A virtually stemless, broadleaf-evergreen native of central and eastern North America: a basal rosette of rigid, sword-shaped, spine-tipped leaves up to 30 inches long, fringed along the margins with the curly white threads that give the species its name. In early summer a flowering stalk shoots from the center to 5-8 feet, carrying nodding, bell-shaped, creamy-white flowers. Tough enough for poor sandy soil, heat, drought, and salt spray, it earns its keep as architectural structure in dry and seaside gardens.

The classic broadleaf-evergreen shrub of formal hedges, topiary, and clipped borders — small, glossy dark-green opposite leaves on a dense rounded frame that takes shearing better than almost any other shrub. Native to southern Europe, western Asia, and northern Africa, it carries inconspicuous greenish-cream spring flowers and holds its leaves year-round. All parts are toxic if eaten and the foliage can cause skin irritation, but that same chemistry makes it reliably rabbit- and deer-resistant.

A dense, upright-to-rounded broadleaf evergreen shrub, 8-10 feet tall and 6-8 feet wide, grown for year-round structure and its long late-winter-to-spring show of drooping panicles of fragrant, urn-shaped white (sometimes pink) flowers. Glossy dark green leaves are joined each spring by a striking flush of bronze-red to coppery new growth, and the chains of greenish-red flower buds form in fall and hold all winter for a second season of interest. Native to southeastern China, central to southern Japan, and Taiwan, it wants acidic, evenly moist but well-drained soil, shelter from harsh winter wind, and protection from hot afternoon sun in warmer zones. All parts are toxic if eaten.

A four-season native shrub of the southeastern United States, where NC State Extension notes it grows wild in moist woods and along stream banks. It is an upright, multi-stemmed deciduous shrub, slow-growing to roughly 4-8 feet tall and 4-10 feet wide, named for its large, oak-shaped, lobed dark-green leaves. Showy pyramidal 4-12 inch panicles of creamy-white flowers open from late spring into summer and fade to pink and then tan, while the bold foliage turns wine, orange, and mahogany in fall over peeling cinnamon bark. Easy and low-maintenance in organically rich, well-drained soil, it is grown as a specimen, in masses, or as an informal hedge.

An upright, multi-stemmed, suckering deciduous shrub in the olive family, grown for its intensely fragrant mid-to-late-spring (May) bloom of lilac-purple flowers in large conical panicles. Native to southeastern Europe and cultivated in North America since the early 1600s, it matures to 12-16 feet tall with blue-green, pointed-ovate to heart-shaped leaves. It needs cold winters and cool summers — and offers few ornamental features after bloom, with leggy form, no fall color, and summer powdery mildew.

A deciduous European hedgerow shrub or small tree grown above all for one of the most arresting autumn shows of any native woody plant — rosy-pink, four-lobed fruit capsules that split to reveal vivid orange-coated seeds, hanging against red-purple foliage. Native across Europe and into western Asia (POWO, Kew), it is a tough, undemanding plant for hedgerows and informal screens that genuinely earns its keep for wildlife: insect-pollinated flowers in spring, seeds taken by birds, and aphid colonies that feed ladybirds and hoverflies. The honest pitch, and it is load-bearing: every part of this plant is toxic if eaten and the colourful fruit is especially so, so it must be sited away from where children might be tempted; it is also a primary winter host of the black bean aphid, so keep it well clear of a vegetable plot. With those two caveats respected, it is a dependable, wildlife-rich native — chosen for honest autumn drama, not for being trouble-free.