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455 products
A European Trillium relative that forms small colonies in time by creeping rhizomes. Four-parted leaves and greenish flowers that look like an artistic, sculptural rendition influenced by recreational doses of psilocybin. These later give way to a black knob of seeds which are attractive in their own right. Our patch in our shade garden has increased to about 4' across and once it hits 10', we will feel like we have enough.
Originally from Maurice Foster who is one of the UK's great plantsmen who would not gladly brook an inferior form. This can hit 10'+ in height with a narrow aspect and generally deciduous willowish or bamboo-like leaves. Small purplish flowers and outrageous jester's cap fruit with dangling orange arils. This used to be the variety quinquecornutus but that has been sunk. We've seen this various times in China and Vietnam and always get the same pleasant rush.
An Epimedium species of great merit and the Spiny Leaf Form from Darrell Probst puts this into the first rank of the evergreen species. Gorgeous big leaves richly bronze and captivating when young. This doesn't need to bloom to make us happy but the soft yellow flowers are welcome.
Chinese Bald Cypress. Another one of those monotypic genera we love! This deciduous conifer is the only species in the genus and highly threatened by habitat loss in the wild. This will get to be a big tree which your yet unborn child's children can sit under. In their boat. Fairly slow - ours is in our bog garden pond.
A rare species from northern Myanmar and adjacent Yunnan, this is even a rarer opportunity to purchase bulbs from seed collected in the wild by Bjornar Olsen. Nomocharis in cultivation live in the Summer of Love and welcome without reservation any pollen from any other Nomocharis nearby resulting in hybridity. These are direct wildlings and flowers vary a bit which is not uncommon in a population.
Our collection from an end-of-day hunch-driven venture up a nondescript dirt track into forested hills which remains one of the best two hours we have ever spent in the field. A deciduous species with upright fronds 20"-30" tall on plum-colored stems (stipes and rachis). Texturally, graceful and light. Spore-grown by us. Tolerates deep shade and rabbits.
An uncommon variety of the standard evergreen Tongue fern found across East Asia. To this already attractive species 'Keikan' adds wide fronds with rippling deeply lobed margins resulting in a striking flame-like effect. Best grown in a well drained location or on a slope where it will happily spread by its trailing rhizomes.
Chinese version of this species which gets into the Himalaya as we've seen in Arunachal Pradesh. Softly banded in mocha as the new green leaves emerge, the white flowers show nicely below the expanding leaves. Late summer, round orange fruit appears. A different collection from what we've offered previously.
Impressive hardy begonia collected by Ozzie Johnson on Emei Shan in Sichuan. This rhizomatous species looks tender as all get out but has overwintered in a number of Zone 7b gardens - admittedly not 7b for weeks at a time but still - heck yeah! Brilliant red undersides and a burnished upper surface to the leaves are meant to go with the white flowers. Some speculation that this is a natural hybrid with pedatifida but we know for sure it is a dandy. Mulch in winter.
From Peter Korn in Sweden to Ed Bowen in Rhode Island to us in Port Townsend - an interesting study in anthro-assisted ornamental plant dispersal. Beautiful blue flowers with white throats opening from amethyst buds. This is much slower to increase than the flexuosa/elata group. Best in cool gardens. We mean temperature not plant palette because if you are shopping here, then interesting gardens is a given.
An impeccable Scottish source provided this indispensable Candelabra Primrose. Burnt orange flower buds open to orange flowers held in tiers on short, 12" dark stems which pair perfectly with the reddish midrib of the leaves. Shorter than most Candelabra types, this space-saver can move to the path edge for easy viewing. From high, moist meadows and seeps in Yunnan.
Neat species widely distributed from Thailand to China and into the Himalaya to Bhutan. This has stout stems that can reach 4' on old large bulbs with many leaflets arrayed like the spokes of an umbrella. Large green flowers often tinged with purple followed by red fruit. With such a broad range, there is variation in the species but a constant seems to be consistently good growers in the garden. Ours often don't appear above ground until early June so be patient! These are medium-sized bulbs and yes, we agree with you that we should have these sized by centimeters.
