Products

Japanese Foam Flower. Uncommon evergreen groundcover which thrives in shaded, moist acid conditions and is uncommonly well suited to clothing a fallen mossy log or rock as it spreads by stolons like a restrained strawberry. Late spring/early summer small white sprays of flowers. Gotta love these monotypic Saxifragales genera!

We have just a scant few of this dwarf form of the Tasman Mountain Pepper which we presume to be from an exposed high elevation site on Mt Wellington. This is ideally suited to rock gardens where it will make a slow and low ball of reddish stems bejeweled with white flowers and oh so peppery black fruit. We were given this plant by the late Michael Wickenden of Cally Gardens in Scotland. Possibly the first introduction to the US. Small plants of this small rarity.

Waratah.  This evergreen shrub in the Proteaceae hails from Tasmania and is a showstopper. Telopea is from the Greek telopos meaning “seen from afar” which perfectly describes the magnificent clustered red flowers quite unlike anything else we can grow here in the PNW and which are produced at the ends of gently ferruginous and leafy twigs. We were highly reluctant to chance planting out this hard-to-come-by beauty as we were quite sure our winter weather forays into 10F would be a terminal adventure.  Were we ever wrong!  It has come through the last 6 winters without a whimper and only a few nominal bits of leaf damage from the January 2025 Great Winnowing epic plunge.  And deer resistant as if it needs further accolades – we have resolved to never garden without it.  Sensitive to higher levels of phosphorous so go low in your NPK ratio.  Some shade in hot sun areas.  Young cutting-grown plants best protected at least for their first winter.

An evergreen shrub we collected in 1997 on the slopes of the Cangshan Range above the town of Dali in Yunnan. Very attractive species whose glossy leaves are more than adequate ornament but when combined with the clustered small curved creamy flowers, it verges on the sublime. Best for milder gardens. Even though it was 20 years ago, the memory of finding this is like a snapshot. This was growing along the dirt single track road that wound up the mountain where it was mingling in a thicket of Myrica, Rhododendron edgeworthii and R. sulphureum, Hypericum, Tripterygium and Nomocharis pardanthina. The view down to the far plain below revealed the city of Dali to the right of gleaming Lake Erhai and just to the left, the famed Three Pagodas of Dali were scarcely visible as tiny pale scratches set in a triangle within the landscape. Writing this, we are transported back and can feel the breeze on our cheeks as it blows uphill carrying the faint "Pink-Pink-Pink" of hammer on chisel from a stone mason shaping a large marble boulder he had found among the scrub and rocky jumble of the lower slope.

Tough little evergold selection of this Meditteranean species. This will revel in our dry summers and bloom for months with the rosy pink flowers contrasting with the gold foliage. Likes good drainage and lots of sun and is a good plant for the deer proof garden. Slow spreader.

These are seed-grown from the impressive yellow hybrid Meadow Rue, Tukker Princess. These will gain some height reaching 6'-8' in flower with a nice display of bee-lovin' scented yellow flowers. Does not flop in our sunny and windy garden which is a plus. Self-sows which is not a plus so cut off seed head before ripe.

Young plants from our seed collection in Switzerland a couple summers ago while hiking the 120 mile High Pass Route. Nothing like fresh snow in late August on the crazy narrow goat track path above a dizzying drop on the highest pass to make you wail for mama. Kelly wailed, Sue was fine. A few extra plants from planting out. Showy filamentous purplish flowers.

One of the good Meadow Rues (there are bad ones, several of which are playing key roles in our compost pile) with nice small rounded leaflets and attractive pinky lavender flowers in cumulonimbus heads. Great midsummer textural color along with the often undervalued design elements of narrow, vertical and airy.

A fantastic small Thalictrum from a Darrell Probst collection in China - no surprise that it is a great plant coming from Darrell. This will make an impressive ball of fine foliage with too many to count small white flowers whose petals are reflexed to unashamedly or brazenly - your choice - display its plant junk with soft lavender filaments. A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering. Eventually to almost 2 feet tall and as much around.

