Pachysandra procumbens (Allegheny Spurge)

GARDEN SITE: ☀️-⛅ Easily grown in rich, medium-wet soils. Prefers light shade but can tolerate deep shade.

SIZE: 2-4 ft. Spread: 1-3 ft.

FLOWERS: Tubular, deep pink. July-September.

WILDLIFE: Attracts butterflies and hummingbirds.

LARVAL HOST TO: Checkerspot butterflies

ZONE: 3-8

DISTRIBUTION: AL , CT , MA , ME , MS , NC , NY , SC , TN , WV

Winner of the GreatPlants award, Chelone lyonii "Hot Lips" is a beautiful, clumping perennial that will add both color and interest to your landscape during the fall months. When most flowers are beginning to set seed, Pink Turtlehead is just starting to put on a show with abundant, hot pink, snapdragon-like blooms that rise above deep green foliage. Undemanding and virtually disease and pest free, this striking plant is at home in shady areas and makes a perfect addition to woodland, rain and bog gardens. Deer, wet soil and shade tolerant.

GARDEN SITE: ☀️ Prefers well-drained soil. Tolerant of clay, rocky and sandy soil.

SIZE: 2-3 ft. Spread: 1-2 ft.

FLOWERS: Dense, vibrant purple clusters. July-August.

WILDLIFE: Attracts a variety of pollinators, especially bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.

LARVAL HOST TO: American Lady butterfly

ZONE: 4-9

DISTRIBUTION: Northeastern, Southeastern and Midwestern United States

A rugged, drought tolerant alternative to Giant Ironweed, Vernonia lettermannii " Iron Butterfly" is an Ironweed cultivar that has been selected for its compact, densely mounding growth habit and showy, long lasting flowers. The fine, fern-like leaves will add gorgeous texture and movement to your landscape and looks particularly stunning when planted in masses. Resistant to drought, erosion, dry soil, poor soil and tolerant of deer and rabbit browse.

GARDEN SITE: ☀️-⛅ Dry, well-drained soil with low fertility.

SIZE: 2-4 ft. Spread: 1-2 ft.

FLOWERS: Showy, silvery-white racemes. August-November.

WILDLIFE: Larval host plant for numerous skippers. Provides nesting material, seed and shelter for insects, mammals and birds.

LARVAL HOST TO: Common Wood Nymph, Dakota Skipper, Leonard's Skipper

ZONE: 6-10

DISTRIBUTION: AL , AR , DC , DE , FL , GA , IL , IN , KS , KY , LA , MD , MO , MS , NC , NJ , OK , SC , TN , TX , VA

Splitbeard Bluestem is an elegant, warm season grass that provides year-round movement, color and contrast to your garden. Emerging silvery-blue in the spring, the elegant foliage turns an attractive reddish-copper color in the fall and looks particularly stunning in sunlight. The silvery seed heads ripen in the fall and are a valuable food source for a variety of birds and mammals, making this an excellent choice for backyard birders. This long-lived ornamental grass looks fantastic when clumped in drought prone gardens or when allowed to naturalize a meadow or prairie garden. Resistant to drought and dry soil.

GARDEN SITE: ☀️-⛅ Fertile, organically rich medium to wet soil. Prefers partial shade but can tolerate full sun if kept adequately moist.

SIZE: 3-6 ft. Spread: 2-4 ft.

FLOWERS: Showy, creamy-white. April-May.

WILDLIFE: Blooms attract butterflies, bees and other pollinators.

LARVAL HOST TO: Dusky Azure butterfly

ZONE: 3-7

DISTRIBUTION: AK , AL , AR , CA , DC , GA , IA , IL , IN , KY , MA , MD , ME , MI , MO , MS , NC , NJ , NY , OH , OK , OR , PA , SC , TN , VA , WA , WV

Recipient of the Award of Garden Merit by the Royal Horticultural Society, Goat's Beard will quickly become the focal point of your woodland garden. Enchanting, feathery plumes of tiny, star-shaped, creamy-white flowers rise above delicate, dark green foliage and last into the early summer. A perfect choice as a background plant, specimen or massed in drifts along streams, bogs or water gardens. Resistant to deer and rabbit. NOTE: This plant is dioecious and requires both male and female plants to set seed. Although it will spread by rhizomes, it does so slowly. Planting three or more increases the likelihood of having both sexes.