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Frosted Jade Ajuga. A rare Ajuga the likes of which you may have never seen. We all are familiar with the utilitarian carpeting-with-abandon slug magnet ubiquitous in gardens everywhere. This is a different critter altogether and resembles Bugleweed about as much as a Bichon Frise does a Junkyard Dawg. Stays put in a clump with erect stems to 16" with showy leaves of white, green and cream and intense violet blue flowers. This has been one of the most asked about plants in our shade garden and when we say what it is, the answer usually is "That's an Ajuga? Do you have it?" It is completely deciduous as well which is another mind boggler. And for slugs - they do like this one too, but really it is mainly the new shoots in early spring. We just keep an eye on the growth and if they are getting nibbled then we go out one or two evenings and inflict bodily harm and don't worry much about the plant afterwards.

Rare plant found only in limited areas in central Honshu, Japan where it likes the forest fringes in the subalpine areas and is known as hiiragi-sou or holly tree-leafed weed. Hiiragi-sou sounds better than the translation. This selection has dark blue flowers and is a deciduous clumper to 16" tall - very nice!

Mountain Lady's Mantle. This is a smaller version of the more familiar variety with what we think are more attractive leaves. Glossy dark green with an alluring sliver edge to the margin, the attractiveness is further enhanced by the small creamy yellow flowers in late spring.  Tough as nails and very hardy to the point of seeding around freely in our retail area gravel, not that we mind!

A dark colored selection of Allium senescens ssp. montanum by Mark McDonough that puts on a serious flower display of ruddy pink flowers in mid to late summer to the unending delight of those little orange Skipper butterflies. Clump forming and not invasive, this is muy bueno.

One of my favorite Alliums from Mark McDonough with cool gray green foliage and sugar pink 2" balls of flowers in midsummer. This is a rhizomatous type making nice clumps without being invasive. The foliage looks good during bloom and the bees & butterflies have a rugby scrum over the nectar.

This is the coveted true species unlike the usual Allium sikkimense which is what you get from most seed exchanges. Ours came from Ian Christie in Scotland and with Ian's name as provenance, there is little doubt. Besides we flowered it and it is correct! Thin grassy leaves in dense tussocks with small headed blue flowers in late summer. A Chinese species that is not one of the bulbous summer dormant types but appreciates moisture during the summer and is quite easy despite its relative scarcity.

We've gotten this excellent small species over the years with various names attached such as 'Sky Blue' and 'Cobalt' and there is not a bit of difference between them. As a species, this is perfectly capable of standing on its own merits without the needless marketing ploy of a seductive name although there are differences in shades of blue but we have not had them. Small heads of dark violet blue flowers on 6" stems in June and July are held above dense clumps of fine grassy foliage. Easy and hardy clumper to zone 4 from China.

A crisp October morning at 10000’ on the frozen summit of a mountain in Hubei with small copses of Rhododendron oreodoxa var. fargesii huddled together with leaves curled tubular in the cold. The grassy patches among the rock outcrops were brown and sparkling with frost crystals.  We were there in search of the wee Allium henryi discovered in this area by Irish plant hunter Augustine Henry in the 1880’s but perhaps not introduced as our research indicated it was dubiously in cultivation if at all.  At this point in the season, most herbaceous plants had succumbed to repeated hard frosts and we were left searching for likely maybe could be Allium withered brown foliage and tattered spent seed heads all of 3-4 inches in height.  The view was spectacular although until we could claim a seed or two of a dwarf Allium, we could not give its just due.  At last we found a scant few small plant remains in a weekly-grassed spot and some equally petite remnants in humus pockets on the flanks of a shaded rock cliff.  Less than 10 seeds from each and we could find no more allowing us a moment to soak in the magnificence of lesser mountains marching away before as with precipitous valleys intervening all clad in true firs (Abies fargesii var. fargesii) which was so familiar yet so exotic.  We realized this was one of the great vistas and Kelly said “Mom would like this” and from his pack pulled out a Ziploc of said mom’s ashes and gave them a good scattering.  So what about those onion seeds?  One lot did indeed turn out to be the blue-flowered Allium henryi with flat leaves lined in white underneath while the other, this one, proved to be the thin-leaved and also blue-flowered Allium cyaneum.

