Detailed plant profiles with growing tips for weekend gardeners. Browse by category or search for a specific plant to find zone-specific planting advice, care instructions, and troubleshooting help.
Ethiopian mustard is a fast-growing brassica grown for its nutritious leafy greens and, in some regions, for oilseed production. It has a bold, mustard-like flavor and performs especially well in cool weather, making it a useful crop for spring and fall gardens. Home gardeners appreciate its vigor, productivity, and versatility in the kitchen.
Osage orange is a tough, adaptable deciduous tree best known for its large, wrinkled green-to-orange fruits and dense, thorny branching. It has long been valued for living fences, windbreaks, and its exceptionally durable wood. For home gardeners, it is a striking choice where a rugged, low-maintenance tree or barrier planting is needed.
Mexican hat is a cheerful native wildflower known for its distinctive sombrero-shaped blooms in warm shades of yellow and reddish brown. It brings a relaxed prairie look to sunny beds, borders, and meadow plantings while attracting bees and butterflies. Once established, it is a dependable perennial for gardeners who want long-lasting color with relatively little fuss.
Eastern hemlock is a graceful native evergreen tree prized for its soft, feathery needles and elegant, slightly drooping branches. It makes a beautiful specimen tree or screen in cool, moist landscapes and brings year-round structure to woodland gardens. This long-lived conifer is especially valued for its ability to tolerate shade better than many other evergreens.
Flowering dogwood is a beloved small native tree grown for its showy white spring bracts, red fall fruit, and rich autumn color. It fits beautifully into home landscapes as a specimen tree, woodland edge planting, or wildlife-friendly accent. With the right siting and steady moisture, it rewards gardeners with year-round beauty.
Virgin's-bower is a vigorous native perennial vine grown for its masses of fragrant white flowers in summer and its attractive feathery seed heads later in the season. It is a great choice for naturalized plantings, fences, arbors, and wildlife gardens where it can scramble and climb with a soft, romantic look. This clematis is beginner-friendly when given support, decent moisture, and room to grow.
Tarragon is a classic culinary herb prized for its narrow, aromatic leaves and distinctive anise-like flavor. French tarragon is the preferred garden and kitchen form, especially for sauces, vinegars, and egg dishes. This easy perennial does best in sunny spots with sharp drainage and rewards gardeners with repeated harvests through the growing season.
Marginal wood fern is a handsome native evergreen fern valued for its tidy, leathery fronds and dependable performance in shady gardens. It brings year-round texture to woodland borders, rock gardens, and naturalized plantings. This fern is especially useful for gardeners who want a durable, low-maintenance plant for dry shade or humus-rich forest soils.
Bluestar is a dependable native perennial grown for its clusters of soft, star-shaped blue flowers and its fine-textured foliage. It brings long-lasting garden value, blooming in spring and often turning a rich golden yellow in fall. Easy to grow and adaptable, it fits beautifully into borders, pollinator gardens, and naturalistic plantings.
Oxeye daisy is a cheerful perennial wildflower with classic white petals and sunny yellow centers that brighten borders, cottage gardens, and naturalized spaces. It is easy to grow in average soils and tolerates lean conditions where many other flowers struggle. While attractive and useful for pollinators, it can spread aggressively in some regions, so gardeners should plant it thoughtfully.
Black birch is a handsome native deciduous tree valued for its glossy bark, graceful form, and spicy wintergreen scent in its twigs. It makes an excellent long-term shade tree for larger landscapes and naturalized plantings. Gardeners also appreciate its wildlife value and strong adaptation to eastern North American woodland conditions.
Northern red oak is a stately native shade tree valued for its strong branching structure, handsome lobed leaves, and rich red to russet fall color. It grows into a large, long-lived landscape tree that supports wildlife while also providing cooling shade for big yards and parks. Best suited to gardeners with space, it rewards patience with decades of beauty and ecological value.
Weekend Plant