Northern Starflower (Trientalis borealis) flowering in May. Photo by: Ian S. Hemingway

• Type: Native Herbaceous Perennial. Threatened or endangered in several U.S. States.
• Hardiness: Zones 3-7.
• Uses: A low perennial ground cover for woodland plantings, shaded natural settings, and native shade gardens. Adds a delicate, subtle beauty especially when growing alongside Bracken Fern (Pteridium aquilinum), Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens), and Wild Sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis) in the dappled shadow of Red Oak (Quercus rubra) and American beech (Fagus grandifolia).  
• Size: 4″ to 8″ tall, spreading indefinitely where necessary growing conditions exist.
• Growth rate: Slow. Reproduces by seed and underground rhizomes. Forms colonies.
• Light: Bright or dappled shade.
• Soil: Moist, acid soil.
• Flower: White, star shaped, 3/8 inch diameter. usually with seven petals. Blooms in May and June. Pollinated by native bees.
• Fruit: Capsule, bearing seed, ripens in late summer. Seed is distributed by small mammals, birds, and insects. Seed will germinate late the following year after exposure to cold.
• Leaf: Medium to dark green, 1″ to 2″ long and 1/2″ wide, whorled, born on short stems, usually seven leaves to a whorl. In dry years, the plant may go dormant in the summer, becoming leafless.
• Bark: n/a
• Cultivars: n/a

Myrtle (Vinca minor) aka Creeping Myrtle, Common Periwinkle. 

Myrtle (Vinca minor 'Bowles') blooming in early April. Photo by: Ian S. Hemingway

• Type: Evergreen ground cover, flowering vine. Native to Europe, Western Asia.
• Hardiness: Zones 4-8.
• Uses: Ground cover, early color, containers, erosion control. Not generally effective as a climbing vine.
• Size: 6″ to 8″ high, spreading indefinitely.
• Growth rate: Slow to moderate. Perhaps fast in southern regions.
• Light: Full sun to shade. May yellow or burn when exposed to winter sun in the north. Snow cover is helpful.
• Soil: Moist, well drained, organic, slightly acid soil is best. Will “just sit there”, failing to spread, or languish in dry soil. Overly fertile soil, or over use of quick release liquid fertilizer will encourage fungal issues (Phomopsis).
  

  Bowles Myrtle (Vinca minor 'Bowles') Blooming in April. Photo by: Ian S. Hemingway

• Flower: Blooms abundantly in early to mid spring, then sporadically until frost. One inch diameter, five petaled flowers are deep blue to purplish,  pale blue or white, depending on the selection. 
• Fruit: Ornamentally insignificant.
• Leaf: Opposite, dark green, elliptical, 1″ to 1.25″ long by 1/2″ wide, evergreen. Some cultivars are variegated.
• Bark: Oranmentally insignificant.
• Cultivars: ‘Bowles’- Popular large blue flowered, clumping selection. ‘Alba’- White flowers. ‘Sterling Silver’-Creamy variegation on leaf margin, pale blue flowers. Lest vigorous than green leaved varieties. ‘Illumination’- Popular, new, vigorous form with golden leaf variegation, and purplish-blue flowers. Great for containers. Use with discretion in the landscape as large masses may appear garish. 
• Design tip: Groundcovers, like Myrtle, out-compete weeds, conserve soil moisture, cool the ground, and reduce the need for expensive and time consuming mulching.  Ground covers can provide a low maintenance ”floor” for your landscape in areas where turf will not grow.

Daffodil (Narcissus hybrids and species).

Nothing says spring like a bright yellow Daffodil! Photo by: Ian S. Hemingway

• Type: Perennial Bulb. Native to the Mediterranean and Europe. 
• Hardiness: Varies with selection. Most are hardy in zones 3-8.
• Uses: Early color, massing, naturalizing, drifts, containers, forcing indoors. Easy to grow, forgiving, and give much with little attention.
• Size: Upright habit, 6-24″ in height, depending on selection. Forms clumps and will spread over time.
• Growth rate: Slow. Bulbs multiply each year and are long lived. Will colonize and are great for naturalizing. Sometimes squirrels will move bulbs around. 
  

