Hetz Wintergreen Arborvitae is primarily valued in the landscape for its rigidly columnar form. It has dark green evergreen foliage. The scale-like sprays of foliage remain dark green throughout the winter.

Switch Grass is a prairie native from the Great Lakes region that brings easy, four-season beauty to the sunny garden—and genuine ecological value along with it. From summer into fall, its upright clumps of dark green blades support airy clouds of fine-textured flower panicles that catch the light and move beautifully in a breeze. Come autumn, the foliage transitions through warm shades of yellow-gold and copper-bronze before settling into tawny buff tones that persist through winter. Birds flock to the seed heads for reliable late-season forage, giving this grass genuine wildlife value beyond its good looks. It forms a tidy, non-spreading clump reaching three to five feet tall and handles challenging conditions with remarkable equanimity—drought, black walnut, deer, and erosion-prone slopes are no match for it. Mass plant it in a meadow-style border or naturalized area for maximum impact with minimum effort.

Meet the 2027 Perennial Plant of the Year: Vernonia 'Summer's Swan Song'

The Perennial Plant Association has named its 2027 pick, and it's rooted in our own backyard in the Chicagoland area — this nativar hybrid ironweed was developed by Dr. Jim Ault, former Director of Ornamental Plant Research at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Deep purple blooms arrive in late summer and carry through fall, creating an eye-catching element in your garden as season transitions.

Compact and well-branched, 'Summer's Swan Song' holds its shape in borders and foundation plantings without flopping. Established plants handle dry conditions with ease and shrug off powdery mildew and rust — a sustainable choice for feeding pollinators all season long.

Northern Bayberry is a rugged native shrub prized for the clusters of waxy, aromatic gray-blue berries that cling to branches all winter and have been used for centuries to make fragrant candles. Exceptionally adaptable, it thrives in poor, sandy, and salty soils where most shrubs struggle, making it a go-to for coastal plantings, windswept slopes, and erosion control. The aromatic semi-evergreen foliage holds late into fall before giving way to persistent berry clusters that cedar waxwings, yellow-rumped warblers, and other birds rely on for cold-season fuel. Deer, rabbit, pest, and disease resistant — tolerant of salt, Black Walnut root competition, and difficult ground — it spreads into effective colonies and earns its keep in hedges, mass plantings, and naturalized areas.

Blue Flag Iris rewards the water’s edge with elegant, true-blue blooms veined in violet and gold, unfurling atop sword-like foliage from late spring into summer. Native to eastern North America, it’s perfectly at home in the damp ground along a pond, stream, or rain garden where many perennials struggle. Reaching two to three feet tall in tidy upright clumps, it brings vertical structure to a sunny border and its blooms are lovely cut for the vase. Butterflies work the flowers, while its spreading roots make it a natural choice for stabilizing soil along banks and slopes. It asks for steady moisture and full sun, and is seldom browsed by deer or rabbits and untroubled by pests or disease. Plant it in a bold drift at the pond’s margin for a sweep of early-summer blue.

Arnold Promise Witchhazel is bathed in stunning fragrant yellow strap-like flowers with red calyces along the branches from late winter to early spring before the leaves. It has green deciduous foliage. The serrated round leaves turn an outstanding yellow in the fall.

A male deciduous holly with an upright and dense growth habit, ideal for pollinating female fruit-bearing varieties; suckers into colonies; prefers moist to wet highly acidic soils, good for problem areas; excellent when massed

Jim Dandy Winterberry has dark green foliage throughout the season. The pointy leaves do not develop any appreciable fall color. Neither the flowers nor the fruit are ornamentally significant.

Jim Dandy Winterberry is a dense multi-stemmed deciduous shrub with a shapely oval form. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition.

This shrub will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and is best pruned in late winter once the threat of extreme cold has passed. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Jim Dandy Winterberry is recommended for the following landscape applications;

New Vintage Terra Cotta Yarrow brings warm, earthy richness to the summer and fall border with flat-topped flower clusters in a nuanced blend of orange, amber, and copper tones. The color deepens and mellows beautifully as the season progresses, delivering a sophisticated palette that complements both traditional and contemporary garden designs. Feathery, fragrant foliage forms a sturdy upright clump that holds its shape without staking. This low-water, heat-tolerant perennial is genuinely tough—deer and rabbit resistant, drought tolerant, and happy in challenging, dry soils. Excellent for cutting and drying; butterflies are reliable visitors throughout the season.

In early summer, Tufted Hair Grass erupts into a shimmering cloud of fine, airy flower panicles that catch the light and sway with the slightest breeze, lending soft movement to the garden. Below, it forms a neat, fountain-like clump of slender deep-green blades that stays tidy throughout the season. A cool-season grass native to our region’s moist meadows and open woods, it settles easily into local gardens and thrives with steady, moderate moisture. The golden seed heads hold their beauty into fall and feed visiting songbirds, while its fibrous roots make it a fine choice for stabilizing slopes. Deer and rabbits pass it by, so the planting stays full and graceful. Sweep it through a bed as a flowing groundcover, or let a single clump shine as a textural accent.

Blue Ice Bog Rosemary features dainty nodding white bell-shaped flowers with shell pink overtones at the ends of the branches from mid to late spring. It has attractive powder blue evergreen foliage. The needles are highly ornamental and remain powder blue throughout the winter.

Coral Bells, Dolce Toffee Tart is a stunning mounded perennial with foliage that emerges amber-orange and matures to rich gold tones. Delicate creamy white flowers bloom on tall scapes during midsummer, adding elegant height and contrast. Perfect for partially shaded beds, borders, and containers, this variety brings year-round color and texture to your garden. Its compact, mounding habit makes it ideal for mixed plantings and landscape designs.