Podophyllum or Dysosma – the Asian species are better in Dysosma but when shopping, most people look for Podophyllum when they need to push their shade garden over the top. This Chinese species was shared with us by our friend and great plantsman Darrell Probst who knows an extraordinary plant when he sees it. Among our sea of Podophyllum species and cultivars, this stands apart in habit, form and flower. Upright stems hold green lobed saucers of leaves which cannot be confused with the other green-leafed species. Beautifully displayed are single white flowers under each leaf which when pollinated, morphs into a glowing orange fruit. For us, this species stays in a tight crown without the running habit of some other species. This is good if your space is limited and bad if you want more and of course, we want lots! Which we don’t have but the scant few we do have in surplus, are here.
Climbing Monkshood. This seedling from our collection on the Chongqing-Guangxi-Guizhou expedition in 2010 sports gold to chartreuse new growth in an attractive pop of contrast that helps to tide you over while waiting for the light to mid-blue flowers on stems that can reach 10'-15'. This a widespread and variable species in China and one we find most appealing.
Shrubby little Gesneriad (African Violet family) which will form multiple stems to a foot or so tall with lots of funnel-shaped light lavender-white flowers with throats lined in dark veins. Kind of reminds us of one of the subshrubby Monkeyflowers in a way. Best kept from frost but easy inside over winter. This is widespread in China dipping into Vietnam and jumping over to Taiwan and Japan ranging from 1000' to 7200' stems 3" to 4' tall. There seems to be one form commonly in cultivation which is the glabrous var. pauciflorus and obviously the hardy alpine 3" tall form as well as the subtropical 4 footer needs to be introduced! Sounds like a sponsorship opportunity for a collecting expedition by the Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy in case there is a generous gesneriafficinado out there despairing over the paucity of available diversity in Lysionotus pauciflorus.
Yes indeed it is a hardy Begonia. Hardy if you plant it in the ground - it won't be happy with you if you let it freeze it in its pot. Good soil that retains moisture in shade to filtered light and everyone will be happy. Dormant in winter and coming back from tubers in early summer.
Our collection of this large species from Fanjinshan in China where we saw it growing in the open with mixed scrub. This was a leafless 10' rounded open shrub with seed capsules at the ends of the branches. We have not yet flowered this but Flora of China has this as the only species that grows in this area so that works for us. Expect white flowers tinged pink aging to red or some variation thereof and being fairly profuse in May. May is always a safe month to say when you have not flowered something. Gives you a little wiggle room. If you've got the room in a naturalistic wild garden or want something big summer screening, this could be the ticket. This would be excellent backing for tall Joe Pye Weed for example. Aside from appealing to hummingbirds with its broadly tubular flowers, this is the type of shrub that is begging to be nested in. Good branch angles, nice shell of exterior concealing foliage and relatively open interior. Channeling my inner bird.
Bold gray-green foliaged Chinese Salvia collected by plantswoman June Sinclair. Deciduous species and tough as nails. Multiple arms of flowering stems splay out from the leafy crown bearing many rich purple tubular pouchy flowers. This has been a trooper in our garden. We previously offered this as S. bulleyana but are refining our best guesses. Oh to have more time with a hand lens and the Flora of China.
This choice Tongue Fern is notable for the yellowish variegation on its evergreen 12" long leaves, and is likely conspecific with the clone sold as 'Variegata', Pyrrosia are easy but require great drainage and unless you are planting it in a stumpery, rockery or slope, you will need to seriously amend with gravel, bark or assorted detritus of life. Nice divisions from our stock plants.
Toad Lily. Our collection from Asia This toadie was found on the lower flanks of the mountain we were exploring where it favored openings in the forest where it got dappled light and a brief bit of direct sun. Distinct softly haired velvety leaves with white flowers ruby spotted on the reflexed tepals curving down below the jester's cap of similarly colored naughty bits.