  Yellow trumpet with white petals...beautiful! Photo by: Ian S. Hemingway

• Light: Full sun to part shade. Do well in the dappled shade of deciduous trees as they will generally receive adequate light before the shade trees leaf out. 
• Soil: Plant bulbs in the fall at a depth of 3 times the height of the bulb, pointed end up, in well drained, slightly acid, humussy soil. Bulbs will rot in poorly drained, boggy locations. Clay soils should be amended with organic matter and sand.
• Flower: Blooms in early spring, after crocus begin. Six petals, usually white or yellow, are arranged in a star-like pattern with a central trumpet or ring (corona). Corona color may be white, yellow, orange, red, green, or pinkish (apricot, peach).
  

  Jonquil mix. Photo by: Ian s. Hemingway

• Fruit: Capsule or seed pod containing several roundish, dark brown seeds. Some selections will reproduce from seed, but they are not always “true” (the offspring will not always look like the parent).
• Leaf: Blue-green, strap like 1/2″-3/4″ wide by 6″ to 18″ long. Let the foliage die to the ground naturally to ensure that maximum energy goes to the bulbs. 
• Cultivars: Endless named varieties, cultivars and many species. The American Daffodil Society cites 13 divisions: Trumpet, Large-cupped, Small-cupped, Double, Triandrus, Cyclamineus, Jonquilla, Tazetta, Poeticus, Bulbocodium, Split-Cupped, Miscellaneous, and Species, Wild Variants, and Wild Hybrids. Some HD favorites are: ‘King Alfred’, ‘Mount Hood’, ‘Lemon Glow’, ‘Fragrant Breeze’, ‘Faith’, ‘Wave’, and ‘Tete-a-tete’.
  

  Sweet! Photo by: Ian S. Hemingway

• Design tip: Interplant Daffodils with Daylilies for an easy care, long blooming planting bed. the emerging Daylily foliage will help hide the fading Daffodil flowers and foliage, and will provide 8 weeks or more of low maintenance bloom in one planting bed.
• Additional notes: Daffodils are easy and fun to force for indoor winter color. Try potting them, in early November, in 6″ peat pots, 5-7 bulbs per pot. Use regular potting soil mixed 50-50 with coarse, washed builder’s sand. Plant about 2-3″ deep. Water and allow to drain. Hold in a cold bulkhead, breezeway, or shaded area outside, covered with evergreen boughs, where they are likely to stay cold (freezing is OK) and unlikely to freeze and thaw repeatedly. After 12 weeks, place in a bright, cool window. They’ll bloom in 1-2 weeks. Alternatively, keep the potted Daffodils cold until March and then, plant them directly in the ground. This method also works for Crocus, Tulip, Grape Hyacinth, Hyacinth, Scilla, Snowdrops, and Chionodoxa.
• Fun planting tip: For a random, natural effect, stand with your back to your planting bed and toss the Daffodil bulbs over your shoulder behind you. Wherever they land, plant them.

Much of the information that is shared in this blog is derived from personal professional knowledge gained studying and working with plants, and doing the many activities associated with them for more than a quarter of a century. Additional sources of information follow.

Hortus Third-Staff of the L.H. Bailey Hortorium, Cornell University

Manual of Woody Landscape Plants-Michael Dirr

Manual of Herbaceous Ornamental Plants-Steven M. Still

Cape Cod Waterways Face Pollution Crisis-Katie Zezima, The New York Times

Cape Cod’s Sole Source Aquifer-Cape Cod Groundwater Gaurdian Team http://www.capecodgroundwater.org/Cape_Cod_Aquifer.html

Massachusetts Military Reservation – Cleaning Up Upper Cape Cod’s Sole Source Aquifer-CBI Practitioners: Patrick Field  http://cbuilding.org/publication/case/massachusetts-military-reservation-cleaning-upper-cape-cod%E2%80%99s-sole-source-aquifer

The American Daffodil Society

 http://www.daffodilusa.org/daffodils/div.html

Van Engelen Inc.

http://www.vanengelen.com/catview.cgi?_fn=Category&_category=Narcissi

Dutch Crocus (Crocus vernus) Flowers remain closed when shaded, as on this cloudy day. Photo by: Ian S. Hemingway

Dutch Crocus (Crocus vernus)

