China

Distinctive Asian conifer forming impressively large trees up to 100' and we've been very fortunate to see large specimens in Guangxi Province. The dense branchlets are flattened much like a Thuja and extremely handsome. Ours is thriving in full sun/wind exposure. Recently moved to Chamaecyparis and then back. Young plants. 

Bringing the rare stuff out! This is a very newly described species from the Cangshan in Yunnan and collected by those intrepid folks at Crug Farm in Wales. This one requires room as it is stoloniferous which to our knowledge, is unique in the genus. If you want a tidy clump, we have a lots of other options but if you have space to fill and want something no one else has then feel free to do as we did and pick one up! Bright purplish smaller flowers on this rare species.

Very pleasing collection by Jens and Remy Nilsen from China of this ornamental broadleaf evergreen. In the Theaceae or Camellia family, this has small but pretty white flowers and presents a carefully curated package of attributes with clean foliage coloring well in winter, good form and complementary flowers. Ours survived fine one winter at 10F and expired another at 13F. This was in full exposure to both sun and wind and typically in the wild, these grow in mixed woodlands often on the edges enjoying some shelter much like Rhododendrons or Camellias which would have made all the difference. Plants - such sublime torture.

Collected as Tupistra in 1997 in the Cangshan above Dali at 10,000'. This was in a slump of debris on the road from the cliff above and located just past the 1981 SBEC collection of Rhododendron edgeworthii which was recognizable from expedition photos as the same plant growing on top of the same massive boulder. Narrow evergreen keeled leaves create a dense clump. Flowers a basal persistent cudgel of green buds which open to small strange green flowers turning to amber drops with age which delight the botanically inclined. This was fairly recently moved from Tupistra to Campylandra and in 2003 into Rohdea for those of you keeping taxonomic scorecards. A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering.

An impressive member of the witch hazel family with showy red flowers in the latter half of summer. We had our world-view of Rhodoleia shaken like a snow globe when we saw an imposing old growth tree of this species in southern Yunnan with a straight clean trunk going on and on. Evergreen leaves usually glaucous beneath. Wish it was hardier.

Every spring I say 'O-mi-gawd! How does that little thing do that?" Flowers completely over the top and a celebration of extravagant copious excess which would lead one to think this is the All-American plant but in reality is from the Kunming-Gothenburg Expedition NW Yunnan China 1993.

Sweet little gesneriad (African Violet family) from our collection in Asia in an area not botanized by westerners. This was common in soil pockets on rock faces where it formed rosettes of evergreen leaves with scapes (flower stems) to 10" tall. Up to 9 tubular light purple flowers on each reddish stem and we've had 6 stems in a 4" pot so we're talking some serious floral output here. Given its collection location, we expect this to be at least zone 8b hardy. Proceeds from this offering go to support the mission of Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy.

An exciting tender perennial Impatiens from Vietnam we brought in via the UK. Deep green leaves with magenta undersides on a stout 3'-4' upright plant are quite enough but add the late orange-yellow flowers with red lips and be ready for involuntary expletives and religious exhortations. We saw this in the wild and were blown away. We overwinter ours in a cool greenhouse. Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Collection

A rarity in cultivation, this petite member of the Irregulares section of Saxifraga comes from our collection on the highest peak in the southern Wumengshan in Guizhou. This was found in a deep cleft in a low limestone face shaded by scrub and is now lost due to habitat destruction. Nice airy white flowers midsummer.

This has grown into one of our favorite small deciduous shrubs which we grow near our bog garden. Collected in China on the Sino-British Expedition to Cangshan in 1981 which was one of the first western botanic expeditions to China in modern times. Copious pink-white flowers on a 4'-6' tall shrub. Zone 6 at least.

Our collection of this as yet unidentified Gentian from an isolated peak with difficult access. This was growing on steep open banks overhung with Schefflera fengii and Rhododendron sinofalconeri where it made rounded small shrublets with semi-woody stems covered in clusters of shades of blue flowers.

