Common name:English Boxwood
Botanical name:Buxus sempervirens

This group of boxwood is comprised of many cultivars that vary in size and somewhat in form. Those most commonly available here in clude 'Grahm Blandy' (columnar to 8 feet), 'Suffruticosa' (rounded form to 3 feet), and 'Inglis' (pyramidal to 7 feet). All are evergreen, with medium to dark green foliage and are generally very cold hardy.

Common name:Annabelle Hydrangea
Botanical name:Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle'

Annabelle hydrangea is a no-fuss hydrangea, well suited to a part or filtered-sun border or foundation planting. It has a rounded, dense form, and grows to about 3 to 5 feet tall and wide. Leaves emerge a soft green and slightly pubescent, and grow into roundish, salad-plate-sized leaves. White flowers appear June thru August in huge, symmetrical, rounded heads which typically grow 8 to 12 inches across. Flowers persist well through the fall. Excellent cut fresh or dried. Wonderful in a shrub, mixed, or foundation border.

Common name:Heartleaf Bergenia
Botanical name:Bergenia cordifolia

Bergenia has evergreen, round, heart-shaped, glossy, thick leaves, frequently with fine toothed edges. The leaves are basically stemless, growing off of a shallow rhizome, so, though the leaves are large, the plant has a fairly low profile. Some cultivars have leaves that turn reddish in winter. It is this juxtaposition of low-growing and big-leaf that makes bergenia so a fine addition to the shade border. Flowers bloom in spring, in a range of pinks, lavenders, and plums. Grows about 12 to 16" tall and 12 to 18" wide.

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:Pyramidal European Hornbean
Botanical name:Carpinus betulus 'Fastigiata'

This Hornbeam is narrow when young, spreading into a broad cone-shape with age. Grows 35 feet tall and about 20 to 25 feet wide. Dark green, slightly toothed leaves turn yellow in the fall, and the foliage persists into the early winter months. Flowering catkins form in early spring before the foliage emerges; male catkins are yellowish and female catkins are greenish. Fruits are small nutlets in 3-lobed bracts that appear in drooping 5-inch long clusters in summer. Symmetrical and formal in appearance.

Common name:Garden Phlox
Botanical name:Phlox paniculata cultivars

Garden phlox (also called summer phlox) are a classic garden favorite, enjoyed for their range of color, mid to late summer blooms, and value as a cut flower. Flowers appear in clusters at the ends of tall stems with narrow, long leaves. Color ranges are in varying shades of pinks, lavenders, violets, and white. Some flowers have "eyes," or corolla and petals of different colors. Some are fragrant. All are attractive to hummingbirds and butterflies. Makes a nice cut flower and provides a range of color uncommon in mid summer. Sizes range with cultivar, from less than a foot tall to 4 feet, and equal spread.