This native Afghani is unrivalled among Thalictrum for textural achievement and presentation of foliage. A diaphanous haze of small gray-green leaflets makes this well worth growing despite the insignificant flowers. Normally we insist on nice flowers but this foliage woos one and all, lasting long after any bloom.

Dwarf Meadow Rue. One of the best of the smaller Thalictrums, this slowly creeps to create a small mat of attractive foliage topped by violet blue flowers. Yet another nice plant from Japan. Half sun is ideal but will take full sun with more moisture.

Seriously good small Meadow Rue from Greece that brings it earlier than some more familiar species. Makes a rounded mass of fine leaflets on many stems to 12"-18" tall with a full helping of clean white flowers. You could ask for more from a small plant such as this but it would be bad form.

Very cute dwarf with more floral punch than expected from a plant a mere 8"-12" tall. White powder-puff flowers go on for weeks and are held nicely above maidenhair foliage. This Japanese selection of a Taiwan mountain species correctly suggests growing in the rock garden but is also perfect for that small spot begging for something perfect.

Uncommon and choice dwarf Thyme we introduced to the US when we brought this little gem home from an alpine nursery in Scotland. A very fine plant of compact habit and the expected profusion of flowers which while not red, are a vividly intense neon fuchsia-infused magenta. Find that on a paint chip!

Imagine prizing open the rigid and unrelenting fingers of one Kelly Dodson and wresting from him prized jewels and precious heirlooms. A scenario not far from the one that has finally made this exquisite Central American bulb available to you our beloved customers for whom we endure much separation anxiety and grief. The flowers like little flames must be very akin to the will-o-the-wisps in their native cloud forest, luring unwary travelers to an endless curse of botanical lust. Desirous of moist, well draining mix and not amicable to deep frosts. Bulb at or near flowering size.

We like so totally rock. Did you ever expect a little nursery in Port Townsend to offer this choice Tigridia species from the State of Hidalgo in Mexico? The flowers are easily described as ashy gray, purplish black and burnished buff combined in a mind-twisting combo of fly-wing venation and reptilian reticulations. The flowers don't compare in size to the bigger more familiar Tigridia pavonia being at best a half dollar or less but the detailing and length of bloom makes it one of our all-time favorites. Each flower lasts but a day or two but this has numerous buds in a cluster and they open sequentially plus the flower scape is branched with the branches not as far developed as the main stem so they kick in flowering when the initial flowers are finished. It all makes for a long-lasting display. These have proven perfectly hardy here but just the same, mulch if winter turns cold.

A pink flowered selection of this cold hardy evergreen vining Jasmine introduced by Ted Stephens from Japan. Vigorous but well-behaved, this likes a bit of shade and would prefer to not be in hot sun. The pink flowers are fragrant as well - always a bonus - with the main flush in spring and sporadic flowers during the summer. Certainly good in zones 8-10 and likely favored spots in warmer 7b.

This climbing evergreen Jasmine vine has foliage richly variegated in creams, whites and yellows in an expressive free-form, I-gotta-be-me style which fits in well with our general philosophy. The leaves take on pink to purple coloration in winter's cold which is something to plan for as siting with that in mind could make you look like the Genius of Nuanced Design. Fragrant white flowers spring to early summer.

The aggrandizing latinate cultivar here refers to the fact that this is the same clone as that the great Ernest Wilson collected back in the heyday of Chinese plant collecting. While such a pedigree is reason enough for its continued existence for us the fact that it has survived so much changing hands owes also to it's being an excellent clone of an already attractive species. The normal evergreen leaflets show prominent silver veining and quite a bit of variable bronzing throughout the season and especially in winter. Fragrant white summer flowers as well but it seems this clone can be a bit of a gamble when it comes to flowering.

White Velvet Spiderwort. This gets great cobwebby silver-white foliage with light purple flowers nestled in the leaf axils. Likes it on the drier side thank goodness and is far hardier than we thought. This overwintered in the ground outside at plant maestro Brian McLaughlin's garden just down the road at 10 degrees one winter "although I mulched it" he hastened to add. The biggest issue for us is not so much the cold but adequate winter drainage because we can get some rain. It resents water-logging but is really quite easy and just very eye-catching as it looks more house plant the garden plant.