Aeschynanthus

Our collection from the lower slopes of Mt Japfu in Nagaland at around 7000'. (NAPE= Nagaland/Arunachal Pradesh Expedition 2203) This is an epiphyte growing below the frost zone with showy red flowers and narrow petals. Best cool in loose, airy, mossy soil, treated like an indoor fern. A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering

A lovely shrubby epiphytic Indochina gesneriad in the same genus as lipstick vine. That comparison made, this should be an excellent houseplant although we speculate that it ought to take a brief light frost. A lot of the exposed limestone ridges radiate heat away at night making them colder. Red tubular flowers. Airy crumbly soil. A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Plant

A collection from northern Vietnam of this rare gesneriad by intrepid plant hunter Steve Hootman. This has vertical branches on a small shrub clad in dark green ranked leaves evocative of boxwood but that similarity is quickly dispelled when the tubular flame red flowers appear. The flowers are followed by interesting narrow and thin almost bean pod-like seed capsules dangling from wiry pedicels. Best grown frost-free, this likes an acid, free-draining soil as it is often epiphytic on trees or rocks. Excellent container plant which can be moved inside for the winter or simply kept as a houseplant as this is the same genus as the familiar Lipstick Vine. Steve, in addition to his mandated world-class expertise in Ericaceae, has in recent years developed an unprofitable but deeply personally rewarding interest - some might say obsession - in the Gesneriaceae and we are happy beneficiaries of his collecting prowess and now the trickle down effect has trickled further to you.

Our collection from an area little visited by Westerners and part of our ongoing effort to collect and grow comparative specimens from across its range in Vietnam and China. Same genus as Lipstick Vine, this shrubby gesneriad has proven hardy in mild gardens here in western Washington. Tubular red-orange flowers. Often epiphytic or lithophytic, this requires good drainage. Great container plant which allows for moving inside during serious winter blast. A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy offering.

Staggeringly good introduction by Jens Nilsen from the China-Myanmar border region. This incomparable Lipstick Vine species is comment-provoking even out of flower with abruptly pendulous branches holding thick, long leaves. The red tubular flowers are the cherry on the Aeschynanthus sundae. Young plants, best in airy well-drained soil for epiphytes.

A collection by Shayne Chandler from the Five Fingers mountain range in Vietnam. This zone 8b hardy shrubby gesneriad was first introduced by Steve Hootman over 20 years ago from China and it is good to have another collection from a new area. Tubular red-orange flowers and boxwood-like leaves.

One of our favorite species first introduced by our friend Steve Hootman and we have since pursued collecting this whenever possible to have comparative examples across its range of southern Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, and northern Vietnam.  An evergreen small shrub in the Lipstick Vine family, Gesneriaceae, this has curved tubular red to red-orange flowers in fall along with glossy evergreen boxwood-like leaves.  Good drainage is key as this usually epiphytic or lithophytic, growing on rocks.  This has proved hardy outside in those enviably mild Puget Sound gardens of which ours is not.  Cue temper tantrum from a 4 year-old.