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Guatemalan False Solomon Seal. A collection from Guatemala at 8000'-9000' on Volcan Azul by Josh McCullough where he found this growing both epiphytically on Oak trees and terrestrially. Cool New World False Solomon's Seal that is best brought in during the winter unless you are Zone 9. This makes an interesting lignotuber of sorts at the soil surface which is a big swollen storage organ that is often found in epiphytes (tree dwellers) to help them weather periods of dry as well as uncommon cold snaps. Ahh, the adaptations of plants! We haven't flowered it but this has long 10" pedicels according to Josh's notes.

This is from a collection of ours from North Dakota where its glaucous-green leaves looked most appealing. Small starry white flowers in May and June and the subsequent fruit is most appealing - to us anyway - when immature as the round green "peas" are decked out in dark stripes. This will spread a foot or so a year and you can eat the new shoots to keep it in check.

False Solomon Seal. This Chinese species is one of our favorites in the shade garden and we delight in its ribbed leaves with elegantly understated small violet daubing at the base of each leaflet followed by the precise detail in the small greenish flowers. In the late summer into fall, it has strut-your-stuff full heads of bright orange fruit that just makes us shake our heads in amazement. We've paired this with our collection of Hedychium densiflorum from the eastern Himalaya which has late season spikes of similar orange flowers but at 60" rather than the 30" of the Maianthemum. It's nice when a speculative pairing actually works.

This was quite a pleasing sight as we slogged up the muddy trail of an obscure mountain in Guizhou with the rain coming down and the slopes wreathed in thick fog and the contemplation of setting up a very wet camp later was weighing down our normally plant-happy attitudes which are the norm when out in the field and we were just starting to grumble when we came around a corner and saw looming out of the mist and overhanging the trail, branches of this fine Malus laden with small cheery lemon-yellow crab apples each bejeweled in glittering raindrops and it was like gazing upon a constellation of anti-depressants. What rain? What mud? All is forgotten with a good dose of plant hunter's little helpers. Small trees to 15' with broad, irregular crowns and likely white flowers.

One odd little plant from the Andes possessing neither flamboyance of flower, nor headiness of perfume, nevertheless, it's pretty damned cool. We've never noticed it blooming, the flowers being so small but the resultant edible but insipid white fruit are attractive as is the foliage and habit. Great in the rock garden.

Quite the uncommon small evergreen tree to large shrub that has tiny little red flowers cladding the stems which individually are a bit of nothing but in their multitudes are really kind of fun. Native to Argentina through Chile down into windy Patagonia, this has not been trialed much here but is growing at the Arboretum in Seattle. Zone 8. Previously received as Maytenus chubatensis and offered as such but finally plowed through some South America floras and wait a minute - it's Maytenus magellanica! We down widdat since it is actually nicer and hardier.

These are seed-grown plants from a fantastic rich purple form of the Blue Poppy shared with us by Merrill Jensen of the Jensen-Olson Arboretum in Alaska where these magical plants grow like Matanuska cabbages. This is a very choice offering. We've not seen this before and the pedigree remains a grandis mystery, so to speak! These could vary from seed but we hope not and be sure to save seed after flowering as you will want a drift of these! Only for cool to cold climates, with no warm humid evenings.

These we grew from seed we received which are a bit of a mystery as half the plants were as expected and the other these delightful rogues. We've not flowered them but certainly looks to be allied to Lingholm but whether these will be sky blue or violet blue, we can't say other than either will be lovely. These do not appreciate anywhere it gets hot and/or humid in the summer. Only for cool to cold climates, with no warm humid evenings.

Himalayan Blue Poppy. Few plants capture the imagination and fire a lust to possess to the extant this fabled perennial does. Our 'Lingholm' strain is one of the best of the Blue Poppies and certainly one of the most reliably perennial. We never tire of seeing this in bloom with its large flowers of a good medium blue or of hearing the exclamations of delighted wonder from gardeners of every skill level. There is something about this that is magic and our sympathies if you live where this cannot be grown which is about anywhere it gets hot and/or humid in the summer.

This Meconopsis is not an Oriental Poppy. Forget we said the word 'Poppy' because everything that makes an Oriental Poppy happy will surely kill this aristocrat. Think cool. moist, part shade, what is going to make my Primrose happy? and you will be on the right track. This is going to be difficult south of northern New England unless you have a cool microclimate. Forget about Kansas although we have heard good reports from higher elevation in Colorado. We've seen the parent species of this hybrid at 12000' in eastern Bhutan and 10000' in Yunnan both in stable moss-covered boulder slopes which never dry. This appreciates a partly sunny to bright dappled shaded position with good loose organic soil that drains yet doesn't dry out. Acid soil and it doesn't like heat and it does need a winter so it can go dormant.

