little bulbs from the eastern Mediterranean are wonderful for massing in borders and lawns. Hardy and self-reliant, they produce clusters of blue, violet, pink, or white blooms atop short leafless stems in late winter and early spring. Two short grass-like leaves emerge with the flowers, going dormant within a few weeks. The flowers and leaves grow from small rounded bulbs covered with brown tunics. Plants often self-seed to form...