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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.

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. 

A Mexican collection of one of these charismatic vining Alstroemeria relatives from FRBC board member Cody Hinchliff. Expect the usual fiery hued flower clusters that make us so addicted to this genus and hopefully a little more hardiness than usual given their being found at 9600' amidst pine forest, let us know!

Perhaps the most widely grown species of this genus rarely seen in the Northern hemisphere but much beloved by those in the know. This is due to its history of cultivation as an edible substitute to taters, but having seen the tubers myself I think I'll be stickin' to spuds. Also perhaps one of the hardier members with some making claims all the way down to 7b. However the range is large and varied in elevation, this Guatemalan collection as of yet remains untrialled. Ours go winter-dormant in the greenhouses which makes it a good candidate for pot culture anyway, coming out in the warmer months to twine its way upwards until it explodes into a glorious array of bright pink, lime throated flowers. 

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!