• Wisteria is an ornamental that gives a romantic appeal to your landscaping.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  Ornamental plants add beauty to your landscaping due to their attractive foliage or blooms. Examples of ornamentals are shrubs, vines, trees, ground cover and flowers. Many people plant ornamentals with staggered blooming times, so that once a plant stops blooming, another begins and there is color in the landscape and garden most of the year.
  
  

Magnolia Trees

• Magnolia trees grace many landscapes in the southern region of the United States. Their beauty is often depicted in artwork reflecting Southern charm and hospitality. The Bull Bay variety grows to a height of up to 80 feet and a spread of 50 feet. Other varieties grow only up to 20 or 30 feet in height and in a columnar fashion. The dark green glossy leaves grow from 2 to 10 inches long and up to 4 inches wide. The flowers are fragrant and come in shades of white, purple and pink. Magnolia fruit is red in color and ranges in size from 1 to 8 inches. Some varieties bloom in the spring and others flower in the summer or autumn months.
  
  

Creeping Phlox Ground Cover

• The creeping phlox plant makes an excellent ground cover for sloping landscapes, in rock gardens or to top a garden wall. It thrives best in partial sun, but tolerates full sun also. The small flowers range in color from red to pink, white, lavender and blue. It blooms during the spring or winter months and is hardy in most zones. The leaves are green, less than 2 inches in length and linear in shape. It rarely has problems with pests and therefore enjoys a long life.
  
  

Rose of Sharon Shrub

• The rose of Sharon is a shrub that grows to heights of up to 15 feet, although many varieties are smaller. It blooms single or double flowers from July through the autumn months. The flowers can be white, red, purple or pink, or combinations of these colors. The blooms are 3 to 5 inches in diameter and attract bees and hummingbirds. It is a deciduous shrub that grows well in USDA zones 1 through 5. This shrub requires little pruning.
  
  

Wisteria Vine

• Wisteria vines grow gnarled, twisted branches. The blooms are pink, violet-blue or lavender and grow in long sprays that hang down to give a romantic, vintage look to an area. Wisteria can grow up to 12 feet in one season so it is necessary to start it on a sturdy arbor or trellis. They thrive in well-drained, acid soil and bloom best in full sunlight. Wisteria vines require heavy pruning to prevent them from taking over other landscaping.