The January Plant of the Month, Eastern Red Cedar, Juniperus virginiana, goes by many names such as Eastern Juniper, Red Cedar or even Pencil Juniper. This widespread handsome native tree is found from Nova Scotia and Ontario south to northern Florida and Texas and west across the Great Plains and is extremely cold and heat tolerant.

Sassafras, Sassafras albidum, is one of our most distinctive and colorful native deciduous trees. Its brilliance is especially vibrant in fall when its leaves ignite into a glorious kaleidoscope of reds, golds, oranges and even purples. Even in summer, the blue-green leaves of Sassafras are distinctive with three different leaf shapes on a single tree.

Slender Flat-top Goldenrod is a beautiful deciduous, perennial closely related to goldenrods and is an underused but superior pollinator plant. Its nectar-rich flowers bloom over a long period from September into late fall, often lasting into November or even December.

Bushy Bluestem, also called Bushy Bluebeard, is a compact, beautiful native grass often reaching only 2 – 4’ high, with attractive foliage and distinctive dense, feathery inflorescences that glow silvery white with pinkish tints in the fall light.

Spotted Beebalm or Eastern Horsemint is an eye-catcher with plenty of charm when it blooms from late July to September and is easy to fall in love with.  The flowers are not quite as large and impressive as some other Beebalms but they make up for it with intricately beautiful and showy flowers.

Pickerelweed is a standout in any garden pond, or freshwater coastal stream or river when its showy lavender­blue flowers are held above the foliage on tall stems. This perennial grows in shallow water where it tolerates up to 2’ of occasional flooding but prefers less than one foot of water.

Royal Fern, Osmunda spectabilis, is one of our most imposing native ferns and is distinctive in every way. Growing 5 or 6’ tall with a light textured, elegant habit it is nothing short of spectacular.

Virginia Sweetspire, Itea virginica, is a stunning deciduous to semi-evergreen shrub and the perfect choice for our May Plant of the Month as the long racemes of white flowers are just beginning to open on this first day of May.

Carolina or Yellow Jessamine, Gelsemium sempervirens, is a stunning evergreen vine native to the southern United States and Mexico south to Guatemala. In Virginia, Carolina Jessamine is a coastal beauty, common along the southern and central Coastal Plain north to Lancaster and Northampton Counties but rare in the adjacent outer Piedmont.