Plant Characteristic Definitions

Most plants require some sun to thrive, even plants that are categorized as full shade. Below are some guidelines to follow.

• Full sun - more than 6 hours of direct sun per day.
• Part sun/Part shade - 4 to 6 hours of direct sun per day, mostly before midday to early afternoon. 
• Full shade - less than 4 hours of direct sun per day. 

Moisture requirements vary from plant-to-plant, from aquatic to dry upland conditions we've categorized each of our plants to guide you while you choose the perfect plant for your garden. Note: All plants require proper watering guidelines when they are first installed.  These moisture ranges are for optimum growth once the plant is established in your garden. 

• Aquatic - Plants that grow from the bottom of a body of water and either floats on the surface or under the surface of water. 
• Wetland - Plants that grow in water or on soils that are periodically deficient in oxygen due to excessive water content.
• Moist to Wet Soils - Plants that require consistent moisture and should never experience prolonged periods of dry soils. 
• Moist to Average Soils - Most plants fall within this range. Plants that require consistent soil moisture and will also perform well in prolonged periods between waterings or rain. This moisture level is often connected to the soils being well drained to ensure proper oxygen levels to the roots. 
• Average to Dry Soils - Plants that perform well and thrive with longer periods between waterings. They not only tolerate drought but prefer it. 
• Well Drained Soils - Allows water to drain at a rate where water will not pool on the surface or near the root zone and deprive them of oxygen. 

A diverse mix of plants in your landscape help promote and attract wildlife. Wildlife of all types are important to our environment in which we live and provide essential tasks like pollinating food crops and pest control.

• Attracts Birds 
• Attracts Butterflies 
• Attracts Hummingbirds 
• Attracts Pollinators

Determining plant growth can be tricky because soil moisture, sunlight and proper soil nutrients can play a factor in overall performance. We characterized most of our plants in 3 categories to give you an approximate rate each plant takes to achieve it's mature size in your garden.  

• Fast growth
• Medium growth
• Slow growth

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" and so is colour spectrum. It is impossible to describe every foliage colour available in the plant world but you'll have to trust us when we say you can find them all. We've provided a list of the most common foliage colours and often on each individual plant there's a short bullet point to give you more detail. 

• Black - Quite rare and usually a very dark purple that should be described as almost Black. 
• Blue 
• Bronze
• Burgundy
• Crimson
• Golden
• Gray
• Green (dark)
• Green (light to medium)
• Maroon
• Multi-coloured - Plants that have multiple colours throughout the plant either in one season or change throughout the season
• Orange
• Pink
• Purple
• Red 
• Silver
• Variegated - Foliage that has two or more colours arranged in a consistent pattern throughout the season
• White 
• Yellow

Critter resistant plants are not always "critter proof" but we've done our best to categorize for those of you that have experienced damaged gardens due to these little creatures. 

• Deer resistant
• Rabbit resistant
• Disease resistant

In this grouping of attributes you will find extra details that may help you narrow your decision. Plants not only beautify our planet but are extremely useful to stimulate all of our human senses and in turn play an important role for both physical and mental health. It's important to us that you achieve success in your gardening adventures so here are a few key tips. 

