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Great Plant Pick: Clematis ‘Betty Corning’ aka viticella clematis
This clematis’ lavender-blue petals dangle from long flower stems, which look like ballerina skirts floating in the air.
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Great Plant Pick: Sedum spurium ‘Fuldaglut’
This perennial has small, scalloped bronze-red leaves that form a durable, evergreen, succulent, weed-smothering groundcover.
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Great Plant Pick: Hydrangea ‘Preziosa’ aka mophead hydrangea
Frame this shrub with other shade-loving plants like hosta, epimedium and ferns. (Richie Steffen)
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Great Plant Pick: Arisaema consanguineum, Himalayan cobra lily
Himalayan cobra lily is a tall-growing summer bulb with a tuft of leaflets at the top resembling a…
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Great Plant Pick: Sambucus nigra ‘Gerda’ Black Beauty
The best of the purpleleaf elders, this robust shrub retains its deep burgundy-purple foliage color from spring to…
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Great Plant Pick: Acanthus spinosus aka bear’s breeches
Many gardeners grow this acanthus for their foliage alone, although the flowers are also quite nice.
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Great Plant Pick: Cornus kousa var. chinensis ‘Milky Way’, Chinese dogwood
This dogwood is covered in star-shaped flowers that open lime green and quickly change to a creamy white.
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Great Plant Pick: Iris ensata ‘Variegata,’ variegated Japanese water iris
This iris features white, mint and green variegated foliage and dark purple flowers on long stems.
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Great Plant Pick: Polystichum x dycei aka Dyce’s holly fern
This large hybrid named after Jimmy Dyce adds a bold and elegant look to shaded gardens.
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Great Plant Pick: Acer shirasawanum ‘Aureum,’ golden full moon maple
This small tree gets its common name from its bright lemon-yellow foliage that dazzles in springtime.
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Great Plant Pick: Primula bulleyana, Bulley’s candelabra primrose
This primrose can naturalize, but it is best to start with more than one to insure pollination and…
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Great Plant Pick: Put Latin name and common name here
What: Weigela florida “Variegata” is an old-fashioned garden shrub that has proven its worth for decades as an…
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Great Plant Pick: Tulipa clusiana aka the lady tulip
This tulip is cold hardy and, unlike most tulips, it doesn’t need an extended “cold period” to bloom.
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Great Plant Pick: Trillium sessile, toadshade, sessile-flowered wakerobin
This easy-to-grow plant emerges in spring with leaves that are mottled chocolate, green and mint in color.
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Great Plant Pick: Epimedium grandiflorum ‘Lilafee,’ fairy wings, bishop’s hat
This perennial has multitudes of dainty magenta flowers with white-tipped spurs that hover above colorful leaflets.
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Great Plant Pick: Magnolia x loebneri “Leonard Messel,” pink lobner magnolia
This magnolia features strap-like petals that drape over branches and quiver in the slightest breeze.
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Great Plant Pick: Clematis armandii ‘Snowdrift’
This vine gets its name from the small pure-white flowers that cover it like a sudden snow flurry.
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Great Plant Pick: Daphne odora ‘Aureomarginata,’ variegated winter Daphne
This Daphne’s rosy-pink flower buds open to white, sweetly fragrant flowers in March.
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Great Plant Pick: Pieris japonica ‘White Cascade,’ lily-of-the-valley shrub
The lily-of-the-valley shrub is smothered in snow-white flowers around this time of year.
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Great Plant Pick: Cryptomeria japonica ‘Vilmoriniana,’ dwarf Japanese cedar
The conifer’s needles are olive in color most of the year, but often take on bronze or purple…