This form of the excellent garden fern features yellow-tinged foliage contrasting against the dark black stipes. Spreads slowly into a 3' wide patch.

• semi-evergreen fern to 6"
• plant in part sun
• hardy to zone 5

Quite rare in the U.S., this small evergreen tree from China has laurel-like evergreen leaves and an adaptable nature. This specimen acquired from the Atlanta Botanic Garden has red new growth. Although it is related to Camellia, the flowers and fruit of Adinandra millettii are insignificant. In southern China, the leaves are used to dye rice green for holidays such as the Qingming festival and Haishi Day. A truly understated but elegant evergreen shrub/tree.

• evergreen tree to 30'
• plant in sun
• hardy to zone 7
• white flowers in late spring
• black fruit in late summer

A variegated agave with wide cream-colored leaf margins. Slow growing. Not cold hardy in the Raleigh area...we have to be content with growing it as a container plant.

• evergreen succulent to 15"
• plant in sun
• hardy to zone 9

This selection is a variegated form of this small agave with a wide white edge to the each leaf. The leaf pattern is brightest when the new growth emerges and fades somewhat during the high heat of summer. Agave titanota is a ferociously-spined species handle with care! Not cold hardy in Raleigh, so it is best grown as a container plant.

• evergreen succulent to 12"
• plant in sun
• hardy to zone 9

A variegated agave with leaves that are blue-green edged with pale creamy yellow. Unlike most agaves, A. vilmoriniana leaves are nearly spineless and thus friendly to handle. Each leaf is long and arching in a lovely artistic form. Not cold hardy in Raleigh, so it is best grown as a container plant. This species usually blooms at around 10 years old and then dies but produces many small plantlets along the flower stalk.

• evergreen succulent to 3' tall x 5' wide
• plant in sun
• hardy to zone 9

Aloysia gratissima is a thicket-forming shrub with small leaves and thousands of small vanilla-scented flowers in summer that attract goldfinches and bees. 'Punky Brewster' is the name given to a Plant Delights collection of this species from Brewster County, Texas. Blooms on new wood which means you can prune it almost any time to shape it into a hedge, small tree, or encourage it to become bushier. Pruning during the growing season also stimulates flower production. Drought tolerant.

• deciduous shrub to 10'
• plant in sun
• hardy to zone 7b
• white flowers in summer
• attracts birds and deer resistant

A compact 15" tall form of this species which typically reaches 4 feet. Dark purple stems are topped with pale blue flowers. A nice small bluestar for garden spaces that are too small for a full sized one. Yellow fall foliage and pollinator friendly.

• herbaceous perennial to 15"
• plant in sun
• hardy to zone 6
• pale blue flowers in early spring
• butterfly/pollinator friendly and deer resistant

Clumps of 2' long by 4" wide strap-shaped leaves arch out from a central rosette. 3' tall flower stalks are topped with small white flowers featuring tri-colored purple, white and yellow stamens in summer. A great plant for massing in a bed. Tolerant of salt spray and drought, but it is susceptible to snail and slug damage. Native to New Zealand. Renga is the Maori name for this plant and they used to cultivate it for its edible rhizomes.

• herbaceous perennial to 1-3'
• plant in sun or shade
• hardy to zone 8
• whtie flowers

A rare species of cast iron plant originally collected in Mai Chau, Vietnam. Faint yellow spots on short but wide leaves that, unlike most Aspidistra, spread outward from the base instead of upward. Not cold hardy in Raleigh, but it would make an excellent container plant or houseplant. An Alan Galloway collection.

• evergreen perennial to 8"
• plant in shade
• hardy to zone 9
• pale yellow flowers in fall

A somewhat diminutive species growing only to about 18" tall. The narrow foliage is pleated like a Chinese fan just being opened. Grow it where a bit of texture is needed in a dry shade spot. We've been growing this lovely and tough plant for well over. decade.

• evergreen perennial to 18"
• plant in shade
• hardy to zone 7b
• dark purple flowers

A somewhat diminutive species growing only to about 18" tall. The narrow leaves have tons of bright yellow spots on them. Not cold hardy in Raleigh, but it would make an excellent container plant or houseplant. A Barry Yinger/Asiatica Nursery introduction from Thailand.

• evergreen perennial to 18"
• plant in shade
• hardy to zone 9
• dark purple flowers

From JC Raulston Arboretum director Mark Weathington's 2024 plant collection trip to Uruguay comes this odd dioecious shrub (MWU24-054). It features aphyllous (leafless), glossy, three-winged stems that are quite unusual and ornamental. The small white flowers look like tufts of hair growing on the stem. This plant is from arid regions and is quite adaptable to a variety of garden conditions. It is salt tolerant too. Great for a xeric garden or coastal planting. It is one of several species sold as the herbal supplement carqueja.