• Native to Ontario - One of GardenTAP's favourite attributes. We list a wide selection of plants that are indigenous to our province. These gems are proven to be reliable, because hey! they've been around forever. 
• Berries - Berries add aesthetic appeal to every garden, some of them even through the winter where they also provide a food source for birds and other wildlife. Not all berries are considered edible for human consumption so please do further research before popping these in your mouth. 
• Catkins - Technically part of a plant's reproductive makeup although our only purpose for adding this attribute is because some plants have decorative appeal while they are in this stage. 
• Cut Flower/Cut Foliage - A lot of our plants have dual purpose. Enjoy them in your garden year round or enjoy fresh cut flowers and foliage in vases indoors. Use our flowering time filters to plan out your garden to create fresh bouquets throughout the whole season. 
• Dried Flower/Foliage - Use these cuts to create beautiful seasonal displays. Dried flowers or foliage are typically air dried or dehydrated to retain their shape and sometimes scent. 
• Deciduous Conifer - Is it an evergreen or is it a tree? A few plants are both. This attribute describes plants that look like evergreens throughout the warm months or growing season but will drop their needles in the winter like most deciduous trees. Don't worry they're not dead!
• Edible - It's considered edible but we didn't say it always tastes great. Not every part of a plant will be edible so we briefly described in the interesting notes what parts are. Always use caution and do further research before eating the more obscure items listed. 
• Drought Tolerant -Describes plants that enjoy consistent soil moisture although can tolerate and thrive in conditions of prolonged dry periods. 
• Evergreen - If you want the obvious list just TAP on the evergreen category, but there's a whole bunch more! Some perennials, trees and shrubs will also hold on to their leaves through the winter. Filter out this attribute and design your winter garden. 
• Fall Colour - Do you ever drive along a forest in October and wonder if there's anything more beautiful in life? Why not TAP this filter and get some of these beauty's in your backyard.
• Fragrant - Fragrant flowers and foliage are designed to attract wildlife, beneficial insects and human noses. Whatever your strategy is we got you covered. 
• Fruit - Many plants produce fruit, some are the common fruits we consume from the grocery store but others are there for our visual pleasure. We combined both in this attribute.
• Heat Tolerant - High temperature stress is a concerning factor that limits plant growth. Most plants will adapt under these circumstances and some have the genetic makeup to perform well in these conditions. If you have that one spot in your garden that just keeps underperforming it may be the result of heat stress. 
• Long Blooming - Don't want to keep replanting annuals every year? Try an assortment of long blooming shrubs, and perennials. 
• Salt Tolerant - Plants along pathways and road ways need a special genetic requirement that not all have. Salt use in these areas during the winter can turn the soil toxic and is a major factor in underperforming plants and can easily result in plant death. Don't stress! We've given you some options that may work for you. 
• Low Maintenance - Sit back, relax and watch. These pretty much take care of themselves. Well...maybe not "no maintenance" but we've collected a bunch that require little pruning, staking and tend to be free of pests and extra work throughout the season. 
• Poisonous - Okay so poisonous may be harsh but please be aware that some parts of these plants can cause serious illness. TAP on the interesting notes and growing maintenance tabs for more information on each plant. 
• Seed - Many plants produce seed but some plants hold onto their seed for longer periods adding unique visual interest. 
• Xeriscape - Don't want to spend time watering? This selection of plants require little to no watering once established. Xeriscaping is perfect for gravel based areas with high drainage. 
• Juglan Tolerant - Black walnut trees (Juglans nigra) produce a chemical called hydrojuglone. Many other plants situated under or near this tree will likely underperform, showing signs of discoloured foliage, wilt and eventual death. Sounds terrible right? Don't hate the black walnut, try a few options under this filter. 

Climate patterns may alter flowering time a few weeks earlier or later and may change depending on what zone you live in so we grouped our flowering times in the following timeframes. We hope these filters help achieve constant colour when you plan your gardens. Note: many plants span over two or more timeframes. 

• Early Spring - Mid March to late April
• Spring - April to June
• Late Spring - Summer - June to July
• Summer - Early July to late August
• Late Summer - Fall - Mid August to late October
• Fall - Mid September to frost
• Winter - Sometimes the blooms will appear through the snow if its not too deep in early March
• Rebloomer - Plants that bloom more than once in the same growing season
• Spring - Fall - Plants that flower throughout the growing season

Describing growth habit in one word doesn't really work especially across different plant categories like Trees and Perennials. Please click here to view our Visual Library of plant shapes. However, we've also given you a brief description of habit on each plant. 

