China

This indispensable species was exciting to see even though it was well into fall. Numerous plants with up to 30" stems and clusters of black fruit. Even though the leaves were turning brown in anticipation of winter, we imagined the scene in spring with the overstory of Magnolia sieboldii and the Disporum with its pendant red-purple bells in small bunches of 3-7 or more. Ear to ear grins! This is the same population as the CDHM 14604 collection two years later.

An extraordinary variant from Linda Cochran's (of course) old garden which she allowed us to salvage when moving. Distinctly mocha foliage in early spring, with various plant parts retaining dark tones. Notably, the flower stem is very dark as are the bracts enclosing the flower bud. The flowers are lovely, white and richly colored in dark maroon. These are bulbs from isolated, hand-pollinated seed. It will be 3-4 years before these flower but lengthy establishment will result in maximum size.

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.

A Steve Hootman collection from the Sino Himalaya of this quite unique creeping Honeysuckle. This is a Kinnikinnik (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) alternative, making a mat of small rounded green leaves turning rich purple/red/bronze tones in winter. Small light yellow Honeysuckle flowers are sprinkled throughout. Very cool.

One of the very best woodland plants from China. This Ranunculaceae Family memeber has evergreen rounded glossy leaves evoking some exotic wild ginger. The plant forms a tidy dense clump with lots of comparatively tall stems bristling with puffs of white flowers. Moist soil is best.

We collected this in 1997 on the Tibetan Plateau near Zhongdian in an area of Tibetan open range. The early October withered, deciduous leaves and dried seed pods shrieked Iris! Eventual flowers confirmed the species, first described in 1995. Thin leaves and basal gorgeous flowers. Young plants.

From one of the richest botanical late afternoon spur-of-the-moments "let's see what this dirt road offers" we have ever had. From trees, to shrubs to perennials to monocots, we made very little progress up the road in the time available. This indispensable perennial Merry Bells was 2' tall with tempting blue fruit in light shade and part sun.  Upon flowering, this deviated from the typical purple-pink bells of cantoniense with greenish flowers whose midsection is infused with a pale chocolate. The species is wide-ranging and it would not be surprising to see color variation in the flowers. Certainly a rarity whether it is this species or proves to be something else entirely.

Beautiful clumping species that may well be the queen of the genus. Or are we granting royalty because it is new on the scene? Maybe, but it is awfully good. This makes a stout small clump of evergreen, fern-like leaves from which emerge in spring the peculiarly Coptis greenish-yellow flowers. From China.

This naturally occuring hybrid Deparia comes to us via plantsman Lance Reiners. Forms a clump of glossy dark green single fronds, each of which is marked by an extremely crenate margin, think scrapbooking scissors. The overall effect is rather eel-like and somewhere between a small blechnum and a tongue fern. Very unusual and quite attractive, wants a wet but well drained spot. Should be hardy down to Zone 7 given its parentage but will possibly go slightly lower.

Lily of the Valley. A good selection of this stalwart species with a yellow margin to the leaves and said leaves are larger than average as well. Typical scented white flowers. There are numerous spellings of the cultivar name but since this is an American introduction, we can only assume this is correct.

A jolly plant indeed introduced by Heronswood from Sichuan. This has evergreen foliage springing from new growth that looks to be a bamboo until it leafs out. Small creamy white flowers in early summer and blue-black fruit held well into winter if the cold doesn't knock back the 6' + stems. Cut back old stems in spring if you were lucky enough to have a mild winter and it remained evergreen.

A new offering for us here at Far Reaches, and a solid addition to any Pleione collection. This has a handsome deep magenta flower with a fringed lip and dark red spotting in the throat. As with all Pleiones, this increases freely by small bulblets, and needs excellent drainage.

Steve Hootman, Curator and Director of the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden, often pats himself on the back for collecting this exceptional species in China and each spring as our plants flower, we murmur attaboys and give him virtual high fives while virtually raising our glass in salute. Loves some shade, great foliage and spring pink flowers. Steve has bagged a host of amazing Rhodos on his collecting trips and this Peony is just as exceptional. Narrow leaflets with a distinct sheen provide backing for the fat dark pink flower buds which often emerge in the early to mid spring before the leaves. This gives an extended period of tantalization before the impressive pink flowers open. An added bonus are the lovely shiny black seeds arrayed in the starfish-shaped seed pods. All in all, a very choice introduction. Huzzah, Hootman and well done Laddie! Just cover the 'noses' an inch or two as too deep is worse than too shallow when planting peonies. This species is best in light shade although part sun such as morning sun is perfectly ok. These are seedlings that are a couple years from blooming size.

One of the great evergreen hardy fern species from our collection in Hubei in this wondrous narrow valley cleaved by a stream. Wondrous because of the flora which included Acer griseum among a host of choice species. Tough fern which looks good pretty much all the time with very few exceptions.

Pretty fantastic selection originating in China but now out of Japan at considerable cost. This Mayapple will develop quite irregularly lobed leaves that are like a psychotropic rectilinear parallelogram awash in pale patterns and dark mottled patterns flashing you back to your youthful experimental phase. Divisions from our plants - not fresh imports. Legal in all 50 states for recreational use with no side effects other than recurrent euphoria.

Seed collected at 3200 meters in Sichuan in an open grazed small meadow area adjoining low scrub. Tightly clumping, deciduous and allied to Iris japonica but is something totally new. Small blue flowers are laddered down the stems in the leaf axils. This has baffled some of the top authorities on Chinese Iris both here in the US and in the UK which quite honestly makes us very happy. Nothing like introducing a species nova to quicken the pulse! We expect this to be hardier than the zone 6 we are giving it but are being our usual conservative selves until we learn differently from those of you who will try this in colder zones.

This busy Lizzy is not the free-wheeling wild times tropical annual of your Grandma's time, this is the conservative backlash foliage over flowers, year round workhorse Impatiens. Hardy down to the warmer parts of Zone 6 this is a great plant to add some tropical flavor to your less-than-tropical perennial woodland garden. Plus happily spreading and easily dug to share with friends! Wheels of lime or silver-streaked dark green leaves centered in red with yellow balsamineous flowers in Summer. These are cutting grown from a particularly narrow form at the old Heronswood nursery. 

The correctly named true species as what is generally seen in gardens are forms of Cardiocrinum giganteum. The only deviation from the key of 3-5 flowers are some with up to 9 flowers which we attribute to easy living in our garden and variation within the species. This is most closely allied to C. cordatum from Japan, Sakhalin, and the Kuril Islands and has similarities in height at 4'-7' tall along with the distinctive grouping of leaves in the middle part of the flowering stem. New growth in spring is a brilliant copper-red and non-flowering bulbs go dormant quite early in June. White tepals are greenish-white at base with interior first touched in soft yellow-green and then deep within, purple. And fragrant late in the day. These are small bulbs perhaps 3 years from flowering. A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering,

A recent collection of this Zingiberaceae which we have not yet identified. A graceful species with relatively narrow leaves and very pleasing melon colored flowers. This is from fairly low elevation and growing both as a terrestrial and as an epiphyte. In zone 8 gardens, we would mulch well to keep frost from reaching the rhizomes. Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Collection

A superb smaller evergreen Solomon Seal from China which we have grown for many years and have come to regard as an indispensable part of the collection - one of the first plants we would grab when the greenhouse catches on fire, perish the thought! Milder gardens, glossy leaves, clustered white flowers and bright red fruit. Often an epiphyte.