Common name:Chastetree
Botanical name:Vitex agnus-castus

In spite of the 'tree' in its name, Chastetree is a decidous multi-stemmed shrub. It grows slowly to 10 to 15 feet tall and as wide; it is broad, so place accordingly. It has beautiful clusters of fragrant lilac or white flowers in summer which is striking against the gray green, slender, pointed leaves. Butterflies love this shrub. Thrives in heat.

Common name:Blue Oat Grass
Botanical name:Helictotrichon sempervirens

Blue oat grass is a striking ornamental grass with blue foliage and a clumping habit. It grows 12 to 18 inches tall and wide. Its showy flowers are 1 to 2 feet above the foliage. Is evergreen in mild winters. This plant looks good alone as well as in mass plantings. The blue oat grass likes dry hill sides and is drought tolerant.

Common name:Weeping White Mulberry
Botanical name:Morus alba 'Pendula'

Another fruitless mulberry, this selection has cascading branches that reach to the ground. Height depends on grapht length of interstem, but usually around 6 to 12 feet tall; crown will spill out about 8 to 12 feet wide.

Common name:Gaura
Botanical name:Gaura lindheimeri

Gaura is a lovely addition to a perennial border, with its fine green foliage and delicate white to pink flowers. The plant has an open vase shape, and grows about 36 inches tall and 24 to 36 inches wide. Leaves are fine, green, and sometimes spotted with maroon. Flowers are arrayed on long stems and are reminiscent of butterflies; the blooms open from the bottom of the stems towards the top, over a long season of bloom (early summer to fall). Its airy quality creates movement in the garden. Combines well with other perennials and ornamental grasses. A number of named cultivars are now available, some with more distinctively pink flowers or variegated foliage.

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:White Fir
Botanical name:Abies concolor

White fir has a stiff, conical habit, dense, grayish-blue needles, and upright cones. It is the most tolerant of all the firs with respect to heat and pollution. It is also the fir best suited for use in our lower elevation, urban landscapes. It reaches 50 to 60 feet tall and 15 to 25 feet wide, at a moderate rate. Bark is smooth, white gray in color. Foliage is beautiful all year round. White fir is a Utah native, but it is a higher elevation species and as such, appreciates supplemental irrigation during the hot summer months. But don't overwater, either.

Common name:Creeping Norway Spruce
Botanical name:Pinus abies 'Repens'

Creeping Norway spruce is a low growing evergreen with a pendulous, sprawling habit, growing about 3 feet tall and trailing about 10 feet (it can be staked to be taller). This evergreen is a a great choice for the rock garden, as its low profile offers bright green emerald color on a slowly spreading plant. Branches are distributed in graceful layers. Well suited for banks, walls, and around boulders.

Common name:Goldflame Spirea
Botanical name:Spiraea x bumalda 'Goldflame'

Goldflame Spirea has attractive bronzy new growth in the spring that matures to a soft yellow-green in the summer. Fall foliage color is a coppery-orange. Summer flowers are crimson to carmine red. Great in front of larger shrubs or as a foliage bridge in a perennial border. Moderate grower to 3 to 4 feet tall, with a slightly wider spread.

Common name:Blue Fescue
Botanical name:Festuca ovina glauca

This group of ornamental grasses generally grow less than a foot tall and have fine, green to blue-green, evergreen leaves that are very thin and hair-like. Flowers appear in the summer and have an airy and open appearance. Prefers full sun but will tolerate afternoon shade if not over-watered. It needs well draining soil and is drought tolerant once it's established. An evergreen, it may need tidying up in the spring; trim out dead foliage and seed heads.

Common name:English Lavender
Botanical name:Lavandula angustifolia

English lavender is a dependably hardy, heat tolerant, drought resistant perennial, well suited to our arid, cold climate. Aromatic, green to grey-green foliage has a rich, resin scent, and grows in tight clumps 1 to 2 feet in height and width, depending on variety. Flowers form at the ends of stiff stems, in whorls of blue to lavender to purple, again, depending on variety. Flowers may add another 6 to 12 inches of height. Use in any sunny spot, such as perennial border, herb garden, parkstrip, lining a pathway.