What makes you LOVE a certain plant? Do you look for COLOR? Texture? The shape? Do certain plants have special meaning for you? Or maybe you have memories of plants that your grandparents had in their yard growing up?

All of us here at Natural Plus love helping you find the perfect plants for your yard that you will love for years to come. And, after being in business for 42 years, we have figured out what plants do well and are our favorites!

If you’re in the market for some new trees, shrubs, or perennials, you’re going to want to follow along with these blog posts, I’ll be sharing each of our top 5 favorite plants with all of you!

1. Sugar Maples – Sugar maples are majestic, sturdy, and long lived. They also have stunning fall colors of oranges, yellows, and reds. A couple varieties now available are Fall Fiesta and Green Mountain.

2. Flowering crabs – After long Iowa winters, there is nothing more beautiful than the spring blooming flowering crabs. There are many varieties available and the newer varieties are disease resistant. My top 2 picks are Spring Snow (white blooming and fruitless) and Prairie Fire (deep red blooms and small berries).

3. Exochorda Lotus Moon – Commonly known as “Pearl Bush” this is a newer shrub recently added to our inventory. It is a beautiful green upright bush that grows 4-5’ tall. What sets it apart are the white “string of pearls” blooms in June. Truly beautiful.

4. Hardy Hibiscus – These hardy perennials emerge from the ground mid-June and by August are 4-5’ tall and are covered with very large tropical looking blooms that are about the size of a dinner plates. These come in various colors of white, pinks, and reds.

5. Coral Bells – These perennials are by far my favorite. They grow in sun or shade and don’t require a lot of attention. Flowers are insignificant, but leaf colors are vibrant from spring through fall and they especially add color to shade gardens. Depending on variety, leaf colors include yellow, gold, peach colors, red, and burgundy

And, in case you missed them, here are owner Dave’s Top 5 Plant Picks and employee Mike Watson’s and Ree’s.

If you’re in the market for some new trees, shrubs, or perennials, you’re going to want to follow along with these blog posts, I’ll be sharing each of our top 5 favorite plants with all of you!

Next up is me (Mary), co-owner of Natural Plus. I am drawn to some of the more unique plants that people don’t always know about.

Sequestered Sunshine Yellow peony: We planted the yellow peony in memory of our first son David Holtan, and I love watching it come up and bloom each year. Read more about peonies HERE.

2. Coneflowers: I love all things coneflowers, the color varieties and that they are native and attract butterflies and bees. They are one of my favorite things to photograph too.

3. Weeping Caragana Tree: We have one planted on the east side of our front door, and it reminds me of a Dr. Seuss tree. I love the yellow buds in the early spring and it’s unique foliage.

4. Black eyed Susans: another native perennial that just makes me smile. The black eyes with the contrasting yellow are pleasing to my eye.

5. Globe thistle: this is such a unique and cool bloom. I don’t usually like anything with thorns, but this bloom makes up for it.

And, in case you missed them, here are owner Dave’s Top 5 Plant Picks and employee Mike Watson’s and Ree’s.

Linda's Top 5 Plants

Mary's Top 5 Plants