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Angel's Fishing Rod. As the specific epithet infers, this does have grand flowers! Widely flared big medium pink flowers dangle in mad abandon on 4'-5 stems. If actually used by angels for fishing, then it is the rod Hemingway would use in his Marlin quest. This assumes he got his wings which seems unlikely.

Chunky seed-grown plants from the fair and white-flowered 'Guinevere'. We presume that some at least will resemble the desirable parent (Guinevere 2.0?) while the rest will explore floral realms yet unknown. A 1 in 36 roll of the Fairy Wandflower dice that could come up boxcars, or at worst, a solid garden performer.

Seedlings from a floriferous red-flowered selection from Russell Graham. Russell had one of the most beloved specialty nurseries in the Northwest and to say he knows a good plant is stating the obvious. The parent plant is a short, dense clumper with small red flowers that rule by their majority. This has pride of place in our garden, widely separated from our other Dierama, so hope is for similarity on these children.

So notoriously promiscuous as to make a rabbit blush, these evergreen bulbous Iris family members are all about the summer of love. Embracing any bee that taps on its window bringing pollen from any nearby floozy flower, this exhibits a Bacchanalian moral turpitude that is either damned or extolled. These are young seed-grown plants from one of our darkest Dierama so at worst, this will still be pretty good.

Infrequently encountered species of Fairy Wand Flower, these are from wild collected seed from South Africa. Wide flares of bell-shaped flowers in rosy pink to lilac. I personally am hoping for lilac as we have the pink well represented. Either color is quite showy. Mulch if real cold.

Grown from wild collected seed sent by a friend in South Africa, this species has lavender to light pink slightly flared bell-shaped flowers of good size. These are held on wiry stems to 3 or 4 feet tall and pair well with many of the ornamental grasses being rather grass-like in foliage itself. Evergreen.

Choice species making narrow thin clumps of evergreen grassy foliage and long wiry stems with many small pendant dark pink-purple bell-shaped flowers. A plant of open grassland in South Africa, this likes a sunny position in a soil that drains but retains moisture.

One of the hardier members of the genus, this is a good Zone 7 and sneaking into favorable conditions in upper Zone 6. A smaller species to just a couple feet tall, this Harebell has the typical wiry stems and 4-5 narrow lavender-pink bells which dance in the breeze. Letting this self-sow to create a small, wild meadowlet wouldn't be the worst thing you have done in your garden. Sun and even moisture is about all this easy perennial requires. And pretty much deer resistant too!

A dwarf Foxglove from Spain and North Africa and a Plant Select introduction for those hot and cold Rocky Moutain gardeners. Bewitching spires of dark Baltic amber flowers in early summer, this perennial will form nice clumps with multiple flower stems. Evergreen narrow leaves in less harsh winters, this is hardy to zone 4b. Not too wet, don't overfeed.

Milk Chocolate Foxglove. This is a fine perennial species from Spain and Portugal that serves double duty as a sculptural piece of garden art. The deep green leaves are a perfect complement to the short 30" spires of small but densely packed, tubular orange-brown flowers that crowd the stems. A group of these is a fairly arresting sight. Low maintenance and deer resistant.

2nd generation from Turkey of this usually perennial Foxglove. The flowers, while not huge, more than compensate with a stellar performance - essentially the same credo I have lived to generally good effect. The small hairy-lipped pale yellow flowers densely pack the stems, blurring the line between plant and art.

A very choice plant from the Appalachian Mts and closely allied to Podophyllum as they are both herbaceous members of the Berberidaceae. Broad leaves to a foot or more across with small white flowers which are easy to miss but screaming blue berries holler "Look at me!". Shade.

Chinese version of our East Coast Diphylleia cymosa. If you are into herbaceous Berberidaceae, right - that is all of you so of course this is a must-have! White flowers and blue fruit on red pedicels about rounded scalloped foliage. Some have this merged into Podophyllum. We don't. Divisions from our own plants.

Butterfly Iris. Described by Sarah in our mail order dept as "super precious" which is spot on. In the Iris family from Tasmania and New South Wales, this makes a substantive clump of thin evergreen leaves with tall wiry stems holding enchanting white flowers well above the leaves. Grown for decades in the Seattle garden of Jeanette Kunnen.

Our first offering of this fairly new species (2009) of leatherwood first described by our friendly neighborhood taxonomist Dr. Aaron Floden of Missouri Botanic. Surprisingly attractive fuzzy oval leaves on a fairly airy shrub. Flowers are diminutive and yellow-green but slightly larger than the more commonly seen Dirca palustris and with a slight sweet fragrance. Let just say it how it is, this is unlikely to be the plant most asked about on garden tours, but it is very charming in its way and wins the approval of the trifecta of myself, Kelly, and Sue a very rare recommendation in its favor. Dirca to me embodies all that is great about Eastern woodlands when seen through the eye of a expatriate of the area. These plants are seed grown from the type locality and the only Kansas population in a range that centers around the Ozarks. 

Evergreen Solomon Seal relative from Taiwan via Georgia plantsman Ozzie Johnson. Can't have too many clones of a good plant and we always say "Bring on the Clones!" This will do great in moist shade in zones 7-9 where the rounded leaves on stems up to a foot or so shelter the hanging white bell flowers. This combines well with all of those shade garden plants that any self respecting plant collector loves so rest assured that garden harmony will remain intact.

This evergreen Solomon Seal mimic was collected in Taiwan by horticultural powerhouse Adam Black who graciously shared a plant with us some years ago.  Evergreen leaves on a low spreading plant with white flowers although severe cold events might turn evergreen to deciduous.  Pair this with fine-textured ferns, smaller Ophiopogon, Trillium or really, whatever floats your garden design boat.  Follow Adam on Instagram – he goes deep!

Our most vigorous clone of this species which we collected in Sichuan in 2006. This will fill out a pot in no time and will do equally well in the garden. The day we found this is memorable because that evening we stayed in a hotel where we had to sleep with the lights on because every time we turned off the lights, numerous rats would scurry out from their home in our built-in bed and rustle about through our gear. When we turned on the lights, they would all dash back under and into our bed. Fortunately they kept to their level of the bed and we kept to ours but it was not the best of nights. This is a good evergreen perennial with whitish flowers with light purplish interiors and best in shade that doesn't dry out.

A collection from Sichuan by Riz Reyes which is quite exceptional. This is the largest of the clones we grow with bigger flowers, larger leaves and taller in height and is probably worthy of a clonal name. "Rizing Star" wouldn't be half bad acknowledging both one of the Northwest's fine young plantsmen but also the superior flowers in this clone which is a good thing in a Disporopsis! For purposes of garden design, this is essentially an evergreen Solomon Seal that will get 18"-28" tall with off-white flowers touched in very light yellow in the interior and heavily speckled in dark amber. These are young plants and really need to put on their spring flush of growth to visually look like they are mail order worthy but if you get yours early in 2014, just be aware that though they are sturdy, they won't look their best until April.

Our collection of this less-commonly encountered evergreen Solomon Seal lookalike in the Asparagaceae Family.  Fetchingly growing by a boulder and overhanging a small stream while we cast glances behind us in case the nearby troop of monkeys concluded we were in a vulnerable position.  Small white bells on the undersides of the stems in May and June are pleasantly scented if you are flexible enough to get your nose down to your ankles.  Purplish fruits follow.