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A dense hard light green patty of minute needle-like foliage on this good alpine from the Wallowa Mts in NE Oregon which is a regional Mecca for serious rock gardeners and growers of alpines. Our plants have come from two of the most extraordinary growers of rock garden plants, Kathy Allen in Oregon and Rick Lupp of Washington. The fact that these two grew this in their nurseries says plenty as to merit as well as growability. A gritty soil in a rock garden or container in full sun and can be stingy with its white flowers but awesome even if it never bloomed.

An unusual member of this New Zealand endemic genus, shrubby evergreen with extremely fine needle-like foliage that varies in color from dark green to russet tones of gold and brown. The fascinating fruit are sheeny, translucent, pale purple to dark blue berries. Can grow to a dense and yet airily architectural mass of 5ft. Fairly hardy as it hails from sub-alpine zones, should manage alright in Zone 8 and up.

A Philip MacDougall collection from central Taiwan of this dainty in appearance species. Small leaves which are reddish when young pair nicely with the small white flowers in spring which are fortunate to have a red spot on the back of each petal which makes them just that much nicer. Upright habit and likes part shade. Although this has been recorded as 25' small trees in Taiwan, you and I won't live long enough to see that so 6'-10' tall is a reasonable height to expect.

Here is one of the results of the North Caucasus Expedition in September of 2011. This was a joint venture involving the botanical gardens of St. Petersburg, Stavropol, Hamburg, Shanghai and Gothenburg. We were fortunate to obtain seed from one of the participating botanic gardens and quickly raised this to flowering size. This Campanula was collected in Russia at Karachayevo-Cherkessiya, Terbeda, Gonachkir Valley at 1800 meters so next time you are there, keep an eye peeled for it. But in case you are not planning to travel there soon, here is a chance to get a wild collection of a workhorse garden species.

We've noticed some of these have a faint lavender shading to the white flowers especially in bud and just open. Typical C. lactiflora can reach 3'-5' with big showy heads of flowers in late summer. The fact that these are flowering in small band pots at 10" tall might speak to a more compact form as they do come from some elevation. Time in the garden will tell the final tale but one thing is for sure - these should be winter hardy enough for anyone we're ever going to ship to!

One of the truly elegant cultivars and one that will be the toast of the garden. This is one of 5 surviving C. xcrocosmoides bred by Max Leichtlin of Baden-Baden Germany before 1895 that is still in cultivation. A true heirloom cultivar. Tall stems with fingers of flowers held out like a ladies hand extended to be kissed. Refined orange tepals nicely spaced reflects its obvious confident sense of self and of place which speaks to its heritage of Teutonic thoroughness and simmering superiority.

Our introduction from 2012 of this new to cultivation species. This was found on a scramble up a shaded and damp ravine which would have been a small stream during rainstorms. Fortunately it was sunny. A tight groundcover with normally green leaves but this sport has frosty white flecks in the leaves most prominent in the spring. Small green flowers.in branched heads up to 6" above the leaves. We were hoping for yellow but this will make the green flower contingent happy. You would be surprised just how many of them are out there! This overwintered nicely in our garden winter of 2014 enduring two separate events of 3 nights of 15F each time.

Our collection from a plant with particularly good red-purple new growth where it was growing in rich soil moist soil in open woodland with a few plants of the rare Primula ovalifolia as neighbors. This is groundcover with strawberry-like stolons terminating in a plantlet which will root where it touches. Lovely thing with pale flowers above the bold foliage in early spring. The species handles the east coast as well growing in the Dronenburg-Weil garden in Maryland.

Gawen Bellflower. A fine choice for cottage gardens or your basic flower bed, this very hardy perennal will provide a refreshing and cooling display of large cup and saucer double white flowers in early to mid summer. This is a mat-forming plant so in a few years you will have an enviable stand of flower stems you can cut for dinner parties.

Ahh the beach, sun, salt, spray and....botanizing? What can we say we can't help ourselves, and locally when doing some beachside botanizing what is likely to draw you in is that perfect beach body, hairy and bigheaded, that's right we're talking Carex macrocephala, the big-headed sedge. Normal grassy sedges have edges leaves but with far more flower power than your average Carex. Rare in cultivation so sandy and well-draining if you want to be safe, but will likely tolerate a wide range of conditions like its brethren.

