Common name:Little Bluestem
Botanical name:Schizachyrium scoparium

Little bluestem is a charming native to the shortgrass prairie, and quite adaptable to urban settings. It is a warm-season bunchgrass that forms an erect clump growing 1 to 3 feet tall. The foliage is green to purplish, being one of the few purple/red colored grasses that is perennial in our region. Its inflorescence are a sort of zig-zaggy clumps of white fuzziness, flowering in mid-summer. The grass turns a lovely deep reddish bronze in the fall, and holds the color through the winter months. A Utah native.

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:Ever Red Japanese Maple
Botanical name:Acer palmatum 'Dissectum Nigrum'

This dwarf Japanese Maple has a delicate, weeping habit and lovely deep red foliage that holds its color throughout the summer months. Well suited for small gardens, near patios, or at entries. A moderate grower, 10 feet tall and wide.

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: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.