• leafless shrub to 3-6'
• plant in sun to light shade
• hardy to zone 8 we think
• white flowers in summer
• deer resistant

A South American woody vine collected by JC Raulston Arboretum director Mark Weathington in Uruguay in 2024 (MWU24-115). The glossy leaves emerge bronze and then turn green. The 3-inch-wide trumpet-shaped flowers have intricate dark purple veins. Flowers are rarely followed by a spiny elongated fruit. Tolerant of heavy soils and once established it is quite drought tolerant. We're uncertain about the hardiness but we've had a cultivated form of this species growing outdoors for 4 years.

• evergreen woody vine to 30'
• plant in sun to part shade
• hardy to zone 8
• pale lavender flowers in late spring
• butterfly pollinator friendly, attracts birds

An Australian shrub with needle-like leaves and a bottle-brush-like flower. Unlike many other Callistemon species, this one grows natively in boggy moist areas and can tolerate typical NC wet, humid, summer conditions better than its xeric brethren. But it is also drought tolerant. Prior to blooming, the developing buds are covered with attractive pink-bronze bracts.

• evergreen shrub to 8'
• plant in sun
• hardy to zone 7b
• pale yellow flowers in summer
• deer resistant

A unique dwarf spreading evergreen with icy blue needles. This lowest of the dwarf Deodar cedars rarely develops a leader. A wonderful specimen for smaller spaces, rock gardens and containers.

• conifer to 4-5' in 10 years
• plant in sun to light shade
• hardy to zone 6

A dwarf, brightly colored falsecypress growing as a tight mound of creamy colored foliage. Although it starts as a rounded plant, it will become wider than tall as it ages and can eventually grow to 6' or more tall and wide. It is probably best with some protection from afternoon sun.

• dwarf conifer to 4' in 10 years
• plant in sun to partial shade
• hardy to zone 5

A chartreuse-leaved elephant ear. Like most elephant ears, growth is best in full sun, with consistent moisture and good fertility.

• herbaceous perennial to 6'
• plant in sun
• hardy to zone 7b

Sweetly scented light pink flowers that eventually fade to white appear in mid to late summer on stalks that emerge from green, strap-like foliage.

• perennial bulb to 30"
• plant in sun to part shade
• hardy to zone 7b
• light pink flowers in July-August

Hailing from the Iberian peninsula, northwest Africa, and the Canary islands is this drought tolerant plant with lacy silver leaves and a large pale purple thistle-like flower.

• herbaceous perennial to 2'
• plant in sun
• hardy to zone 8
• purple flowers in summer

From southeastern Europe comes this beautiful Dianthus. From a low tuft of narrow green foliage emerges several 2' tall narrow flower stalks topped with a tight cluster of small, frilled, magenta flowers. Happiest in dry sunny sites. Drought tolerant. Rock garden friendly.

• herbaceous perennial to 2'
• plant in sun
• hardy to zone 5
• pink flowers in summer
• butterfly/pollinator friendly

A succulent-stemmed plant collected by JCRA director Mark Weathington from Uruguay in 2024 (MWU24-020) near the Rincón del Cololó. Watch for its bizzare contorted flower called a pseudanthium that resembles an inside out fig (a relative whose 'fruit' is also a weird flower). Grow this in dryish conditions in part shade. Produces a white latex that some people are allergic too.

• evergreen shrub to 20"
• plant in sun to part shade
• hardy to zone 8

A Korean umbelliferous perennial with white, Queen Anne's lace-like flowers in summer. Stems and leaves are edible and taste somewhat like celery.

• herbaceous perennial to 4'
• plant in sun
• hardy to zone 4
• white flowers in early summer

One the dozens of Eryngium plants collected by JC Raulston Arboretum director Mark Weathington during his 2024 Plant collection trip to Uruguay (MWU24-084). A rosette of narrow leaves from which emerge narrow stalks of rounded blue flower clusters. We've never seen another sea holly with leaves as grassy as this wild collection.

• herbaceous perennial to 2'
• plant in sun
• hardy to zone 8 we think
• blue flowers in summer
• butterfly/pollinator friendly and deer resistant

A clump of finely divided fern-like leaves that are topped in summer with tiny round buds that open into fragrant, creamy white flowers. Spreads slowly on tuberous roots. Prefers dry, lean soil.

• herbaceous perennial to 1-3'
• plant in sun with afternoon shade
• hardy to zone 3
• white flowers in summer
• butterfly/pollinator friendly and deer resistant

A small clumping herb that produces a rosette of spoon-shaped leaves and stalks topped with pale blue spherical flower clusters. Tolerates some drought. Prefers gritty soils with sharp drainage. Native from Spain to Kazakstan. We acquired this from a botanic garden in Italy (Orto Botanico Universita di Pisa).

• herbaceous perennial to 12"
• plant in sun
• hardy to zone 5
• pale blue flowers in spring to summer