• Climbing - A plant that attaches itself or is easily trained to climb onto taller objects such as fences, walls, stakes or trees. 
• Clumping - Describes plants that tend to grow in a tight cluster branching up in a limited footprint. 
• Compact - Often described for plants that have been bred or selected for their reduced size when compared to a plant of the same species. 
• Dwarf - Often described for plants that remain significantly smaller when compared to plants in the same Genus. Dwarf plants are slower growing and take up a much smaller footprint. 
• Conical - Christmas tree is the best way to describe this shape. Often wider at the bottom and slender at the top with horizontal branching. 
• Globe - Describes plants that grow naturally in a ball (Globe) shape without the need for trimming and pruning. 
• Mounding - Plants that have both vertical and horizontal branching, creating a rounded mounding appearance. Often a term used for plant selections in the shrub, perennial, and evergreen categories. 
• Oval - Often a term used to describe shrubs and shade trees. Upright branching on a strong central trunk that form a thick oval shaped crown. 
• Prostrate - A woody shrub or evergreen with branches that naturally spread along the ground and often have tips that turn upwards. 
• Pyramidal (columnar) - Usually a term to describe trees and upright evergreens. The quick and easy definition is plants that grow tall and narrow and would take up much less space in the garden. Pyramidal - having a wider bottom narrowing near the top and columnar being more cylindrical in shape. 
• Rounded - Similar to oval-shaped only more rounded in its natural in its overall growth habit. 
• Spreading - Spreading has a different meaning throughout each category of plants. When describing spreading in trees It refers to more horizontal, open branching habit. Often overall the overall dimensions of the plant are equal or shorter in width then height. 
• Trailing - Often described in perennials, vines and low evergreens like Junipers. Predominantly horizontal growth that hugs the ground with little or no upright branches. 
• Upright - Plants that maintain a habit of vertical growth with little or no horizontal branching. 
• Vase-shaped - Inverted pyramid?..sort of.. Vase-shaped plants vary in proportion. They are narrow at the bottom or base flaring out and broader near the top. 
• Weeping - Also known as pendula. Branches that droop downward in a consistent pattern. 

The important uses and purposes of plants in our landscapes are endless. They all serve essential tasks in absorbing carbon and releasing oxygen in our atmosphere, they provide food sources for humans and wildlife, help regulate water recirculation... and their roots, well, we can't begin to describe the interaction between roots and the microorganisms that live in the soil in this blurb. All of these and many more purposes are going on when you plant just one, imagine what a whole garden or forest can do. Outside of the main purpose plants provide above, we've listed a few areas where you may want to use your plants in your garden. 

• Bog or Water Garden - If you're designing a pond or water feature TAP on this filter. 
• Border / Edging - Plantings near the front of your garden that are typically shorter and tidier in habit. 
• Foundation Planting - Foundation Plantings can be viewed in a couple different ways;  to soften the textures and hide the foundation of your home under windows, beside doors and surround ugly air conditioners and water meters . It is also the "Foundation" of your garden design. Often these plants are designed in groupings with more formal shapes and habits. 
• Ground Cover - Usually refers to any grouping of plants with a trailing, spreading habit, although ground covers can be any plant that is effective at covering large areas in your garden and keeping maintenance like weeding and mowing to a minimum. 
• Hedge - A grouping of identical plants (densely planted) that border areas like patios, walkways or property lines. Often these are pruned in formal shapes to keep clean straight lines although some can be left to grow natural as well. 
• Herbal or Edible Garden - You could also search our fruit category although this filter includes other herbs and vegetables. 
• Naturalizing - Refers to plants that reproduce naturally in its environment. Naturalizing a garden is a process where you transform an open cultivated area with a mix of species and mimic naturally occurring habitats like forest, wetlands, and meadows. 
• Patio Plants - Not enough space in your gardens? Try some of these selections in patio pots around your deck.
• Roadside Plantings - Tough and rugged plants that perform well in inhospitable conditions alongs roads due to vehicle emissions and salt sprays
• Rock Garden -  The different textures and habits of plants blend well in combination with natural rocks and stones. These selections are often chosen for tight pockets of soil created between the rocks or used to drape and trail over the rocks. 
• Screening (privacy)- Any plant or groupings of plants grown naturally or trimmed for the purpose of adding protection from wind, sound or simply needing private quiet spot in your back yard. 
• Specimen - This one is hard to define if you're a plant lover and it's very subjective. Specimen refers to any plant that can stand alone and is often a focal point in your garden. 
• Woodland / Woodland Edge - All plants require some sun but these options perform well along forest edges or openings in tree canopies where the most of the day they'll receive shade or dappled sun.