In my high school newspaper, there was a popular column called "Did You Know That..." The question would be completed with various facts like, "... Judy Smith's favorite ice cream is chocolate mint?" or "... Johnny Martin has a cat with one green eye and one blue eye?"

I loved this kind of stuff, and still do. As I was walking through some local gardens recently, I found myself looking at familiar plants in not-so-familiar forms (like a weeping boxwood, for example), and saying over and over, "I didn't know this even existed." It occurred to me that one could do such a plant column almost every week and never run out of material (i.e., "did you know that ... there is a variegated leaf version of Rose of Sharon?")

Martha Tate (ENLARGE)

Hydrangea quercifolia 'Little Honey'

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In a recent entry on Dan Hinkley's Web site (www.danielhinkley.com), the American plant explorer describes the wealth of odd forms of plants in Japan: "Just imagine a variegated counterpart of any plant you've ever grown. Strike that. Imagine a staggeringly exquisite, stable variegated, or fastigiated or weeping form of a plant you have grown and one that only in your wildest imaginations would actually exist. You can find it here in five, 10, 15 different forms, depending on, of course, exactly how much you Yen for it."

While it may be hard to find plants like the spectacular variegated Edgeworthia chrysantha pictured on Hinkley's Web site, there are some splendid forms of plants we know already on the market, both locally and by mail order. You just have to keep an eye out for them.

Try yourself on this plant version of "Did You Know That ..."

... there is a fastigiate (narrow, upright form) Chinese fringe tree called Chionanthus retusus 'Tokyo Tower'? If you are a regular at the Masters Golf Tournament at the August National, you might have noticed a fluffy white tree in bloom alongside the native azaleas. Imagine this spectacular tree in a tall, narrow form. Several lined up together would give you great flowers in April and good fall color.

... a variegated form of our native redbud tree exists? The late plantsman Theodore Klein of Kentucky introduced Cercis canadensis 'Silver Cloud.' The green, heart-shaped leaves are splashed with white. Very eye-catching. I saw one for the first time a few weeks ago in Lisa Bartlett's northeast Atlanta garden. Then, a couple of days later, I saw another one at Post Riverside. I had never noticed the latter before.

... there is an unusual hosta with twisted leaves called 'Praying Hands'? The narrow, upright leaves are twisted and have a creamy edge. Tony Avent of Plant Delights nursery in Raleigh, N.C., describes it as "the most un-hosta hosta ever to hit the market."

... there exists an evergreen wisteria that looks great in August? I've only seen Millettia reticulata in a few local gardens, but if it's in a protected place, this semi-hardy vine will give you dark, reddish-purple clusters of flowers in late summer. If it gets too cold, the leaves will fall off in winter, but the vine likely will be fine.

... there's such a thing as a dwarf white butterfly bush that requires no pruning? Buddleia 'White Ball' is a rounded shrub measuring about 2 and a half feet tall by as much wide.

... there's a forsythia with bright yellow leaves? This common shrub is not so common looking when paired with a deep burgundy, almost black, soon to be released, loropetalum called 'Ever Red.'

... there's a new selection of weeping bald cypress called 'Falling Waters'? This native tree is beautiful enough, but imagine a weeping form with the exquisite, needle-like foliage cascading down.

Martha Tate is a writer who lives in Atlanta.