Osmanthus × burkwoodii

Source: OSU Department of Horticulture

Botanical Name: Osmanthus × burkwoodii
Common Name: Burkwood Osmanthus
Family: Oleaceae
Type of Plant: Broadleaf evergreen shrub
Habit: Bushy shrub
Growth Rate: Slow
10-Year Height: < 6'
Mature Height: 8'
Leaves: Opposite, ovate to ovate-elliptic, tip narrow acute, base rounded to wedge-shaped (cuntate), margin slightly toothed, glossy, bright green.
Flowers: White, small, short tubular, 4-lobed, fragrant, similar to those of O. delavayi, cover the plant in spring.
Fruit: Seldomed produced, blue to purple, small, oval.
Buds/New Growth: 
Stem/Bark: 
Culture: Sun to part shade.
Pruning: 
Pests/Diseases: 
Landscape Uses: Good hedge. Mixed shrub border.
Additional Information: Easy to grow. A hybrid between O. delavayi and O. decorus produced in England before 1928. Osmanthus: from Greek osme, fragrance, and anthos, flowers. burkwoodii: after Burkwood and Shipwith nursery in England, the raisers.

Osmanthus delavayi

Botanical Name: Osmanthus delavayi
Common Name: Delavay Osmanthus
Family: Oleaceae
Type of Plant: Broadleaf evergreen shrub
Habit: Shrub with twiggy growth, well covered by foliage, neat, with graceful arching branches.
Growth Rate: 
10-Year Height: < 6'
Mature Height: 6' - 8'
Leaves: Opposite, simple, ovate, small, finely toothed, glossy dark green.
Flowers: White, numerous, small, 4 reflexed lobes, fragrant.
Fruit: Blue-black mature fruit.
Buds/New Growth: 
Stem/Bark: 
Culture: Sun or shade.
Pruning: 
Pests/Diseases: 
Landscape Uses: 
Additional Information: Native to western and southwestern China. Osmanthus: from Greek osme, fragrance, and anthos, flowers. delavayi: after Abbè Jean Marie Delavay (1838-95), French missionary in China who introduced it to France in 1890.

Euonymus alatus ‘Compactus’

Source: OSU Department of Horticulture

Botanical Name: Euonymus alatus ‘Compactus’
Common Name: Burning Bush; Winged Euonymus
Family: Celastraceae
Type of Plant: Deciduous shrub
Habit: Dense, rounded form, formal "aristocratic" look, flat-topped.
Growth Rate: Slow
10-Year Height: < 6'
Mature Height: 8' - 10'
Leaves: Opposite to sub-opposite, elliptic to obovate, acute, finely serrate, acuminate. Bright red fall color.
Flowers: Perfect, yellow-green, 3-flowered cyme, each flower 4-petaled. April-May.
Fruit: Reddish-purple, ovoid, fruits borne under foliage.
Buds/New Growth: Imbricate, green-red-brown, 6 to 8 pairs of bud scales, conical, ovoid, acute, glabrous, strongly divergent, actually bringing the continuous wing.
Stem/Bark: Stem green to brown with 2- to 4-armed, prominent corky ridges. Generally the more vigorous shoots have the biggest wings.
Culture: Sun to part shade
Pruning: 
Pests/Diseases: 
Landscape Uses: Mixed shrub border, summer hedge, focal point (especially in fall)
Additional Information: alatus: winged, the shoots.

Skimmia japonica

Source: OSU Department of Horticulture

Botanical Name: Skimmia japonica
Common Name: Japanese Skimmia
Family: Rutaceae
Type of Plant: Evergreen shrub
Habit: Dense, rounded to haystack-shaped, evergreen shrub of rather gentle proportions.
Growth Rate: Slow
10-Year Height: < 6'
Mature Height: 2' - 3'
Leaves: Alternate, simple, evergreen, crowded at end of branches and appearing whorled, elliptic-oblong to oblong-obovate, bright green upon emerging, finally dark green above, entire, glabrous, peppery citrus smell when bruised. Petiole short, glabrous, reddish purple.
Flowers: Dioecious. Glossy maroon-red in bud, creamy white when open, weakly fragrant, borne in 2-3" long upright panicles. March-April. Flowers on male plants larger and more fragrant.
Fruit: Only on female plant, bright red, globose drupe that ripens in October and persists into the following spring. Fruit is borne at end of shoots in panicles. About 1 male to 6 males is necessary for good fruit set.
Buds/New Growth: Imbricate, covered in with red scales, glabrous.
Stem/Bark: Stem stout, green with an overcast of reddish purple, glabrous, spicy fragrant when bruised. Pith: ample, excavated, green.
Culture: Part shade to shade.
Pruning: 
Pests/Diseases: Skimmia mites.
Landscape Uses: Shade garden.
Additional Information: 

Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Sungold'

Source: OSU Department of Horticulture

Botanical Name: Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Sungold'
Common Name: Sungold False Cypress
Family: Cupressaceae
Type of Plant: Evergreen conifer
Habit: Loose, open shrub with numerous branchlets in slender feathery sprays.
Growth Rate: Medium
10-Year Height: < 6'
Mature Height: 3' - 5'
Leaves: Scale-like, golden color, thread-like branchlets, sharp pointed. White markings on underside.
Flowers: Monoecious. Insignificant.
Fruit: Cones look like shriveled peas. Crowded, short-stalked.
Buds/New Growth: 
Stem/Bark: Thread-like branchlets. Bark is rather smooth, reddish brown.
Culture: Full sun
Pruning: 
Pests/Diseases: 
Landscape Uses: Foundation plant, rock garden, specimen, somewhere that needs color.
Additional Information: 

Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Gracilis'

Source: OSU Department of Horticulture

Botanical Name: Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Gracilis'
Common Name: Slender Hinoki False Cypress
Family: Cupressaceae
Type of Plant: Evergreen conifer
Habit: Has a sculpted look, with cup-like and blunt branchlets.
Growth Rate: Slow
10-Year Height: < 6'
Mature Height: 12' - 20'
Leaves: Closely pressed, scale-like, white X and Y markings on underside, cupped branchlets. Dieback on inside in winter.
Flowers: Monecious. Insignificant.
Fruit: Soccer ball cones, short-stalked.
Buds/New Growth: 
Stem/Bark: Reddish brown, shed in long narrow strips.
Culture: Full sun.
Pruning: 
Pests/Diseases: 
Landscape Uses: Woodland edge, alpine garden, specimen, foundation plant, line softener.
Additional Information: obtusa: blunt, the leaves

Chamaecyparis nootkatensis 'Pendula'

Source: OSU Department of Horticulture

Botanical Name: Chamaecyparis nootkatensis 'Pendula'
Common Name: Weeping Alaska Cedar
Family: Cupressaceae
Type of Plant: Evergreen conifer
Habit: Upright, weepy, "wizard sleeves"
Growth Rate: Medium
10-Year Height: > 10'
Mature Height: 30' - 45'
Leaves: Closely pressed, same color on both sides, scale-like, feather-like leaflet, usually not glandular, gray-green to bluish green, rank-smelling when crushed.
Flowers: Monecious. April-May
Fruit: Male: creamy white tips. Female: Round and woody. Cones are like soccer balls: globose, with 4 (6) scales furnished with a triangular pointed boss, ripen in second year.
Buds/New Growth: 
Stem/Bark: Branches usually pendulous. Reddish brown bark.
Culture: Full sun.
Pruning: 
Pests/Diseases: 
Landscape Uses: Specimen, focal point, screen, woodland edge, native area.
Additional Information: 

Kerria japonica 'Pleniflora'

Botanical Name: Kerria japonica 'Pleniflora'
Common Name: Japanese Kerria
Family: Rosaceae
Type of Plant: Deciduous shrub
Habit: Arching, lanky, suckers profusely
Growth Rate: Fast
10-Year Height: < 6'
Mature Height: 6-8'
Leaves: Alternate, simple, double serrated, pleated, olive green, impressed veins.
Flowers: Double, bright yellow flowers that are ball-shaped.
Fruit: 
Buds/New Growth: Imbricate, greenish brown, glabrous, zig-zag stem
Stem/Bark: Distinct yellowish green to bright green in winter.
Culture: Full shade to full sun, but works best in part shade.
Pruning: After flowering.
Pests/Diseases: 
Landscape Uses: Woodland edge, mixed shrub border.
Additional Information: Can be invasive.

Pyrus calleryana

Botanical Name: Pyrus calleryana
Common Name: Callery Pear
Family:Rosaceae
Type of Plant: Deciduous tree
Habit: Fastigiated
Growth Rate: Fast
10-Year Height: > 10', > 20'
Mature Height: 30-40'
Leaves: Alternate, simple, leathery, and lustrous lime green. Foliage can develop a spectacular reddish-purple in fall.
Flowers: White, borne in cymes, 5 petals. March-April.
Fruit: Small rounded pome. 1/2" or less across, russet-dotted, hidden by foliage. Marble-sized, drag olive green.
Buds/New Growth: Shaggy, imbricate, terminal buds.
Stem/Bark: Trunk bark is slightly furrowed and grayish brown at maturity. Lenticels. Thorns. Lots of spurs.
Culture: Sun.
Pruning: 
Pests/Diseases: 
Landscape Uses: Good street tree.
Additional Information: 

Prunus cerasifera 'Thundercloud'

Botanical Name: Prunus cerasifera 'Thundercloud'
Common Name: Thundercloud Plum
Family: Rosaceae
Type of Plant: Deciduous tree
Habit: Shrubby, twiggy, rounded
Growth Rate:  fast
10-Year Height: > 10'
Mature Height: 20-30'
Leaves: Alternate, simple, ovate, elliptic or obovate, apex pointed, coppery purple, serrated margins.
Flowers: Single, pink, flowers before leaves, fragrant, perfect, solitary. 5 petals. March-April
Fruit: Edible. Size of ping-pong ball.
Buds/New Growth: 
Stem/Bark: No lenticels. Charcoal black bark.
Culture: Sun.
Pruning: After flowering to keep tree vigorous. In February and June, prune watersprouts.
Pests/Diseases: 
Landscape Uses: Accent tree. Street tree.
Additional Information: Short-lived: 40-60 years.

Daphne x transatlantica 'Summer Ice'

Botanical Name: Daphne x transatlantica 'Summer Ice'
Common Name: Summer Ice Hybrid Daphne
Family: Thymelaeaceae
Type of Plant: Evergreen (in PNW) shrub
Habit: Rounded, shrubby
Growth Rate: medium
10-Year Height: < 6'
Mature Height: 3-4'
Leaves: Alternate, white margins. Smaller, thinner, less rubbery than D. odora. Pubescent on underside. Rounded apex.
Flowers: Soft, pink flowers with light fragrance. May-June
Fruit: 
Buds/New Growth: Leaf scars
Stem/Bark: 
Culture: Full sun
Pruning: 
Pests/Diseases: 
Landscape Uses: Mixed shrub border, foundation plant, somewhere the fragrance can be appreciated.
Additional Information: Sap may irritate skin. All parts of plant are toxic if ingested.