Going Local: Use Regional Plants and Flowers When Planning Your Garden

This country home needed a colorful but low landscape because of the dual walkways and wide porch.  A combination of low evergreens, colorful perennials and low shrubs were used to create this welcoming entry way.

Boxwood hedges frame the staircase leading to the front entry of this Washington, D.C. home.

Landscape artists Blake Dunlevy and Gina Benincasa of Dunlevy Landscapers in Barnesville, Maryland used azaleas and peonies for color in the front yard of this estate in Washington D.C.

Also known as ironwood, eastern hornbeam is a lovely tree that offers multi-season interest in Northeastern gardens. Male flowers, or catkins, linger on trees well into winter. Female flowers resemble hops. A woody fruiting capsule contains tiny nutlets favored by birds like grouse, pheasant and songbirds. The wood of hornbeam was prized by colonists for its strength and graced many tool handles and sleigh runners. This tree is hardy in Zones 4 to 8.