• Type: Perennial Corm (a bulb-like modified stem), native to Europe and Asia minor, naturalized in much of the U.S.
• Hardiness: Zones 3 to 8
• Uses: Early color for planting beds, lawns, naturalizing, woodland drifts, containers, rock gardens, and forcing indoors.
• Size: 4″ to 6″.
• Growth rate: Slow. Multiplies and spreads over time as corms increase, and by self seeding. Great for naturalizing.
• Light: Full sun to part shade.  Plantings in the light shade of deciduous trees will usually thrive, as they will receive adequate light to sustain them before the trees leaf out.  
• Soil: Moist, well drained (even gravelly) soil is best. Persistently wet areas will rot the bulbs. Plant bulbs in fall, at a depth of three times the height of the bulb, or purchase in late winter, “up and growing” in peat containers which may planted directly in the ground or displayed as is.
• Flower: Blooms in late winter/early spring. Flowers are large, upward facing, and cup-like with six tepals (indistinguishable petals and sepals), and come in white, yellow, gold, maroon, lavender, purple, blue, and striped.  Widely hybridized.
  

  Dutch Crocus (Crocus vernus) The sun is coming out! Photo by: Ian S. Hemingway

• Fruit: A pod, containing several seeds, forms as the tepals drop. Many cultivars seed freely, and naturalize.
• Leaf: Grass-like, green with white stripe along the midrib. Forms clumps.
• Cultivars:  ’Jeanne d’Arc’ - bears clear white flowers, ‘Pickwick’ - a popular cultivar with striped lilac flowers, ‘Yellow Mamouth’ - has large yellow flowers, ‘ Early Perfection’ – early blooming with violet flowers,  ’Grand Maitre’ – lilac purple flowers. These are just a few of the numerous cultivars.
• Note: Corms are sometimes dug up and eaten, or buried elsewhere, by mice, chipmunks, or squirrels. Plants sometimes vanish, or pop up in surprising places.
  

  Dutch Crocus (Crocus vernus) are widely hybridized, and come in a variety of colors. Photo by: Ian S. Hemingway

• Additional notes: Dutch Crocus are easy and fun to force for indoor winter color. Try potting them, in early November, in 4″ or 6″ peat pots. Use about 5-7 corms in 4″ pots, or 9-11 corms in 6″ pots. Use regular potting soil mixed 50-50 with coarse, washed builder’s sand.  Plant about 2″ deep. Water and allow to drain. Hold in a cold bulkhead, breezeway, or shaded area outside, covered with evergreen boughs, where they are likely to stay cold and unlikely to freeze and thaw repeatedly. After 12 weeks, place in a bright, cool window. They’ll bloom in 1-2 weeks. Alternatively, keep them cold until March and then, plant them directly in the ground. This method also works for Daffodil, Tulip, Grape Hyacinth, Hyacinth, Scilla, Snowdrops, and Chionodoxa.
• Fun planting tip: For a random, natural effect, stand with your back to your planting bed and toss some Crocus corms over your shoulder behind you.  Wherever they land, plant a cluster of 5-9 corms.

Blue Holly  (Ilex x meserveae)

Blue Princess® Holly (Ilex x meserveae ‘Blue Princess’) with fruit in late summer. Photo by Ian S. Hemingway

• Type: Hybrid Broadleaved Evergreen Shrub
• Hardiness: Zones 5 to 8
• Uses: Specimen, foundation plantings, massing, understory, hedging, or screening. May be formal or informal. Responds well to pruning. Provides food and cover for birds. Consider planting females in high traffic areas where the fruit may be seen and enjoyed. 
• Size: 3′ x 3′ to 8′ x 8′, depending on cultivar and pruning. Older plants of certain varieties have reached 15′ or more in height.
• Growth rate: Slow to moderate. Male plants generally grow faster than female plants, so it is usually best not to plant them right next to each other. See Cultivars below for more info. Form is pyramidal or rounded, depending on training.
• Light: Full sun to full shade.
• Soil: Prefers moist, humussy, well-drained, slightly acid soil, but is adaptable to less fertile or slightly alkaline soil. Avoid planting in dry, wind-swept locations, or provide supplemental watering in summer, and protection from winter sun and wind (burlap wraps, anti-desiccant sprays).
  