The Crimson Comet Buttonbush is a fantastic addition to any garden or landscape. With its vibrant red foliage and unique spherical flowers, this plant is sure to stand out. Its beauty is not the only benefit, as it is also a great option for attracting beneficial insects and pollinators. The compact size of the Crimson Comet Buttonbush also makes it a great choice for small gardens and containers.

Common Persimmon is a beautiful native tree that doubles as an edible landscape specimen, offering ornamental merit across all four seasons alongside a generous harvest of sweet, richly flavored orange fruit in fall. Growing to an impressive 30–40 feet with an upright habit in full sun, it makes a striking specimen in a larger yard or naturalized setting. The fruit is best after a frost has softened the flesh and converted the starches to sugar — the result is a deeply sweet, honey-like flavor that’s exceptional fresh or dried. Vivid orange and gold fall foliage is among the most brilliant of any native tree. Fully resistant to deer, rabbits, insects, and disease, it supports birds and wildlife generously and tolerates Black Walnut. A durable, deeply rewarding tree for any landscape that has room for its full, impressive presence.

Marmalade® Potentilla features showy orange flowers at the ends of the branches from early summer to mid fall. It has dark green deciduous foliage. The small ferny compound leaves do not develop any appreciable fall color.

Rosin Plant is a true prairie original, prized by gardeners who love a landscape with authentic native character. A Midwest prairie native, it forms sturdy, upright clumps of bold green foliage that hold their presence from spring through summer. It settles in happily in full sun with average moisture and, once rooted, stands up to heat and lean soil with classic prairie resilience. Deer and rabbits typically leave it alone, making it an easygoing choice for naturalized plantings and restoration-style gardens. Use it as a structural accent among grasses and other natives, where its upright form lends height and backbone to the planting. It’s a wonderful way to bring a piece of the tallgrass prairie home.

Plum Rosy False Indigo is a stunning Baptisia with upright spikes of rosy-pink pea-like flowers that emerge in spring above fresh blue-green foliage. As a Great Lakes native and deep-rooted perennial, it takes a few seasons to establish but rewards patience with decades of increasingly impressive performance. Growing 3 to 5 feet tall and wide, it forms a substantial, shrub-like clump that looks beautiful even when not in bloom—the blue-green foliage provides a refined backdrop for summer companions, and the inflated seed pods add ornamental interest into fall. Deer resistant, drought tolerant once established, and Juglone tolerant. One of the most long-lived and distinguished perennials for the native garden.

Dart's Gold Ninebark features showy clusters of white flowers at the ends of the branches from late spring to early summer. It has attractive chartreuse deciduous foliage which emerges gold in spring. The serrated lobed leaves are highly ornamental and turn an outstanding orange in the fall. It produces red capsules from early to mid fall. The peeling tan bark adds an interesting dimension to the landscape.

Generally, you would need both a male and female bittersweet plant to get the much loved orange berries, but you’ll only need one with Autumn Revolution^™ Bittersweet. This beloved native vine is covered in green leaves in the summer and joined by gorgeous orange berries that form in the late summer and get their color in early fall. The berries on Autumn Revolution^™ are twice the size of other bittersweet varieties and are great for cut arrangements and other DIY crafts. The berries that aren’t used for crafts in the fall provide wonderful winter interest.

Red Buckeye features showy spikes of ruby-red flowers rising above the foliage from early to mid spring. It has dark green deciduous foliage. The palmate leaves do not develop any appreciable fall color.

Leaflets velvety on the lower surface, margins frequently almost parallel are often abruptly rounded at both ends and with a notch at the tip. Flowers small, purple to dark blue with yellow stamens extending beyond the single petal, crowded in narrow, 3-6 in., spike-like clusters at or near the ends of the branchlets, appearing from April to June.

Staghorn Sumac is a bold, architectural native that earns its name from the velvety, antler-like branches that give the plant a distinctive year-round presence. The dramatic tropical-looking compound leaves — sometimes 18–24 inches long — turn an extraordinary range of scarlet, orange, and gold in autumn, making this one of the most spectacular fall color shrubs native to the Great Lakes region. Dense, upright cones of deep red velvet fruit persist through winter, drawing birds and providing an ornamental focal point when the landscape is otherwise bare. Exceptionally tough, drought tolerant once established, and spreading naturally into colonies, it’s ideal for naturalizing slopes, banks, and areas where erosion control with a native plant is the goal.

Ground Hug® Aronia brings all the outstanding native virtues of chokeberry in a uniquely low, trailing form that hugs the ground at under a foot tall while spreading 3–5 feet wide — perfect for slopes, banks, and problem areas that need coverage without bulk. Clusters of white spring flowers draw butterflies and native bees, followed by glossy black berries that attract birds and provide important wildlife forage through fall. The glossy foliage turns vivid red-burgundy in autumn for a striking seasonal display, making this workhorse native beautiful in every season. Native to the Great Lakes region, deer and rabbit resistant, and tolerant of Black Walnut root competition and erosion, it’s an outstanding choice for naturalizing difficult ground.

Jewel Black Raspberry is the premier black raspberry variety for home gardeners, producing large, glossy, intensely flavored black berries with a rich, deep sweetness that red raspberries simply can’t match. The trailing canes grow 3–5 feet tall and benefit from support on a trellis or stake in a sunny border or fruiting bed for the best berry production. White spring flowers attract pollinators before the fruit sets in early summer, and birds are enthusiastic competitors for the harvest. Disease resistant and cold-hardy, Jewel is a reliable and productive choice for the home edible garden. The foliage turns warm red-burgundy and copper-bronze in fall, adding a seasonal ornamental note. A delicious, distinctive variety that earns its devoted following among berry enthusiasts.