The curious gardener’s guide to underappreciated low-maintenance, climate-adaptive, and beautifully ornamental trees and shrubs.

Looking for decorative landscape plants that are as beautiful as they are climate-resilient? Look no further! In Hidden Gems for Home Landscapes, seasoned horticulturalists Allyson Levy and Scott Serrano identify seventy underappreciated plants that make hardy yet attractive additions to home landscapes.

Twenty years ago, Allyson and Scott founded Hortus Arboretum and Botanical Gardens to experiment with native and non-native trees and shrubs, collect seeds from unusual and exciting plants, and explore whether those plants might flourish in their home base near the Catskill Mountains of New York. Over the years, their experimentation has brought about a resilient and biodiverse ecosystem, a thriving habitat for wildlife and pollinators, and magnificent plant life wherever you look.

Hidden Gems for Home Landscapes celebrates decorative landscape plants that are low maintenance and adaptable to shifting climates, in addition to offering multiple types of aesthetic interest—such as attractive flowers, bark, foliage, and seedheads—at different stages of the plant’s life cycle. Each plant profile includes a detailed botanical description, including best features for each season; a history of the plant’s discovery and cultivation; creative ways to include the plant in a landscape; information on site and soil needs; and care, propagation, and pest prevention advice.

Gorgeously photographed with information on more than seventy species and cultivars, Hidden Gems for Home Landscapes serves as a comprehensive guide to resilient yet beautiful gardening.

About The Author

Allyson Levy and Scott Serrano are the authors of Cold-Hardy Fruits and Nuts, which was named one of the best gardening books for 2023 by Gardens Illustrated magazine. They are co-founders and directors of Hortus Arboretum and Botanical Gardens in New York’s Hudson Valley. In 2001, Allyson and Scott begin creating a botanical garden of native trees, shrubs, perennials, and unusual edibles in their backyard property as a source of inspiration and raw materials for their art. Over time, the project expanded into a formal arboretum comprising four large gardens covering 11 acres of land. The arboretum includes an extensive collection of cold-hardy cacti, magnolia trees, viburnums, shade-tolerant native perennials, and fruit and nut trees. The arboretum is now a nonprofit organization and Level II arboretum. The authors and their garden have been featured in The New York Times and Edible Hudson.