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Great Plant Pick: Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Nana,’ dwarf Hinoki cypress
This cultivar has dark green branchlets that twist tightly and flatten into small overlapping fans.
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Great Plant Pick: Cotinus obovatus, American smoke tree
This smokebush is known for its spectacular color — smoldering yellow-oranges, flaming reds and smoky red-purples.
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Great Plant Pick: Malus ‘Adirondack’, flowering crabapple
This Donald Egolf selection is one of the most profusely flowered of all crabapple cultivars.
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Great Plant Pick: Colchicum ‘Waterlily,’ double-flowered autumn crocus
This bulb features large double lavender-pink blooms that resemble waterlilies in the fall.
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Great Plant Pick: Ligustrum japonicum ‘Rotundifolium,’ curly-leaf Japanese privet
This evergreen shurb is jam-packed with leaves, offering great textural interest in the garden.
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Great Plant Pick
What: Ceratostigma plumbaginoides “dwarf plumbago” sparkles in late summer and autumn with sapphire-blue flowers that are increasingly silhouetted…
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Great Plant Pick: Thujopsis dolabrata ‘Nana,’ dwarf hiba cedar
This conifer has bold antler-like foliage. The leaves are deep green on one side but have bits of…
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Great Plant Pick: Clematis ‘Etoile Violette,’ viticella clematis
This medium-sized vine that produces deep royal-purple flowers in profusion in mid-summer.
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Great Plant Pick: Berberis thunbergii f. atropurpurea ‘Rose Glow’
The variegated Japanese barberry features deep burgundy leaves splashed in candy-pink and vanilla.
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Great Plant Pick: Aster divaricatus, white wood aster
In late summer, a profusion of lacey small white flowers top this plant’s the lax purple-black stems.
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Great Plant Pick: Larix kaempferi ‘Diana,’ contorted Japanese larch
This unique deciduous tree features twirling blue-green needles are irresistibly soft and very touchable.
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Great Plant Pick: Acer crataegifolium ‘Veitchii,’ variegated hawthorn maple
The showy leaves of this tree are interesting yet understated, and do not overpower surrounding plantings.
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Great Plant Pick: Asarum splendens, splendid wild ginger
Chinese wild ginger has green and silver patterned leaves and curious-looking brown and purple flowers.
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Great Plant Pick: Fuchsia ‘Lord Byron,’ Lord Byron hardy fuchsia
Hummingbirds flock to this hardy fuchsia for its colorful flowers, which bloom summer through fall.
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Great Plant Pick: Hosta ‘Krossa Regal’ aka ‘Ginba Giboshi’
This hosta has blue foliage from late spring through early fall. In summer, tall flower spikes bear lavender…
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Great Plant Pick: Crocus ‘Goldilocks,’ Goldilocks crocus
This large-flowering bulb features golden blooms with a splash of burgundy on the outer petals.
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Great Plant Pick: Cotoneaster glaucophyllus, gray-leaf cotoneaster
This evergreen shrub produces showy white flowers in spring and ember-red berries in winter.
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Great Plant Pick: Abies nordmaniana ‘Golden Spreader,’ Caucasian fir
Plant this tree in a spot with enough sun to bring out the golden coloration of the needles.
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Great Plant Pick: Mahonia repens, creeping Oregon grape
This tough mahonia has tight clusters of canary-yellow flowers in early spring.
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Great Plant Pick: Rhododendron ‘PJM Elite,’ hybrid rhododendron
This rhodie is a harbinger of spring — the upright shrub will be covered in red-purple flowers.