  Bright red fruit of Blue Princess® Holly (Ilex x meserveae 'Blue Princess') Photo by Ian S. Hemingway

   

• Flower: Dioecious. Small creamy-white, somewhat showy flowers bloom heavily May to early June, and lightly in August-early September. The sex of the plant is easy to determine when in flower. Four stamens, bearing bright yellow pollen, are visible on male flowers.  A green, dome-shaped ovary, which becomes the fruit, can be seen at the base of the female flower. Flower buds for the coming year are set in mid-summer (July), so late pruning can reduce flowering for the next spring. A single male produces abundant pollen, and when planted within 300 feet, will pollinate several female plants.  Pollination is primarily by bees and other flying insects.
• Fruit: Female plants only. The green drupe (similar to a berry) ripens to bright red in late summer to fall, and often persists into winter. Fruit is favored by birds and other wildlife.
• Leaf: Leaf is evergreen, dark blue-green, waxy, elliptical, with spiny margins.
• Bark: Smooth, light gray. Young stems are purplish-brown.
  

  Blue Maid® Holly (Ilex x meserveae 'Blue Maid') in the landscape, in late winter. Birds (Robins for the most part) have eaten the fruit! Photo by Ian S. Hemingway

• Cultivars:

 ‘Blue Angel’ is a slow growing, pyramidal, female cultivar. May reach 8′ tall eventually, but can be maintained at 3′ in height for many years. Least cold hardy of the blue hollies. Produces bright red fruit. Use ‘Blue Prince’ or ‘Blue Stallion’ as pollinators.

‘Blue Princess’ is a very hardy, dense, female cultivar. It may reach 15′ in height, but can easily be kept at 4′x4′.  Produces abundant, deep red fruit.  Use ‘Blue Prince’ or ‘Blue Stallion” as pollinators.

‘Blue Maid’ is a vigorous, female cultivar that will quickly reach 6′ to 8′ tall with a max. height in excess of 15′. Produces bright orange-red fruit. Use ‘Blue Prince’ or ‘Blue Stallion’ as pollinators.

‘Blue Prince’ is a handsome, vigorous, male cultivar that flowers heavily,and is therefore an excellent pollinator. It can reach 15′ in height, but can easily be maintained at 4′ to 6′ tall.

‘Blue Stallion’ is faster growing, has a longer blooming period, and the leaf is less spiny than ‘Blue Prince’.

‘Dragon Lady’ is a fast growing, upright, narrowly pyramidal cultivar with very spiny foliage. Will easily reach 20′ tall by 6′ wide. produces red fruit. Use ‘Blue Stallion’ as a pollinator.

‘Honey Maid’ is a moderate growing (6′ x6′), variegated form. Leaf has a creamy-yellow margin and a green center.  Produces red fruit. Use ‘Blue Stallion’ or ‘Blue Prince’ as pollinators.

‘Blue Girl’ and ‘ Blue Boy’ are the original pair of Meserve blue hollies hybridized in the mid 1960′s. While both ‘Blue Boy’ and ‘Blue Girl’ are quality plants, the introduction of the improved ’Blue Prince’ and ‘Blue Princess’ in the 1970s, has displaced them, for the most part, in the trade.

Recently transplanted Mt. Airy Fothergilla in spring. Photo by Ian Hemingway

Dwarf Fothergilla (Fothergilla gardenii) aka Witch Alder

• Type: Native Deciduous Flowering Shrub. Related to Witch Hazel.
• Hardiness: Zones 5-8
• Uses: Foundations, specimen, massing, natural plantings. Beautiful alongside Rhododendron, Mountain Laurel, Summersweet Clethra, and Leucothoe.
• Size: 3 to 6 feet tall by 4′ wide. Suckers over time to create colonies.
• Growth rate: Slow to moderate.
• Light: Full sun to shade. Does well in the dappled light of understory plantings.
• Soil: Prefers moist, well-drained, hummussy, acid soil, but is adaptable.
• Flower: White bottle brush, late April-early May, prior to leaf-out. Showy, and lightly fragrant.
  

  Mt. Airy Fothergilla in Fall. Photo by: Ian Hemingway

• Fruit: Green to brown capsule, not ornamentally significant.
• Leaf: Alternate. Bronze leaves emerge after flowering, becoming blue green in color and broadly ovate with serrated margins. Fall leaf color ranges from a beautiful golden yellow to brilliant orange-red with hints of pink and purple.
• Bark: The smooth, chocolate brown bark is lovely in winter, especially with a back drop of snow and when viewed up close.
• Cultivars: ‘Mount Airy’ is distinctly upright in habit, floriferous, has deep blue-green leaves during the growing season and reliably superior fall color. Arguably the best cultivar of Fothergilla. May be a cross between Fothergilla major and F. gardenii.  
  

