A truly elegant Japanese Maple, award-winning Acer palmatum 'Elegans' is a compact, nicely branched, deciduous tree with deeply divided and serrated long leaves, which emerge soft green with salmon pink tones in spring. Its delicate palmate foliage turns mid-green in summer before providing a colorful show in the fall that ranges between golden-yellow, orange, and red. 'Elegans' features a very graceful, upright, open habit and its small stature makes it a perfect specimen for small gardens.

A favorite of many gardeners - and deservedly so - Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle' (Smooth Hydrangea) is an outstanding flowering shrub. In early summer, this small, bushy deciduous shrub produces huge, rounded flower clusters, up to 12 in. across (30 cm), that brighten shady areas and bring life to the garden. Blooming for up to two months, the blossoms open lime-green, mature to brilliant white, then back to pale green in late summer before switching to a tan shade in the fall. Prized for its excellent resistance to insects and diseases, Annabelle is a good choice for the mixed border. The flowers make great cut flowers, fresh or dried.

Compact, Buxus sempervirens 'Suffruticosa' (Boxwood) is a small, slow-growing, broadleaf evergreen shrub with a soft and lush foliage of ovate, fairly glossy leaves, up to 1 in. long (2 cm). Tough, hardy and easy to grow, this dwarf Boxwood provides color year-round, as well as form, texture and contrast to its companion plants.

Resembling long, feathery Ostrich plumes, Matteuccia struthiopteris (Ostrich Fern) is an elegant, upright to arching, deciduous fern with showy, finely dissected, fresh green sterile fronds. Emerging at the base of the plant in spring, they gracefully unfurl until they depreciate over summer and lose their leaflets later in the fall, as the plant goes dormant for the winter. They surround shorter, brownish fertile fronds which will persist into winter. Low maintenance, pest and disease free, Ostrich Fern is a great asset for the bog garden!

Reliable and free flowering, Astilbe 'Bridal Veil' (Astilbe arendsii) is a compact, clump-forming perennial boasting ivory white flowers held in luminous, pyramidal plumes, which stand out in the night garden. Blooming in early to mid-summer, each plume consists of hundreds of densely packed tiny flowers opening in succession for a long-lasting floral display. They are held on sturdy stems and rise above an attractive mound of fern-like, deep green, glossy leaves. Long-lasting, the flower plumes turn a rich caramel color which provides winter interest to the garden. This robust Astilbe is relatively trouble-free, requires little maintenance, is heavy shade tolerant, and attracts butterflies but is deer and rabbit resistant. The perfect perennial for a shady border with dappled light.

Rich with a delightful fragrance, Rhododendron 'Daviesii' is a beautiful, compact, deciduous azalea producing elegant, funnel-shaped, creamy-white flowers with a yellow flare. Opening from pink buds in late spring to early summer, the highly fragrant blossoms contrast beautifully with the handsome foliage of bluish-green leaves. 'Daviesii' belongs to the Ghent Hybrid Azaleas, which are hardy deciduous shrubs derived from Rhododendron luteum and various American species. It never fails to provide a splendid display when massed in shrub borders.

Hosta 'Fortunei aureomarginata' (Gold-Edged Plantain Lily) forms an attractive, dense mound of broad, heart-shaped, basal, mid-green leaves, 8-10 in, long (20-25cm), with conspicuous veins and irregular golden yellow margins. Racemes of funnel-shaped, mauve flowers appear in mid and late summer on scapes rising well above the foliage to 3 ft. tall (90 cm). But the primary contribution of this hosta is its lovely foliage which brings some color to shady areas.