This is a Chinese species with 12"-15" stems and good purple flowers borne on numerous scapes late spring and early summer above the stoutly grassy foliage. Stout compared to some of the finer textured Alliums anyway. This has been very easy and appreciates summer water as it is not one of the xeric bulbous types. This self-sows just enough and has not been a pest at all but the volunteer plants have simply taken the planting from intentional to natural.

A rare introduction of this small alpine Allium that is scarcely represented in cultivation. Small flattened leaves arch close to the ground and the short-stemmed blue flowers are quite pleasing. The leaves distinguish it from the similar but with rounded leaves, Allium cyaneum, which it shares habitat.

A Chinese rhizomatous type flowering with fresh green foliage when flowering rather than the Great Withering as with bulbous species. Small heads of yellow flowers on 10"-15" stems set in a comparatively statuesque frame (comparing to Allium moly here) sets this apart from its yellow compatriots. Introduced by Diana Reeck from Kunming Botanic Garden.

An Allium of allure, an Onion objet d' art, indeed, a bulb most buxom. This are not epithets tossed around lightly as I for one, look askance upon horticultural banter. Broad sculptural leaves subtend a golf ball flower of pale lilac to silvery white. Exceptionally meritorious in rock gardens and containers and will take summer dry.

A collection from Tibet by Daniel Winkler of this ornamental onion. This is one of the Asian rhizomatous types making a nice clump of broadly grassy foliage in this case with leaves some 12"-15" long. The flowers are in shades of pink and are open rounded umbels whose drooping florets look a bit like some of the fireworks seen in a Fourth of July evening sky. Altogether an attractive species whose flowers usually coincide with the 4th so perhaps this year we will compare flowers to pyrotechnics. Hardy to at least zone 6 and likely lower.

Hearkening back to our 1997 collection in Yunnan, this persistent little onion is testament to what keeping calm and carrying on can do for you. Thin, grassy clumps of leaves with small heads of pink flowers held above makes this daintily appealing. This likes a reasonably moist, rich soil. Often seen with the name "amabile" appended to it, which is an invalid synonym.

From Sichuan where this was growing in an open position in a lightly shaded glade at about 10000' in elevation. This has small leaves shaped much like a pointed canoe paddle with flower stems to 10"-15" tall bearing small round heads of white flowers sometimes with a diffused pink keel to the outer petals as many in this collection do. We always like finding this species as they do vary and finding an Allium that is at home in the shade garden is not a bad thing. This will continue to gain stature with maturity and do a bit of clumping.

A Dan Hinkley collection from Japan of this fine mid to late summer blooming Allium species. Good richly colored purple flowers are freely produced on this densely clumping little dude. Good in containers and great in the rock garden or special little niche. This was originally misidentified as Allium thunbergii.

Dwarf Scandanavian selection of Chives which is way more ornamental than usefully edible. Lots of pinkish lavender flowers on a very compact plant. Quite useful in the rock garden or detailed planting site such as edge of a stepping stone or against a rock.

This is an unusual Allium from a seed collection in China. We say unusual because the small drumstick heads of flowers are yellow which was not expected. This is a smaller species with thin grassy leaves and flower stems 5"-9" tall and requires summer water as it is not one of the bulbous types. This shows no sign of being a "damned weedy onion" and merits a special spot.

Here is a little Japanese bulbous plant that will add some late summer glitz to the rock garden or special foreground planting niche. Not shy about blooming, this will strut its stuff with round purplish flowerheads on 10" stems which sends our friends the Butterflies and Bees into quiet delirium.

Excellent little Asian Allium that is very nice with small heads of white flowers. Perfect for the rock garden or does great in regular garden beds as it does appreciate some moisture during the summer. Sun and decent drainage and thrives in one customers garden in Michigan. Tidy and of good disposition and certainly not a garden thug.