Young plants of this extremely rare species which we speculate will have only light frost tolerance so perhaps good for zones 9-10. Evergreen bold leaves bringing to mind an unholy union between a laurel and a rhododendron. Insignificant flowers at a relatively young age. A number of novel alkaloids have been isolated from this species if this makes up in any way for the lack of showy flowers. A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering

From Asia, where in the autumn, the 30" pseudostems with their broad sword-like leaves had fallen to the ground exposing the bright red starfish fruiting capsules nested in the dark earth. The late summer flowers sit right at ground level like little yellow orchids with a tinge of pink to the labellum and flowers weeks later than our MD10-77 collection.This looks close to mioga but there are 43 Zingiber species in China alone. True Zingiber mioga is hardy in Kansas which blows our minds.

Very rare collectible and delectable Iris from China introduced by Darrell Probst. This Iris is seldom available and is one of the stars in our shade garden. This particular clone has slightly larger flowers that are white without any blue shading. Makes an evergreen fine grassy mound. Best in light shade or part sun. Slow growing and totally rules when mature.

Our collection from Asia of what we presume to be the super-hardy Zingiber mioga but there are a lot of species to choose from! Corn foliage and cute ground-level soft yellow orchid flowers at ground level which are a worthy reward for a deep bend at the waist. These flower weeks earlier than our CDHM 14723 collection and have a wider labellum with the whole flower evenly colored. A worthy reward for a deep bend at the waist.

One of the stars in our shade garden is this Chinese Trillium relative. We find this eminently superior to the typical Paris polyphylla typically offered. These are seedlings from our garden plants which are marvels of vegetative increase. The 3 bulbs we originally planted 8 years ago have now increased to over 50 stems up to 40" tall with elegant flowers and showy orange fruit. Hope this kids have learned something from their folks. These might flower next spring as a few did flower this year and some of these young plants are already starting to differentiate into multiple growth buds.If you are ordering this as a dormant bare root bulb, it is fine to plant it outside now (assuming the ground isn't frozen etc) as these have been growing outside here at the nursery. Three inches deep should suffice and if you live in harsh winter climates, a good mulch will help. These come up late in the spring for us - later than other forms - so don't worry too much. They like an acid soil, moist yet draining, and we expect that if you can grow Trilliums successfully, you should succeed with this one. Zone 6 for sure and probably into zone 5 although we have no personal experience with it in those regions.

Annointed as the "Queen of the Umbels", this is what Queen Anne's Lace would look like after a top design team makeover. The refined supreme lacery of foliage and polished presentation of 8" white platters of flowers belies a certain innocent muscularity. The epitome of texture.

Our collection from the the summit of Guizhou Province's highest mountain in the southern Wumengshan. This was an area of severe deforestation and grazing but we secured 5 seeds of this very nice pink flowered species hiding at the edge of a boulder in the cropped turf and after propagation, can now offer this rare and possibly new to cultivation beauty. We have been thrilled with the performance of this in our garden where it grows at the foot of a large Baptisia where it wends it way through the stems to 3' tall and fronts the Baptisia with a skirt of pink flowers for going on three months. It is actually giving the Baptisia a bit of a complex because the Baptisia flowers for about a week and takes up a lot of space while meantime the Geranium is just a little energizer bunny.

We've gotten this excellent small species over the years with various names attached such as 'Sky Blue' and 'Cobalt' and there is not a bit of difference between them. As a species, this is perfectly capable of standing on its own merits without the needless marketing ploy of a seductive name although there are differences in shades of blue but we have not had them. Small heads of dark violet blue flowers on 6" stems in June and July are held above dense clumps of fine grassy foliage. Easy and hardy clumper to zone 4 from China.

This is an unusual Allium from a seed collection in China. We say unusual because the small drumstick heads of flowers are yellow which was not expected. This is a smaller species with thin grassy leaves and flower stems 5"-9" tall and requires summer water as it is not one of the bulbous types. This shows no sign of being a "damned weedy onion" and merits a special spot.