  Mt. Airy Fothergilla leaf in Fall. Photo by: Ian Hemingway

Inkberry Holly (Ilex glabra 'Nordic') Photoby: I. Hemingway

• Type: Native Broadleaved Evergreen Shrub
• Uses: Foundation plantings, massing, screening, evergreen accent in a mixed boarder, natural plantings, food and cover for wildlife, especially birds, wet and seashore locations. Spreads by underground stolons. Often forms colonies over time 
• Size: 4′ to 10′ tall and wide, depending on cultivar, conditions and culture.
• Growth rate: Slow, perhaps 6″ per year.
• Light: Full sun to moderate shade.
• Soil: Adaptable. Prefers moist, humussy, well-drained, acid soil, but will tolerate clay, wet, even boggy, or dry, sandy conditions. Is salt tolerant.
  

  Inkberry Holly (Ilex glabra 'Nordic') Leaves Photoby: I. Hemingway

• Flowers: Dioecious, greenish white, not showy, in spring.
• Fruit: Small, black drupe ripens in the fall (female plants only), and persist well into winter. Not immensely ornamental. Fruit is favored by birds and other wildlife.
• Leaf: Lusterous, medium to dark green, spineless, about 1.5″ long and .5″ wide. Fine textured in the landscape when compared to most evergreen hollies. Surprisingly winter sun and wind tolerant, but leaves will burn if the conditions are right. Young, drought stricken, exposed plants are often the first to burn. Inkberry may thin, resulting in the bottom half of the plant becoming bare over time, but this can be mitigated somewhat with proper pruning, and increased light. Shearing the top of the plant will exacerbate thinning below due to decreased light penetration.
  

  Inkberry Holly (Ilex glabra 'Shamrock') Photoby: I. Hemingway

• Bark: Smooth, light gray.
• Cultivars: ‘Shamrock’: A popular compact selection that matures to 5′x5′. Bright green, new growth, shows well against the darker green, older leaves. Reported to hold it’s lower leaves better than the species.  ‘Compacta’: A female selection that produces abundant, black fruit. Rounded form, maturing to 4′ to 6′.  ‘Nordic’: A very cold hardy, pyramidal form, with dark green color that matures to 5′. ‘Ivory Queen’: A female form with white fruit, and dense, dark green, leathery foliage that matures to 8′ tall and 12′ wide. 
  

  Inkberry Holly (Ilex glabra 'Nordic') Photoby: I. Hemingway

Burning Bush (Euonymus alatus) in early fall. Photo by: Ian Hemingway

• Type: Invasive, deciduous shrub. Native to Eastern Asia including Japan, China, and Korea. Importation, sale, and distribution is prohibited in Massachusetts.
• Uses: Commonly used for hedging, massing, and foundation plantings. Popular for its bright red (burning) fall color, red fruit, and nearly indestructible nature.
• Size: Grows 8 to15 feet tall and wide. Compact variety matures to about 4′ by 4′.
• Growth rate: Slow to moderate.
  

  Burning Bush (Euonymus alatus) aka Winged Euonymus leaves in fall. Photo by: Ian Hemingway

• Light:  Sun or shade adaptable. Able to survive, and produce seed, even when growing in the dense shade of wooded areas.
• Soil: Adaptable.
• Flowers: Greenish-white, inconspicuous, born in spring.
• Fruit: Bright red capsule, forming in late summer, and ripening in fall. Often persists on the plant well into winter. Fruit is favored by birds, and is spread via droppings.
• Leaf: Flat green in summer, bright red in fall, 2-3″ long by 1-1.5″ wide, elliptical with a pointed apex. 
  

  Burning Bush (Euonymus alatus) aka Winged Euonymus "winged" stem. Photo by: Ian Hemingway

• Bark: Gray or light brown with corky “wings” running along younger stems.
• Cultivars: “Compacta” is a popular dwarf form.

Additional notes: Despite its popularity, Burning Bush (Euonymus alatus), and its cultivars, are illegal to import, sell, or distribute in Massachusetts. Birds eat the seeds, and distribute them widely. The plant multiplies, crowding out, and eventually overwhelming, important native species. Fortunately, there are some great native alternatives to Burning bush that provide food for birds, and show excellent fall color. These include: Highbush Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum), Red Chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia), Black Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa), Redosier Dogwood (Cornus sericea), Gray Dogwood (Cornus racemosa), Fragrant Sumac (Rhus aromatica), and Virginia Sweetspire (Itea virginica).