(Brunette Bugbane, Bugbane)

Brunette autumn snakeroot is a tall, striking perennial with rich, exquisite foliage from eastern Asia. Its leafed purple flowerstalks are topped by arching racemes of creamy, purple-tinged flowers in autumn. These are borne above clumps of deep brownish-purple foliage with toothed leaflets.

'Brunette' prefers fertile, well-drained soil with humus and a partially shaded, evenly moist location. A graceful plant, it may need staking to best show off its form, especially in windier locales when flowering...

(Bugbane, Hillside Black Beauty Bugbane)

Hillside Black Beauty autumn snakeroot is a tall, striking perennial with rich, black foliage from eastern Asia. Its leafed purple flowerstalks are topped by arching racemes of white or light pink flowers in autumn. These are borne above clumps of lustrous dark purple to black foliage with toothed leaflets. The fragrant flowers will attract butterflies.

'Hillside Black Beauty' prefers fertile, well-drained soil with humus and a partially shaded, evenly moist location. A graceful plant, it may...

(Camphortree)

Superior beauty and a spreading evergreen canopy give this shade or street tree good looks in every season. It is a warm climate species native to eastern Asia, Japan and Malaysia. The trees are intensely aromatic, containing oil of camphor, which is highly potent and used primarily in manufacturing. Both the wood, which is very hard, and the leaves bear a strong scent of camphor. This tree produces a strong, dark upright trunk topped by a canopy of medium-sized glossy leaves. This tree sheds some...

(Camphortree, Hardy Cinnamon Tree)

While the most famous cinnamon and camphor trees are best suited to subtropical and tropical climes, the hardy cinnamon is a species perfect for warm temperate climates, too. A broadleaf evergreen tree, it's native to China. As it ages, it develops a dense canopy of foliage on an upright pyramidal frame.

Hardy cinnamon's leaves are elongated, pointy ovals with three obvious parallel veins. As new leaves emerge in spring, they blush a rich rosy copper color with lighter green veins. These highly...

(Japanese Camphor)

Fragrant in foliage, bark and flower, Japanese camphor has lustrous green leaves and a smooth sandy sienna-brown bark. A broadleaf evergreen tree, it is native to Japan, Korea and a narrow band in eastern China, including Taiwan. The thin leathery leaves are oval to lance-shaped and are glossy deep green with a gray, blue-green underside. Crush a leaf or scrape a twig or bark and a camphor-cinnamon scent is released. A new leaf emerges a coppery light green. By late spring, the branch tips bear...

(Canada Thistle)

Canada thistle is a fierce and aggressive weed foe. Impossibly extensive, deep root systems make this one of the toughest weeds to eradicate from garden spaces. It's small, purplish, brush-like flower heads produce loads of puffy airborne seeds that float away to colonize new space, and its prickly foliage is painful to the touch. Despite the common name, Canada thistle, this species was introduced to North America from Eurasia. Its remarkable tolerance to many growing conditions means it can be...

(Arizona Grape Ivy, Ivy Treebine, Possum Grape, Sorrel Vine)

Very fast-growing and displaying attractive teethed green leaves that fall away in winter, sorrel vine is a versatile vine or groundcover. Native to the southern United States and adjacent parts of northern Mexico, it bears tendrils opposite the leaves that will clasp onto any surface that isn't glass-smooth.

The leathery, succulent green leaves are variable in shape. Usually they're three-lobed but occasional deltoid-shaped blades occur with or without lobes, but always with coarse teeth. Tiny...

(Marine Ivy, Mexican Grape Ivy, Mexican Sorrelvine)

Known as marine ivy or Mexican sorrelvine, this mostly herbaceous vine that grows from a woody stem base hails from arid northern Mexico. Naturally inhabiting salt marshes, chaparral and open woodlands, both its leaves and fruits provide ornamentation to the dry garden.

Simple or forked tendrils help the stems clasp onto trees or climb over shrubs. Evergreen only when frosts don't occur, marine ivy's leaves are smooth and dark green and dry green and papery thin. Typically each leathery and fleshy...

(Common Gum Rockrose)

A relatively large rockrose that is also notable for its aromatic foliage and large flowers, this native of Southwest Europe and Northwest Africa bears its palm-sized white blooms in late spring and early summer. It may produce a few blossoms at other seasons. Each of the five crinkled petals has a maroon blotch at its base. A ruff of yellow stamens adorns the flower's center. The lance-shaped, fragrant, sticky leaves are dark green above and gray beneath. They are borne on erect stems that eventually...

(Common Gum Rockrose, Frank Birch Rockrose)

A relatively large rockrose that is also notable for its aromatic foliage and palm-sized white flowers, Cistus ladanifer is native to Southwest Europe and Northwest Africa. The flowers of the cultivar 'Frank Birch' lack the purple basal blotches typical of the species. The crinkled, five-petaled blooms appear in late spring and early summer, and sporadically at other seasons. A ruff of yellow stamens adorns each flower's center. The lance-shaped, fragrant, sticky leaves are dark green above...