Powerhouse Plants: 510 Top Performers for Multi-Season Beauty
Money’s tight. Who can afford to buy a plant that does only one thing? Sure, a shrub may have gorgeous spring flowers, but if it fades into the background the rest of the year, it’s not pulling its full garden weight. Rice catalogs more than 500 overachieving plants that bring multitasking glory to gardens both large and small. From the tactile magnetism of the exfoliating bark sported by the aptly named paperbark maple to the eye-catching allure of a red-twig dogwood’s crimson twigs, plants with multiple-appeal factors of fall color, winter interest, spring blossoms, and summer fragrance make economical and horticultural sense. Answering his own gardening mantra, What else does it do?, Rice’s encyclopedic compendium of high-performing annuals, bulbs, shrubs, deciduous trees, perennials, grasses, and conifers highlights his personal favorite cultivars and lists suitable alternatives. Concise care and habit information is augmented by captivating color photographs by Judy White that showcase these hardworking, must-have garden standouts. --Carol Haggas