Common name:Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grass
Botanical name:Calamagrostis acutiflora 'Karl Foerster'

Karl Foerster feather reed grass is a garden favorite, and for good reason. Its green, fine-textured foliage is gently arching and grows to about 2 feet tall and wide. Oat-like plumes stand very erect over the foliage, growing as tall as 5 to 6 feet. Plumes open whiteish green, later turning a dusky rose, and then tawny colored by winter. Blooms early summer with the plumes lasting into autumn. Holds its presence well into winter. Excellent in mixed perennial or shrub borders, or massed.

Common name:Flame Amur Maple
Botanical name:Acer ginnala 'Flame'

Flame Amure Maple is a hardy tree with consistent brilliant orange-red to deep red foliage. Grown from a selected seed source, it was introduced to the nursery trade by the USDA Soil Conservation Service in 1978 and is now widely grown and appreciated for its toughness and adaptability to a wide range of climatic conditions. A low-branched or multi-stemmed tree, it matures to a height and spread of about 20 feet. Leaves emerge light green early in the season; mature foliage is medium green and fined textured.

Common name:Black Locust
Botanical name:Robinia pseudoacacia

Black locust is a very fast-growing, deciduous tree, typically 40 to 50 feet tall (though sometimes reaching 70 feet) and nearly as wide. It has pinnately compounded leaves that are a dark, dull blue-green, with leaves dropping in the fall before much color change. Flowers are pendulous, white, and fragrant, and bloom late May to early June. Flowers are followed by flat pods that ripen in fall and persist into winter. Bark is dark grey with deep ridges. Wicked thorns, hard wood, and suckering habit makes the Black Locust a challenging maintenance project and best suited for large, naturalized areas.

Common name:Arctic Blue Willow
Botanical name:Salix purpurea

Arctic blue willow is a deciduous shrub with a rounded habit, growing about 8 to 10 feet tall and wide. It has long, slender, supple branches that move with the breeze but that still seem to hold under the weight of the little migrating birds that perch on it. Its leaves are narrow and lance-like, and of a grey green to blue-green color. Fall color is yellow. 'Nana' is a commonly available cultivar, growing about 3 to 4 feet tall and 4 to 5 feet wide. Not drought tolerant, but useful for those low, moist spots in the yard where nothing else will grow; a nice hedge.