China

Second generation plants from our collection from along our way up the mountain to Tianchi Lake in Yunnan. We found this Lily relative (which has been called N. forrestii) growing in a wooded copse with Sorbus reducta. Likes a good moist soil and can have 7-10 flowers per stem in our experience when it gets some age. Pretty much awesome. These are nice, blooming size bulbs and a must-have for cool northern woodland gardens. If you garden in Kansas, Texas or most of the Southeast for example, it is probably better to just enjoy the photo. These survived the brutal 2013-14 winter in Wisconsin at a customer's garden as newly planted bulbs in the fall which is impressive considering the ground froze 5' deep. Hardy to zone 5 if not zone 4.

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.

Pretty cool and needless to say, rare rhizomatous evergreen perennial taxonomically wandering among genera from Tupistra to Campylandra to currently Rohdea which we have written in pencil. This has proven nicely hardy here in the PNW making a statement with elegant narrow green leaves with a muted amber central stripe. Flowers curiously interesting. Sure, this could be damning by faint praise using classic nursery merchandising deflection and obfuscation but the flowers are curious. And interesting. This is from a Quarry Hill Botanic Garden collection which they shared with us. We saw this species growing among bamboo and mixed shrubs on the slopes of Luoji Shan in Sichuan and it was like unexpectedly running into a friend, a brohdea, so to speak.

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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 these kids have learned something from their folks.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.