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An evergreen here in zone 5. Xeric plant that blooms for a VERY long time. Has both red & yellow varieties. Spreading. Mine's gone from a 4" pot to covering a 3' section in 3 years. However, very low-growing, so don't put it behind taller plants or you'll never see it.

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Does not seem to want to grow very fast, but I have it in very poor soil and treat it xerically, so maybe that's why. Gorgeous fall foliage.

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A CRAZY-spreading plant! Started out with 1 little bitty plant, The following spring I had almost 100! Not sure if they're spread from the roots or by seeds. The scent is VERY pungent and I can smell it from over 10 feet away. Brilliant red-fuchsia flowers. Attracts bees & hummers equally. Bumblebees seem to love this plant. Tolerates extreme moisture as long as there's *some* drainage. Tolerates partial shade. Zone 5 w/no protection.

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A nicely growing tree. Has almost doubled in size in 3 years (from a little 4' tree to over 8'). Survives zone 5 w/o protection and doesn't get sunscalded in the winter. Newly emergent leaves are a deep wine color that green up slowly. Birds love the fruit in the winter.

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Not overly happy with this tree. Sends out a TON of suckers from the base. No matter how fast you cut them, it sends out more! Doesn't seem to want to grow tall. Mine's 4 years old this year and hasn't grown a foot yet. Flowers are very nice, but I would not recommend this for a shade tree. Survives zone 5 winters ok.

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Tolerates zone 5 winter w/no protection, and pretty generous with blooms for a little young tree. Blooms have no scent as far as I can tell, but they do attract bees. Seed pods are so adorable! Does not seem to suffer from sun scalding in the winter, either. Blooms mid-summer, which is a nice as most trees bloom spring/early summer.

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Love this iris. A very vibrant rusty color. No scent, though. Quite tall, about 3.5-4'.

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New leaves come out bright yellow and it stays that bright yellow throughout its spring/summer life. Fall foliage, however, is quite blah. Just turns brown. Mine does not seem to produce seed pods, so that's good.

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SURVIVED! Yay! Survived my zone 5 winter.. I thought it had died, but I found it 2 days ago! Blends in with my mulch...

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"Compacta." HA! I just ripped mine out. It was over 10 ft tall and had a diameter of over 14 ft, and I had already chopped almost half of it off! Shallow rootball, sends out thick roots sideways rather than down. Huge mess of feeder roots as well. Magnificent red foliage, but only if you get a quick cold snap. Otherwise, the leaves first turn purple and then red. Tolerates shade, tolerates terrible soil.

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XXX Xeric plant. LOVES sun, does NOT like wet feet, does NOT like heavy moisture. I have mine planted in a rock garden and it seems to do quite well. A bit spreading, gone from a little 3" plant to over 2' in 3 years. Bright orange flowers, but VERY low to the ground, so they can get lost in tall vegetation. Hummers do seem to find it, though.

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Tolerates a very wide range of soils & temperatures. Doesn't seem to care whether it's treated xerically or not. Loves rain, loves dry, loves sun, loves shade. Seems to be a happy plant that comes back year after year. Very gorgeous blue flowers. Short plant, though. Only gets to be about 8" tall with the blooms. Does not spread.

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Nice smaller tree blooms much longer than a crabapple, but the blooms can get rather stinky. Birds do seem to want to eat the fruit. Bloom start out pink, turn white, then go back to pink before falling off. Branches will shatter in heavy snows. Good to at least zone 5.

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Love the true-blue flowers. Seems to spread slowly, so it's controllable. Doesn't get that tall, but is not what I would classify as xeric. More stunted if not watered regularly. Rather unassuming until fall, when it blooms, and then spectacular.

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A very tidy plant, which doesn't seem to want to get any bigger than 2'x2'. Does not send out suckers or runners, nor does it seem to self-seed. Tolerates high temperatures & poor soil nicely. Xeric. Does just fine in zone 5 winters w/no protection.

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Native in the Pacific Northwest, from Alaska to California, mostly on the west side of the Cascade Range. Found at forest edges or in canopy openings, often growing out of a decaying stump. It takes a long while to pick enough berries for anything other than fresh eating, but they make a delightful pie or jelly if one has the patience. They can also be used for fish bait. The bark or leaves may be helpful for a cold remedy, and the branches can be used as brooms.

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A MASSIVE weed. This thing grows and grows and grows and grows. Can get to be over 4' tall and 6' around. Self-seeds, sends out runners. A borderline nuisance plant! However, VERY bee friendly, so if you want to attract bees to your yard, get these. Just don't plant them around a walkway. Tolerant of poor soil, tolerant of extreme sun, tolerant of flooding situations (3 weeks of rain last year). Very long taproot, but not deep. Sends the root off to the side rather than down. Flowers last for weeks, but not vase-friendly.

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Much more manageable than the Blue Knight and Longwood varieties. Stays much smaller (no more than 2'x2'). VERY xeric. Tolerant of poor soil. Does not seed everywhere like other varieties. The blue flowers are not as intense, but still look wonderful against the yellow leaves. Does not tolerate shade.

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This is one of the absolutely best plants out there. Grows like a massive weed, produces absolutely gorgeous blue blooms for weeks on end, doesn't require a lot (full sun), profuse in reproduction, exceedingly easy to transplant, tolerates high temperatures AND cold temperatures. Very xeric, too, but tolerates flooding if it happens (3 weeks of rain non-stop last year).

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Grows nicely, keeps a nice compact size. Flowers are adorable and a very clear sky blue. Doesn't require much, good for a xeric setting. Survives my zone 5 easily.

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