ACER japonicum "Aconitifolium" has gorgeous, deeply-toothed lobed leaves which look good throughout spring and summer and then turn bright crimson in autumn.
Ferguson chose a large golden fullmoon maple (Acer japonicum), two deciduous magnolias, and native ferns (Adiantum aleuticum, Blechnum spicant, and Polystichum munitum), plus a few exotics like hellebores, rhododendrons, Siberian irises, smoke tree, and yew.