This shrub has graceful, arching branches just smothered with buttery yellow booms in April, with delicately veined, bright-green foliage. Blooms the same time as Forsythia but has so much more grace about her, and she blooms in shade as well as sun. Grows 5 feet high and wide, suckers freely when mature. Awesome cut flower to bring inside or share with friends.
Fuzzy flower spikes that are a smoky purple-black color emerge in late summer and contrast nicely with the fine, deep green foliage. Makes a wonderful accent in the sunny landscape, or plant it in drifts for a massed effect. The ornamental grasses will dance and sway in the breezes. Completely drought-proof once established.
Fantastic for stabilizing a slope or for erosion control. Grows in sun or shade, 12-18 inches tall. Great cut flower for arrangements.
This white aster grows and spreads vigorously into a dense mat of foliage, and is covered in fall with a multitude of tiny white flowers that the pollinators love. Native, grows in sun or shade.
This plant grows for me in sun or shade, in any soil. Grows to be 3′ tall, covered with white flowers in lat summer that the butterflies and pollinators adore. Native plant.
Euphorbia robbiae’s yellow bracts, dark mature foliage, and fresh new growth
Awesome evergreen groundcover for dry shade. Spreads gently into a mass of beautiful yellow “blooms” (they’re really bracts, not blooms) in spring over lustrous dark foliage. Great for cut flower arrangements. Did I mention she’s green all winter? Completely carefree once established.
Hypericum ‘Brigadoon’ has golden foliage that brightens a shady spot
This marvelous little plant glows golden. It loves a spot in part sun, and is a great edging plant. The golden color brightens your garden from spring and lasts almost all winter before it ought to be sheered back to the ground to promote new growth. Truly one of my favorite foliage plants in the garden. Part sun, 10″ high, fantastic in cut arrangements.
The first flowers of spring!
Purple hellebores bloom in early spring, sometimes in February!
Hellebores are extremely long-lived perennials that surprise us in late winter and early spring with gorgeous flowers over evergreen leaves. Highly prized and very expensive, they are a gem in any garden. Plant by a well-trafficked walkway so you won’t miss the blooms. Full sun to full shade, they grow anywhere!
The amazing foxglove stops people in their tracks with her beautiful speckled flowers in shades of pink and purple in May.
Stalks of flowers reach 3-4′ tall, and bloom for a long period in May, flowering first at the bottom of the stalk and following with more flowers all along the stem. Wonderful for the back of a border, and makes a great cut flower. Will grow in sun or shade.
She’s a biennial, but readily drops seed after blooming. Or you can collect it and scatter it all over your garden. A must-have show-stopper!
Cauliflower-like flowers emerge in early spring, followed by the main show: amazingly large leaves are over a foot wide, with gorgeous curls that stand like lily pads all summer long. Sun or shade, but requires more moisture in the sun to prevent wilting. Slowly spreads by runners to fill a large area. A rare WOW plant that will make your friends stop and stare!
A superb plant which is happy in both sun and shade. Drought-resistant once established.
Gorgeous delicate blue flowers preceded by pink (!) buds in spring. Large leaves almost look like lambs ears, only less fuzzy. Evergreen leaves provide winter interest.
Slowly spreads to create a large massing of plants. Can be used as ground cover plant.
Audrey's Plantmania 