A small percentage will bloom and die - that is just the roll of the Blue Poppy dice and part of the mystique. This strain is much less prone to that plus you have viable seed with which you can start new ones if that does happen. That said, the 'Lingholm' selection in general cultivation has been so diluted by generations of seed-sowing that the Royal Horticultural Society is calling this strain Meconopsis Fertile Blue Group to denote that it is a tall blue flower producing fertile seeds. But what really matters is that these have no peers as there is truly nothing to compare. Young, sturdy plants which will establish very nicely in the garden.

A expert grower friend in Scotland gave us seed of "proper" 'Lingholm' after he could no longer bear seeing the dark blue verging tinged purple flowers of the US 'Lingholm'. We told him that gardeners here are near brought to tears by our domestic blue poppy and he said just wait. Large flowers of the most piercing, unsullied sky blue. Cool to cold northern tier gardens, or 7000' in the Colorado Rockies. Cannot be grown anywhere it gets hot and/or humid in the summer. These may not flower this year. Graeme - you da man - thanks for sharing!

One gold leafed seedling among thousands from seed sown of our Blue Poppies. Fortunately fertile, we are at last able to offer a few of this first gold-leafed form of this type of Meconopsis. The leaves are most intense in spring and the flowers are a lovely amethyst. Like most, some are perennial and some are not. Save seed! Needs cool to cold temperatures so best for northern tier states or elevation in mountain states. Our sympathies if you live where this cannot be grown, which is about anywhere it gets hot and/or humid in the summer.

One of the fabled Blue Poppies whose sky blue flowers in late spring hold people in thrall. This was known for years as the species betonicifolia but was reclassified in 2009. This perennial species is one of the easiest to grow, A good fertile moist soil that drains in bright to dappled to part shade is perfect while avoiding hot sun and dry. Likes acidic soils, cool summers and coldish winters. Cannot be grown anywhere it gets hot and/or humid in the summer. Maybe the best choice among the blue poppies if you are a little warmer and drier than optimum for these divas.

Legendarily beautiful, tricky, and hard to get. So reads my tinder profile and so too reads the story of the fabled blue poppies. Luckily this one makes it ever so slightly easier on the latter two while retaining the first. Baileyi has sometimes been relegated to variety status under M. betonicifolia but either way you name it this Meconopsis is a bit more tolerant of less than optimal conditions, plus once it gets going this particular batch likes to form small clumps or even spread along its apostolic stolons until you are left with a veritable blue sky in amidst your bed of garden treasures. Likes acidic soils, cool summers and coldish winters. Cannot be grown anywhere it gets hot and/or humid in the summer.

We've sold this before as the pink form of baileyi but now have the correct name. These are lovely 4-petaled flowers of a distinctive mauve pink and has proved to be a good perennial form. While it is in the Poppy family, it hates the sun and dry. Give this a moist well-drained rich soil in bright shade to morning sun. Our sympathies if you live where this cannot be grown, which is about anywhere it gets hot and/or humid in the summer.

Seed-grown from the plants we grew from our collection in 2003. This species had been lost to cultivation due to garden hybridization so this reintroduction was quite important in the blue poppy world. These have been better than many at remaining perennial after flowering in all of their inky-blueness. Will not grow in hot climates, warm humid climates, warm humid nights, sun, clay, sand, dry, root competition, warm winters etc. so northern tier states, coastal West Coast or colder mountain areas. While we find them no more difficult than a primrose to grow, folks insist on trying them in Texas, Maryland, Kansas, or worse, indoors.

An interesting range of subtle shades of blue-green on these plants grown from South African seed. Some are comparable, if not better than 'Antonow's Blue' and all are going to let the neighbors know you are a plant geek. Great leaves, spikes of peculiar flowers and inflated seed pods.

You can't ignore the tropical effect of this pale purplish tinted Honey Bush. (The odd reddish-brown flowers smell of honey - the leaves of peanut butter.) Grows well in mild coastal gardens or heat sinks like Seattle but can be frozen back in nasty winters. It's pretty cool.

The all but unseen in the U.S. variegated form of one of the supreme small ornamental grasses. Retains the string-of-pearls white flowers while transforming the blades into an unmatchable pastel rainbow that on closer inspection betrays its elegant components of green blades with a white central stripe tipped by a purplish-pink. Its rare that a grass can reach the sublime but I think its fair to say this one does.

At garden cocktail parties where the design elite and the grass cognoscenti compare notes over a cool Negroni perfectly mixed with Punt e Mes vermouth, this is often alluded to as their favorite grass. Thin green supple leaves are imbued with a simple timeless grace and the delicate seed-like white flowers are the perfect contrast. Our thanks to that proper English gentleman David Mason for sharing this gem with us. This was beautifully grown at the old Hedgerows Nursery where it edged each side of the arbor path going effortlessly from full west sun to a good deal of shade. Cut back in early spring for a fresh start.

We have not keyed this Chinese species yet but it is on the docket. This was a small tree growing in bamboo and mixed forest at good elevation. The leaves are glossy and attractive but the almost lilac-like heads of white scented flowers are the thing. Small shiny black fruit. A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering