Common name:Blue Atlas Cedar
Botanical name:Cedrus atlantica 'Glauca'

As a large, slow-growing conifer, Blue Atlas Cedar requires ample room for growth. It has a broad, pyramidal form and is an eye-catching specimen for a large landscape. It's needles are 1 inch long, and are a beautiful shade of silvery blue. In order to develop its best color, the tree needs to be exposed to full sun. It can reach up to 40 to 60 feet tall and up to 30 feet wide. There is also a weeping form, Cedrus atlantica 'Glauca Pendula.' Cedars have lovely cones, emerging bluish when young and aging a reddish brown.

Common name:Scotch Pine
Botanical name:Pinus sylvestris

Scotch pine is a medium-large pine growing 30 to 50 feet tall and nearly as wide. It has an upright, pyramidal habit in its youth, becoming broad and flat-topped as it ages. Branches are strongly horizontal. Older bark has a distinctive orange color (look towards the top of the tree to catch a glimpse). Blue-green needles are stiff, vary in length, and twist 360 degrees. Cones are 1 to 3 inches in length. A number of cultivars are avaialble, including dwarf and prostrate forms.

Common name:Eastern White Pine
Botanical name:Pinus strobus

Eastern white pine is a fast growing, pyramidal tree with strong, horizontal branches, growing about 50 to 80 feet tall and 15 to 20 feet wide. It has long, blue green needles that lends it an airy, open appearance. 8-inch long cones are pendulous and ripen in the fall. A columnar form, P. s. 'Fastigiata" has a similar, open habit but grows only about 7 to 10 feet across.

Common name:Balloon Flower
Botanical name:Platycodon grandiflorus

Balloon flower is so named because the flower buds puff up like balloons, before opening to star-like blossoms. Stems are tall and lanky (see notes below). Flowers appear throughout the summer, with the heaviest blooming early on. Colors are blues, purples, pinks, and whites, depending on cultivar. A lovely addition to a perennial border, and an excellent cutting flower. Grows about 24 to 30 inches tall and 12 to 18 inches wide.