(Spotted Pipsissewa , Spotted Wintergreen, Striped Prince's Pine)

A whorl of leaves with dark and light markings and a reddish stem topped by dangling white blossoms are but three characteristics of beauty for the spotted wintergreen. A wood-like perennial subshrub, it is very low growing with its stems usually hidden by leaf litter. It's native to dry acidic woodland soils of the eastern United States and Ontario, Canada, and isolated populations have been located in Arizona, Mexico and western Costa Rica.

The evergreen leaves are waxy and whorl around the...

(Japanese Allspice, Wintersweet)

Break the dreariness of winter with the fragrant flowers that don the wintersweet. Native to the woodlands in China, this slow-growing shrub with an upright but broad shape can begin to look a bit leggy and unkempt with old age.

Depending on climate, the bare branches reveal many bowl-shaped flowers that face downward, appearing anytime from midwinter to early spring. The fragrant flowers' waxy petals are light lemony yellow with a center that is sienna to purplish brown in color. Dry fruits...

(Chinese Fringetree)

The billowing, wispy, white flower clusters of Chinese fringetree bring a magnificent touch to the spring landscape. Native to eastern China, Korea and Japan, this deciduous plant grows as a shrub naturally but can be trained as a small tree if lower branches are removed. Taking a while for new spring leaves to emerge, the bright green oval foliage has slightly lighter colored undersides that can be hairy. By mid to late spring, the new growth is topped by masses of clusters of white fragrant blossoms,...

(Common Fringetree, Granddaddy Graybeard)

The wispy white flower clusters of common fringetree add a delightful haze to the spring garden. This native to the southeastern United States is a hardy deciduous large shrub or small tree that naturally inhabits moist woodlands. It covers a broad range of distribution, from New York State to Texas, so it is best to plant from regional stock.

When mature, the common fringetree develops an irregular, spreading crown. Its leaves are oblong and medium green with varying degrees of glossiness....

(Red Tussock Grass)

A densely leafy evergreen plant, red tussock grass brings a a graceful spreading form with thin, coppery leaves to the landscape. A New Zealand native, it flowers on lightly weeping stems among or fully above the leaves in early summer, with the flowers sparsely spaced on short branches at the top of the flowers stems. It is mostly admired for the color of the leaves, which range from a metallic golden tan to a dramatic coppery red. In winter the leaves tend to be beige at their tips, with coppery...

(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...

(Chionodoxa, Pink Giant Glory-of-the-Snow, Pink Glory-of-the-Snow)

Carpeting the garden with starry flowers very early in the year, 'Pink Giant' is wonderful for massing in borders and lawns. A selection or hybrid of the Turkish native Chionodoxa forbesii, this hardy, self-reliant little bulb produces clusters of pink, white-eyed 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....

(Chionodoxa, Glory-of-the-Snow)

Carpeting the garden with starry flowers very early in the year, this little bulb from Turkey is wonderful for massing in borders and lawns. Hardy and self-reliant, it produces clusters of four to 12 deep blue blooms atop short leafless stems in late winter and early spring. The flowers have a small white eye. Two grass-like leaves emerge with the blooms, going dormant within a few weeks. The flowers and leaves grow from small rounded bulbs covered with brown tunics. Plants often self-sow to form...

(Chionodoxa, White Chionodoxa, White Glory-of-the-Snow)

Carpeting the garden with starry flowers very early in the year, 'Alba' is wonderful for massing in borders and lawns. A selection of the Turkish native Chionodoxa forbesii, this hardy, self-reliant little bulb produces clusters of pure dazzling 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...

(Chionodoxa, Glory-of-the-Snow)

Charming small bulbous plants that are among the first of all garden plants to bloom in spring. The short tapering leaves precede the thin flowers stems which divide at the top into clusters of up to three star-shaped blue flowers with white centers. Foliage remains for a few weeks after the spring blooming before withering and the plant goes dormant by early summer.

Native to Turkey, this bulb should be planted in sun or part shade exposures in fertile, well drained soil. It will grow and multiply...