Agapetes

Attractive cousin to blueberries growing in the trees of Thailand's northern mountains. Sometimes seen offered as a hybrid clone 'Red Elf', this is typical hosseana which is a small evergreen shrub with dark red flowers that can take light frost. The fruit is edible and would be nice sprinkled on Thai Beef Salad, Phla Nuea.

Epiphytic blueberry relative with some of the coolest flowers you will ever see, dark red checkered tubes that are a favorite of hummingbirds. The flowers are a rich blood red and especially voluminous and open in this Steve Hootman selection. Does well in hanging baskets as it produces many arching stems of small evergreen leaves that prefer winter warmth in most temperate areas.

As Cousin Itt is to the Addams family Agapetes malipoensis is to the Agapetes genus, a freak even among freaks. In a genus full of mind boggling fruits and flowers, the slender yellow-white tubes covered in white fuzz put out by these fellas is sure to delight those that find charisma in cretinous things with inexplicably devoted fanbases. Our collection from mountainous North Vietnam as yet untrialled for hardiness though the species has been grown outside at the Rhody garden.

There's no telling how long this Agapetes spends on its makeup each morning but what is for sure is that its eyeliner is decidedly on point. Whereas the usual species features overt rouge that often fades with age, the clasping parts of the flowers here are delicately outlined in a deep red resulting in a suave toupee or fancy hat for the striking yellow corolla. A Steve Hootman collection of this stunning Himalayan blueberry relative from Arunachal Pradesh, and the winner of our 2024 Rare Plant Rumble.

A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering