Gold dust dracaena

English ivy is a self-clinging evergreen vine and groundcover native to most of Europe and western Asia, from Ireland east to Ukraine and Iran. In North American gardens it excels as a fast-spreading groundcover under trees, a wall-climber, and a container trailer - valued for its year-round dark-green lobed foliage and exceptional shade tolerance. The honest catch is the plant's aggressiveness: without active management it smothers groundcover competitors, escapes into woodlands via bird-dispersed berries, and is listed as a noxious weed in Oregon and Washington; all parts are toxic to people and pets.

Heather, or ling (Calluna vulgaris), is the low, wiry evergreen shrub that colours the moors and heaths of Europe purple in late summer. It grows only 4 inches to 24 inches tall in dense, spreading mats of tiny scale-like leaves, and from July to September it is covered in spikes of mauve (wild) to white, pink, or red (cultivar) flowers that draw an intense traffic of bees - the source of prized heather honey. It is beautiful, wildlife-rich, and extremely cold-hardy, but it is also a fussy plant with two non-negotiable demands: genuinely acidic soil and cool summers. The honest catches: it will not thrive on chalk or in hot, humid heat (NC State advises against planting south of zone 6), and where introduced - notably New Zealand - it has become an invasive weed.

Trailing lantana (also called weeping lantana, purple trailing lantana, or creeping lantana) is a low, sprawling evergreen shrub or subshrub from southern South America - Uruguay, Paraguay, northern Argentina, Bolivia, and southern and eastern Brazil - named for Montevideo. Unlike common lantana (Lantana camara), an upright shrub with multicolored heads, it stays 12 to 18 inches tall and spreads 3 to 5 feet on vine-like stems, making a mat of dark green, coarsely toothed leaves covered in small clusters of lilac to purple-pink flowers with yellow throats from early summer to frost, and almost all year where winters are frost-free. It is winter hardy only in USDA zones 8a-10b (in zone 8 it dies back to the ground and resprouts in spring if well mulched) and is grown as an annual or container plant in colder regions. Two cautions come first. It is poisonous: NC State Extension rates it medium severity, with toxic fruits, leaves, sap, seeds, and stems, toxic to people, dogs, cats, and horses, and Weeds Australia reports it is suspected of poisoning cattle. And it escapes gardens: NC State Extension records it naturalized in the southern United States, Hawaii, New Zealand, and eastern Australia, Weeds Australia lists it as a declared weed in Queensland, New South Wales, the Northern Territory, and Western Australia, and the UF/IFAS Assessment of Non-native Plants predicts it to be invasive and does not recommend it anywhere in Florida.

A tender tropical foliage plant grown for its boldly patterned, toothed leaves rather than its flowers - magenta, maroon, lime, and copper combinations in almost every color of the spectrum except true blue. A frost-sensitive perennial native to tropical and subtropical Asia and northern Australia, it is grown almost everywhere outside USDA zones 10-11 as a warm-season annual, container plant, or houseplant. The small blue-to-white nettle-like flower spikes are insignificant and are usually pinched off to keep the plant compact and the foliage at its best.

A genus of compact native foliage perennials (largely Heuchera villosa hybrids in the modern colored-leaf trade) for shade edges, containers, and color contrast near paths. The 'Marmalade' cultivar shown here is heat- and humidity-tolerant and deer-resistant.

A climbing aroid from Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and tropical South America, grown almost everywhere as a houseplant for its glossy, heart-shaped leaves on long trailing stems. NC State Extension says it survives long periods in extremely low light, which makes it one of the easiest foliage plants for a dim room, and the Missouri Botanical Garden calls it perhaps the most popular philodendron sold. In the wild it climbs trees to about 20 feet; indoors it trails from a pot or climbs a moss pole, usually to about 4 feet. Outside USDA zone 11 and warmer it lives indoors. It is toxic: the ASPCA lists it as toxic to dogs, cats and horses, and NC State Extension and the RHS warn that it is harmful to people if eaten and irritates skin.