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1772 products
1772 products
This sterile hybrid Galega is a showstopper. Named for Lady Wilson of Rievaulx who is known both as a poet and as the wife of former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson, if this plant reflects the persona of Milady then Harold was one lucky guy. This is a robust perennial making stout clumps with lots of tall sturdy stems supporting a myriad of showy blue and white pea flowers blooming its tail off the second half of summer. Great staying power and very reluctant to leave the party that is the summer border.
We collected this on the lower slopes of Mt Japfu in Nagaland where it was creeping on the shady forest floor with white veined leaves. 4-merous small white flowers and fruit a reddish orange pea. Plantsman extraordinaire Jens Nielsen pointed us in the right direction on the ID after much anguished and fruitless hunting that led us to offer this previously (and infamously) as "no idea yet". Zone 9 vine.
James Roof' is a man among boys when you are talking West Coast Silktassels. This male cultivar is gloriously well-hung with flowering catkins that dangle nearly a foot in length resulting in catkin-envy among other Garrya cultivars and the occasional insecure gardener. Or so we are told. Tough evergreen doing it's thing in early spring.
One of the best of the hybrids, this Silk Tassle bush is a cross between Garrya elliptica and G. fremontii. It has nice rounded evergreen leaves with catkins 8"-10" long in shades of green and purple in the winter. Just when SAD - Seasonal Affective Disorder - ratchets up, Carl talks us down from the ledge. Tough plant and tolerant of some dry.
Exceptional selection of this cross between Garrya elliptica and G. fremontii from Glasnevin in Ireland. What is notable about this is the long late winter catkins have conspicuous wine-colored bands. We're talking Pinot Noir here not Pinot Grigio. As a bonus, the stems are dark colored as well. Winter interest, anyone?
A hybrid from Pat Ballard's garden in Issaquah with parents of G. fremontii and G, elliptica. This is a phenomenal winter blooming plant with silver-sage and mauve pencil thin pendulous catkins up to 12" long in winter which look as though the lustrous evergreen leaves had been festooned with some sort of botanical tinsel in the most artistic manner.
This has had its fair share of names but we love this current iteration as it perfectly describes the condition resulting from eating the berries "Mental confusion, madness and permanent insanity". At least we would have an excuse. We've safely grown this for many years with no ill effects although our staff might disagree. White flowers, pinkish fruit. Enjoy the flowers, don't eat the fruit. Likes plenty of moisture in a draining peaty, organic soil and best in light to part shade. Not the hardiest plant as it is coastal to low elevations in Chile but good in zone 9 or as a container plant which is what we do.
Rare introduction of an incredibly attractive Gaultheria species. This low-growing species seldom exceeded 2'-3' in height. The reticulate evergreen leaves on reddish stems often were chalky white underneath and the white flowers mingled with young red fruit and black mature fruit. Hardiness unknown but we're guessing light frosts only as it was not far from cardamom plantings in the forest. A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy offering.
Fine South American evergreen shrub to 20" or more when grown richly or half that grown rock garden lean. Wiry red stems bristle with small stiff leaves that pair well to the plentiful small white bells and reddish fruit later. From Simon Bond in England who had some obscure treasures when we visited his Thuja Alpine Nursery.
A rare relative of our local Salal (Gaultheria shallon) collected by Jeanette Kunnen in the mountains above Oaxaca in Mexico. We were given cuttings by the late Ericaceous collector Art Dome who grew this to perfection at his Seward Park garden in Seattle. Scrumptious new growth and lots of pink bells followed by blue-black berries. Art grew his against a terraced wall on a slope where it got morning sun and it was a happy camper.
Box Huckleberry. This now rare in the wild blueberry relative is a choice little shrub that is notable on multiple counts. Compact habit to a foot or more tall and slowly spreading by rhizomes, this has good glossy evergreen leaves turning bronzy in winter with small whitish urn-shaped flowers giving way to edible blue berries. This is being marketed under the trademark name 'Berried Treasure' which might give the impression that it is a superior selection of an already outstanding species but it is the typical species with a more pronounceable marketing name. Marketing hype will be the death of horticulture.
An indispensable Port Townsend plant. This rugged South African is sun, wind and drought tolerant and absolutely hardy here. One of the most admired plants in our border for its profuse display of large yellow to orange daisies on low stems. Good drainage.
Winged Broom. Superb shrublet from the Balkans down in to Greece that has distinctive flanged leaves and stems. This is a low growing very dense small scale groundcover and takes full sun and poor soil while being tolerant of drier conditions. In late spring, smothered in yellow flowers. We have a dandy one under our palms by the gate.
Alex Duguid was the original owner, we believe, of Edrom Nursery in Scotland who grew this particular plant as a strain of Gentiana farreri. This proved quite excellent, combining the compact nature of farreri with the pale sky blue flowers attributed to G. ternifolia. At least this is the speculation of Jim Jermyn, who later owned Edrom Nursery. The outstanding qualities of this plant were recognized and it was named for the original grower. Alex did good. As with all of these Asiatic Gentians, lots of sun and water - they flag if too dry and decline if too shady. Excellent plant and increases readily.
An Asiatic hybrid Gentian which we brought in from the UK. Dark blue, upward-facing flowers are................really nice. Sorry - memory of this in flower last year caused the gray matter to assume the consistency of molten chocolate cake and briefly lost all the pretty words. A particularly floriferous selection as well.
One of the very good Asiatic gentian hybrids which we procured in Scotland a few years back. This has good, white megaphone-shaped flowers which are liberally, if subtly, spritzed with pale blue spots. Makes a dense small mat of green needle leaves which dies back in winter. Moist, acidic and sunny.
Excellent introduction from the breeding work of Keith lever at Aberconwy Nursery in Wales. A compact grower with dark blue upward facing trumpets lined with white in the interior. This requires full sun to do its best and requires a rich, acidic soil that stays moist. Your reward is one heckuva show in late August clear into October on a good established plant.
Very uncommon selection from the UK which we are pleased to introduce to these shores. An Asiatic Gentian whose parents include such species as Gentiana sino-ornata, G. veitchiorum, G, farreri etc. These revel in cool climates, moist acid soil and reward with late summer-fall bloom. This is a good dark blue with purple tones.
Beautiful sky-blue trumpets with a white throat in September on this Gentiana ornata x farreri hybrid. Granted a Royal Horticultural Society First Class Certificate in 1936, we've righted a wrong by finally making this fine UK selection available in the US. Slow but steady in the Colonies!
An uncommon double form of the Asiatic Gentian found and introduced by German plantsman Eugen Schleipfer and introduced to this country by Urs Baltensperger. These fully double dark blue flowers last for weeks in late August into Fall and will cause visitors to perform a potentially dangerous pivot in midstep as they are strolling by when they realize they are seeing double so have your waivers all signed. Sun and moist acidic soil.