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A Chadwell collection from the Himalaya which we've grown for over two decades. This species is found at higher elevations than B. pacumbis which shares the same range. The green leaves are not uncomfortably large but pleasantly average. (I've said this before - seems familiar somehow....) White flowers.

A perennial (usually anyway) thistle relative from South Africa which makes a multicrowned clump of softly spiny leaves which by themselves merit nothing more than a good hosing of Roundup but the large purplish flowers are the swan emerging from the ugly duckling.

Named for the central Mexican city from which it was collected this Beschorneria forms attractively lax rosettes of strappy evergreen foliage similar to a spineless version of the closely related Agave. Slightly narrower leaves than most in the genus and only growing to about 2' wide. The real showstopper are the 5' tall hot pink flower spikes that look like Barbie-ified Godzilla asparagus dangling greenish, pendulous flowers that add grandma's lampshade fringe into the mix.

Robust can often go without saying when it comes to mint relatives but this one really hits that sweet spot of pow and wham without the "I work alone" bullheadedness of thuggy culinary relatives and superheroes with poor social marks from their supergroups. A Hinkley collection from turkey which forms a nicely mounded clump of pleated arrowhead leaves topped off by bright pinky-purple flowerheads on foot tall stems. Happy in the sun and amidst both the probing antennae and the roving chompers of your local fauna. Easy and likeable, be a Superman not a Punisher.

Tasmanian Blueberry Vine. Very cool evergreen vine from Tasmania with tubular greenish white flowers in May and June followed by very showy violet non-messy berries which depending on the weather, can persist through the winter. One of the finest small vines.

Tasmanian Cherry Berry Vine. This is the uncommon red fruited form of an uncommon species. Less vigorous and more suited for a smaller vining situation but with ample sized deep red fruits persisting from summer well into winter. Evergreen and totally cool. Tubular pale chartreuse flowers.

Fun newish selection of the recently moved to Bistorta from Persicaria with softly golden foliage which is a great backdrop for the 24"-36" flower stems bearing spikes of flowers the same color as Dorothy's ruby slippers. Easy, hardy, bright shade and gangbusters in rich moist soil.

A Great Plant Pick, and rightly so because this performs in the garden. Thin spikes of soft pink flowers are held nicely upright, more so than many other cultivars and pair wonderfully with the bold green foliage to create a ethereal pinkish floral haze above the bulwark of green. Not weedy or aggressive, this is good.

A perennial mainstay in Europe and a key player in the Dutch and German Waves of garden design is this nearly perfect Fleece Flower and for darn good reason. This behaves itself and doesn't run or seed, just clumps and blooms all summer until frost. The white flowers provide critical contrast and a cooling point for the hot colors of the summer border - a visual iceberg for your fevered eye to stretch out belly flat like your hiking dog buddy does on that lingering snowbank high in the mountains in late summer. Very hardy, very easy, this works with nearly everything and will make you look like you have realized your potential.

Rock Knotweed. A choice mounding groundcover we got at one of the best alpine plant nurseries on the planet, Aberconwy Nursery in Wales. Dense trailing and mounding red stems lavishly adorned with Aug-Sept spires of pink flowers and glossily petite deciduous leaves. Lovely spiller in containers. Probably hardier than the zone 7b we know to be true.

This Zone 6 hardy orchid is a pretty serious Bletilla and it would have to be with a moniker like 'Big Bob'. It was a dream of mine to have a nickname like that but we'll delve into my psyche and childhood in another description. A fine selection with tall flower stems in ideal situations reaching 3' in height and bearing up to 15-20 pinkish unquestionably I'm-an-orchid flowers. A very vigorous selection which will go a long ways towards cementing your reputation as a gardener unafraid and somehow always managing to one-up everyone else in your gardening circle. These are chunky plants which you will find quite pleasing.

One of the really good Bletilla hybrids which develops very wide pleated leaves - wide for a Bletilla anyway - and tall spikes of pink flowers. Again, tall for a Bletilla but 30" is nothing to sneeze at especially when you get more flowers than the typical species. Easy and vigorous in Zone 6b, maybe lower.

Very collectible selection of this hardy terrestrial orchid which boasts - yes, boasts, of its unique, light chartreuse foliage. if your ears, like ours, are tuned to that high frequency in which plants converse, you can just make out this orchid sounding like an NBA player after throwing down a one-handed jam from an alley-oop "Yeah! Lookit me! Me! I'm a bad-ass orchid! You ask yo mama how bad I am! An yo sister - she loves how my leaves shine when the lights go down." I've given up on the NBA because such displays are wearisome but somehow, with this orchid, it is an endearing cheekiness. Light yellow foliage looks it best in bright shade to part sun and not the part during the hot part of the day. Leaves 18"-24" with pinkish-purple flowers a few inches taller in June and hardy to zone 6 especially with winter mulch.

How does that old saying go something about 3 lips are better than one? Or was it heads? or was it 2? Nah pretty sure it was three lips and who would beg to disagree after seeing this oh-so-kissable little mutant hardy orchid. The name says it all, where the usual flowers of the species usually have only one ruffled lower edge the flowers on this form have a triangular trinity that only adds to the exotic appearance. 

This is a cultivar being exported from Holland. The flower color is a shade darker than typical so that is good. What isn't good is that this is an imposter. One reference we found says the flowers should face upwards, this doesn't but if it did, it would merit clonal naming. "Shi-ran" is simply the Japanese name for Bletilla which would suggest that this was a generic import by the Dutch from Japan. aarrgghh. Every source we have seen that lists this selection has this same plant. All of this said, it is a slightly darker form and not unlike one we grew years ago as 'Rosea' also from Holland.

This is an overachieving Type A taking care of No. 1 first let me tell you some more about myself hardy Orchid but while we find these qualities wearisome in people, we are all over it when it comes to Orchids! Gotta love the attitude of a 40" flowering stem holding as many as 35 pale pink flowers, Nothing like a nice shot of mongrel hybrid vigor for excelling in the garden! Good drainage with moisture.

A fine foliage plant in the family Urticaceae and it is easy to see the family resemblance in it's cousin the nettle. But no worries, this is a venomless pussycat making a clump of tall stems with dangling panicles of tan flowers. Great texture for the moist shade garden. From China/Korea.

Our collection of this good foliage species with pink pipe cleaner flowers which closely resembles B. tricuspis and damned if we can distinguish between the two but a better botanist than we keyed this to spicata. This was growing in a shaded nook at the base of a mossy cliff with Actaea purpurea and across the track, Acer griseum. Fun shade species which should be deer resistant.

Unflowered plants from our seed collection, although attributes and geography suggest a likelihood of this being the species edulis due to widespread cultivation from pre-Columbian times thanks to the edible tubers. If this is edulis, expect 24 or more pink-tubed flowers with green-yellow throats in a fireworks umbel. Showy orange seeds in fall. This is a vining Alstroemeria relative and should be hardy to warm zone 7 especially with mulch. Likes a semi-shaded spot where it can twine to 10'.

Perhaps the most splendid yet in our little collection of these enigmatic little South American Peruvian lily relatives. This one comes to us from Ecuador via plant friend Chen Hao. The flaming red and orange flowers were something to behold in their inaugural appearance and are worth bending over backward like the resupinate leaves to lay eyes on. Likely vigorously vining where it can overwinter well, hard to say where that might be, anything less than Zone 9 is potentially a gamble but please report to us any positive results!