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.
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.
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.
Swamp white oak is a stately native shade tree valued for its handsome rounded form, attractive peeling bark, and glossy green leaves with silvery undersides. It is especially useful in landscapes with heavier or seasonally wet soils where many other oaks struggle. Once established, it becomes a long-lived ornamental and wildlife-friendly tree that adds lasting structure to large yards and naturalized spaces.
Sourwood is a graceful native tree prized for its drooping clusters of white summer flowers and brilliant red fall color. It is especially loved by pollinators and is famous as a source of premium sourwood honey. For home gardeners, it makes an elegant specimen tree for acidic, well-drained soils.
Downy serviceberry is a charming native small tree grown for its clouds of white spring flowers, attractive fall color, and sweet edible berries. It fits beautifully into home landscapes as both an ornamental and a wildlife-friendly plant. Gardeners love it for its natural woodland character and its ability to thrive in a range of garden settings.
Beach strawberry is a low-growing, spreading perennial strawberry prized for its attractive white flowers, glossy green leaves, and small red edible fruits. It makes an excellent groundcover for sunny to lightly shaded gardens, especially in coastal or sandy sites. For home gardeners, it offers both ornamental appeal and a sweet, wild-style harvest.
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.
Wild strawberry is a charming, low-growing perennial that produces small, intensely flavored berries far sweeter and more aromatic than many supermarket strawberries. Its neat green foliage, white flowers, and spreading habit make it a lovely choice for edible borders, woodland gardens, and containers. Easy to tuck into small spaces, it rewards gardeners with both beauty and delicious fruit.
Guelder rose is a hardy, multi-stemmed deciduous shrub grown for its lacecap-like white spring flowers, bright red fall fruit, and attractive autumn color. It works beautifully in mixed borders, wildlife plantings, and informal hedges, especially where the soil stays evenly moist. Gardeners also value it as a traditional medicinal and edible-fruited shrub, though the berries are usually cooked before use.
Weekend Plant