China

Seedlings from our Cardiocrinum giganteum var. yunnanense 'Big & Pink' which is one of two pink Cardiocrinums known to exist. We have the other one as well. These are hand-pollinated seedlings of this amazing and extremely rare plant and we expect them to be pink as well. They are probably a few years from flowering. One nursery person we know of was quite incensed that we would be selling these as pink saying "How do you know that they won't be white?" to which we replied "We don't but we don't know that they won't be red either." It is the first color break in the genus and there is no precedent to make assumptions other than best guesses and this is our best guess. We had two bulbs flower from this crop this summer and they were pretty darned pink. One came very close to the parent and the other was a notch behind but still way better than anything else out there so we are greatly encouraged. We can't wait seven years for these to flower to see what degree of pink - or not - they will be because the main bulb dies and we start over with offsets and seed. These do produce offsets so even though the bulb dies after blooming, you end up with more bulbs than you started with. This is a plant of temperate climates in China and the Himalayas and likes a lightly shaded, cool and moist situation. These are not planted deep like typical lilies but shallow and will often have their noses above ground as they get mature. We mulch these in winter with a blanket of dairy manure as they are a bit piggy. Oh, and that nursery person who was concerned about our ethics? She ordered one. Plant so the tip of the bulb is exposed and mulch well to keep winter freeze away from the bulb.

Elegant, graceful and beautiful form of the species with thin radially arranged leaflets and lovely narrow-waisted dark purple flowers accented by white stripes held fully visible below. The spathe limb or hood of the flower tapers to a long thread. This former variety lacks hairs on the spathe tube rim or lip which would need magnification to see anyway. Increases by short runners terminating in a bulb and will form a colony in time. We saw this just above Kangding in China in 2006 including a fantastic black-leafed colony of a single clone which resides not in our garden but in our memories as a longing unfulfilled.

They don't told us we couldn't bring back any live animals from China, so with bufophilic dreams crushed we settled for the next best thing and brought back this incredibly vigorous toad lily from Anhui province. Quickly growing to form a patch of mighty stems clearing 4ft tall in our collector's garden with large broad leaves irregularly spotted (especially when newly emerged) and followed by delightful pink and white polka-dotted octopi in late summer and early fall. One of the best in our not unsizable Tricyrtis collection and well worth spending some quality time with sitting on your toadstool.

A collection from Sichuan by Riz Reyes which is quite exceptional. Our resident didact in Polygonatum and associates, Aaron Floden, has found this to be closely related to Disporopsis undulata but larger in all aspects earning the use of a placeholder "pseudoundulata" name. We can't settle the taxonomic nomenclature but "Rizing Star" wouldn't be half bad as a clonal name acknowledging both one of the Northwest's fine young plantsmen but also the superior flowers which is a good thing in a Disporopsis! For purposes of garden design, this is essentially an evergreen Solomon Seal that will get 18"-28" tall with off-white flowers touched in very light yellow in the interior and heavily speckled in dark amber.