Plants

Calycanthus floridus

[Common Sweetshrub]

The Common Sweetshrub was one of the first native plants in the US used as an ornamental. Widely adapted to soil and sun or shade. Certain selections can permeate an area with fragrance. Can be forced for indoor fragrance. Not all plants have equally fragrant flowers; don't use seed propagated plants for that reason. Seeds are poisonous, causing convulsions, myocardial depression, and hypotension.

Calycanthus floridus 'Aphrodite'

[Aphrodite Sweetshrub]

'Aphrodite' has an upright form with deep red flowers. The flowers are fragrant and large and bloom throughout the summer season. Large bright green leaves, can grow to be bigger than a human hand.

Caragana arborescens

[Siberian Peashrub]

The Siberian Peashrub is quite a tough and adaptable, nitrogen-fixing plant that can grow in extremely difficult conditions, but it has very limited use ornamentally. Best reserved for tough environments, such as in a windbreak, hedge, or screen.

Caryopteris × clandonensis

[Bluebeard]

Is often killed to ground in winter, returning to flower in the same year. Functions much like an herbaceous perennial, primarily for flowering interest, blooming on new growth. This hybrid is much hardier than C. incana and much more showy than C. mongholica. Prefers full sun but tolerates partial shade. Attractive plant to bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Occasionally kills out completely at the northern edge of its useful range, with tops regularly killed back to…

Caryopteris × clandonensis 'Blue Mist'

[Blue Mist Bluebeard]

This cultivar blooms in clusters during late summer with vibrant blue flowers. Is often killed to ground in winter, returning to flower in the same year. Functions much like an herbaceous perennial, primarily for flowering interest, blooming on new growth. This hybrid is much hardier than C. incana and much more showy than C. mongholica. Attractive to bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Occasionally kills out completely at the northern edge of its useful range, with tops…

Caryopteris × clandonensis 'Dark Knight'

[Dark Knight Bluebeard]

Caryopteris × clandonensis 'Longwood Blue'

[Longwood Blue Bluebeard]

This deciduous shrub is known for it's showy purple-blue flowers that bloom in spikey clusters, terminal and axillary clusters. Sources say that these clusters resemble blue smoke or mist resulting in its nickname Blue Mist.

Ceanothus americanus

[New Jersey Tea]

New Jersey Tea is a native prairie plant that has thick, deep-reaching, red roots (which can even grow up to 8" in diameter), making it very drought tolerant, but also difficult to transplant. This small, compact shrub is able to fix atmospheric nitrogen and is quite adaptable, not only tolerating drought, but different soil types as well. It is even capable of growing in sandy and rocky soils. The leaves of New Jersey Tea were…

Cephalanthus occidentalis

[Common Buttonbush]

Buttonbush is an Indiana native and a wet-soil tolerant shrub found near marshes, wetlands, and river banks. This is a great choice for those wet areas in the landscape or a featured shrub in your rain garden. The flowers of this shrub are globe-like in shape and bloom from June through August, attracting wildlife such as butterflies. The leaves of the Buttonbush emerge late in the Spring and might look dead until mid-May. Though this…

Cephalanthus occidentalis 'Bailoptics' [sold as Fiber Optics®]

[Fiber Optics Buttonbush]

Fiber Optics® has a compact form with shoots that appear as a reddish-brown on new growth. It also has white fragrant flowers that appear as a sphere-like shape.