A very fine cultivar with large flowers held appealingly over an especially long period. The wide open mid-orange flowers have a darker orange central stripe running down each petal which tends to grab the eye and hold it. It is always fun to watch folks cruise the Crocosmia at a steady pace only to be brought up short by Zambesi.

Smashing yellow Crocosmia with small but multitudinous flared open flowers. A good clumper with nice vigor. Often we favor the larger flowers but this puts on such a good display of a nice yellow (there are bad yellows) that it is impossible not like this one. It was among the top sellers of our Crocosmias here at the nursery last year and it is because it has that special something. There is much confusion in the trade with a half dozen different but similar cultivars and we have to confess that we are as confused as anyone. We have sold this for years as Crocosmia 'Citronella' but now think we have 'Golden Fleece' based on Goldblatt, Manning and Dunlop who state that the the true 'Citronella' gets 3'-4' tall and this is quite compact at 28"-30". 'Golden Fleece' was introduced in 1993 but no one knows who the breeder was so add murky origins to the melange of mystery.

One of the most distinctly "What is that plant?" deciduous shrubs around is this tough little mutant redstem dogwood. Intensely columnar and slow with curled leaves held close to the vertical stems. These turn a most satisfying purple in the fall. As far as flowers go, forget about it. Slow growing, our 6 footer in the garden is pushing 40 years of age.

Variegated Pagoda Dogwood. A variegated form of this alternate-leafed dogwood that is quite choice and can be seen in our shade garden. This lacks the big bracts of our native dogwood but still has true creamy scented flowers arrayed in flattened disks along the tiered branches. Superb foliage and form and is rock hardy.

Nice red-orange flowers really puts on a show later in August which comes at a time when some of the other reddish varieties have finished flowering. Named for Phillipa Browne who is a Crocosmia hybridizer in the UK. We're certain she didn't name this after herself and that a fellow nurseryman chose to honor her work in this way.

Our collection from Asia of this low growing - prostrate actually - creeping Cotoneaster. It is one we admired as it crept over a rock face along the trail and we kept going, not intending to collect seed. Looking back, we saw our friend and great plantsman Peter Cox collecting seed so we scampered back to do the same. Found in the range of C. dammeri but there are 111 species in China alone. White flowers, red fruit and evergreen.

Sea Kale. A prized vegetable of olden times, this still would be widely eaten if the leaves didn't bruise easily in transport. However, that is just a gastronomic aside because the ornamental qualities outweigh its tastiness. A seashore plant of Europe, this has ruffled blue-green leaves and white flowers.

Our selection of an exceptional seedling from a Vietnam collection. Typically green-leafed, this one has lustrous red new growth looking pretty amazing spring through fall and darned good in winter too since it is evergreen. We haven't flowered it yet but expect creamy yellow flowers in summer. Young plants, cutting propagated. A tip of the hat to our staff wit Yvonne for coming up with the perfect name.

From the Yunnan-Vietnam borderlands, this small-leafed evergreen dogwood makes an attractive tree. Flowers not seen but if anything like the red fruit when ripe, then boom-shaka-laka! Even if the flowers are not as hoped, what a gift to focus on its many attributes and the modern plague of unrealistic expectation. Gallon pots. A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Plant

You don't have to sell your soul to have this in your garden but once you see it, you would be more than willing. New selection from the UK that has to be Lucifer's love child. This is so much better than that old devil. Stout dark sooty stems holding deep burning red flowers with a wide flared corolla that lacks only the smell of brimstone and the wail of sinners. We do get involuntary high-pitched keening from people who see our big display plant so maybe we're just missing the brimstone. Quite difficult to come by, these are single large corms we would typically put into a gallon pot for sale here at the nursery.

Rare Campanula relative from Bhutan, Nepal and Tibet. This has a perennial carrot-like root and in mid spring, the new growth emerges getting 12"-18" tall and tipped by pale blue bells with a darker blue base. We collect Codonopsis every time we see them in Asia because we love them. Musky foliage if bruised.