Perennials

• Black cohosh (Actaea racemosa) provides Indiana gardeners with an eye-catching summer display at the back of the perennial border. Growing as high as 8 feet, black cohosh has curving, 6- to 24-inch spikes of cream-colored flowers and clumps of fernlike, compound foliage. This perennial performs well in partial and full shade and moist, organically rich soil. Blue dogbane (Amsonia tabernaemontana), a 2- to 3-foot perennial, brightens southwestern Indiana's spring woods with clusters of light blue, star-shaped flowers. Its narrow, green leaves bring golden yellow to the fall landscape. Blue dogbane thrives in partial shade and sandy, moist soils.
  
  

Shrubs

• Showy purple or red seed capsules, chartreuse-barked twigs and chartreuse foliage that progresses to red in fall make burningbush (Euonymus atropurpureus) an attention-grabbing garden performer. This spreading shrub also produces purple spring flowers. Its colorful fall seedpods open to reveal red seeds. Coralberry (Symphoricarpos orbiculatus) grows up to 4 feet high, with purple-brown, exfoliating bark and oval, green leaves. Its spring to midsummer, white flower clusters give way to coral red or purple berries. The fruits feed birds and wildlife through the winter. Both shrubs are native to Indiana's shady, moist woods. Coralberry frequently grows near post oak trees.
  
  

Flowering Trees

• The hop tree (Ptelea trifoliata), or wafer ash, grows on Indiana's prairies and in open woods. The up-to-20-foot tree has a crooked trunk and densely tangled branches. Its aromatic green foliage and bark gives off a lemony fragrance. The hop tree's white spring flowers attract butterflies. Hop tree flourishes in partial to full shade. Clusters of light green, wafer-shaped summer seedpods and yellow autumn leaves add to its ornamental interest. Hop tree flourishes in partial to full shade and dry to averagely moist, well-drained soil. The stately, 50- to 75-foot Ohio buckeye's (Aesculus glabra) brilliant orange foliage blazes across Indiana's autumn woods. Its branches curve toward the ground and then upward. Hummingbirds feed on the tree's spring clusters of modest yellow and green blooms. Its spiny, lime-green autumn seedpods contain glossy, white-eyed brown buckeye nuts. This tree grows in sun to full shade. It likes moist, fertile, well-drained soil.
  
  

Ground Covers

• Partridge berry (Mitchella repens) has 2-inch-high mats of white-veined green leaves. The glossy foliage makes a good contrast with the plant's fragrant, white spring flowers which appear in pairs. Each pair gives way to a single, bright red berry that often lasts into winter. Long-lasting red berries also grace wintergreen (Gaultheriaprocubens), a 3- to 6-inch, broadleaf evergreen groundcover. Wintergreen's shiny, deep green leaves become purple in autumn. The edible, spicily sweet berries its white summer flowers produce are food for some wildlife. These groundcovers are common in northern Indiana woods, where they grow in partial to full shade and rich, moist, well-drained soil.