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449 products
Our collection from an area of extreme resource exploitation in Sichuan. Normally we don't collect much in this group but this was huddled out of harm's way on a cliff face playing the sympathy card which coupled with unusually glossy leaves and showy red fruit, we relented. Multi-stemmed to 8'-10' +. Deciduous. Every time we look at Viburnum in Flora of China to key this out and see the 115 taxa, we get easily distracted.
Katsura Tree. A collection in China by tres hombres, three Henrik's from Sweden's Gothenburg Botanical Garden. How could they not use HeHeHe as an expedition acronym? Fantastic ornamental tree species, this has rounded ovate leaves richly colored in spring with reds and purples and color persisting to some degree well into summer. Elegant habit and high marks for presentation, the insignificant flowers are not required, Yellow-orange fall color accompanied by a subtle burnt sugar or cotton candy scent from the fallen leaves. Eventually maturing at 40'-60' in the garden but old growth specimens in the wild are larger. Can be single or multi-trunked, ours is the latter after some nocturnal critter broke the top out when young and may have done us a favor as it looks stellar. Cutting-grown from single clone.
Superb blue-green leaf selection of this exceptionally ornamental evergreen Himalayan Blueberry. We saw this in western Arunachal Pradesh in 2003 at 10,000' and discovered an eastern range extension of this in Sichuan in 2006. This is a superior form to both populations and likely has its origins with Barry Starling, UK Ericaceae expert. Fruit is edible but very tart, good only for special preserves and you might be better served eating the birds that came to eat the berries. Not that we would. Or do.
Our collection of this exceptional form of this distinctive vining species of Monkshood from the wooded slopes of Longshou in Sichuan. It was an overcast day on this our first day in the field in the fall of 2012. The summit of Longshou was completely socked in which is frustrating to a plant hunter aside from missing out on spectacular views. As we made our way down the mountain, we got below the clouds and exciting plants started to pop out - Schisandra in full red fruit, 5' tall Arisaema, Vaccinium delavayi and off to the right, a flash of bright color. We hurried over and it was an climbing Monkshood in full bloom with eye catching reddish-purple flowers. The excitement turned to lamentations as it was in bloom which meant there was no seed which was a total downer. The lamenting turned to exultant whoops as we noticed this species had aerial stem bulbils in the leaf axils which are even better than seed. We think this is quite superior to other color forms of this rare species and have given it the name 'Monk Gone Wild' because it is a pretty crazy color for a Monkshood plus this monk managed to remain technically celibate yet still have lots of children via these stem bulbils.
Vigorous plants and our hybrids with mainly delavayi as the parent showing more vigor and variation in shape and color than what we associate with known delavayi of wild origin. Whatever the parentage, (I sometimes wonder about my own) these are arresting shade plants for rich moist soil. Red flowers are amazing surprises under the leaves. Persistence of patterned markings are variable and expect fading to varying degrees as the leaves mature. These are all unique individuals which we would be happy to have in our garden. We have offered these earlier as presumptive hybrids and we presume no longer. We will jump on the Dysosma instead of Podophyllum wagon soon.
This Chinese woodland Peony is one of the few species blooming and thriving in full shade as well as sun. Nicely dissected ferny foliage and slightly nodding single pink flowers, 2-3 per stem, makes this distinctively beautiful. We had a rare trip in the spring to Yunnan and Sichuan in 2006 to see plants in flower and this was one of the standouts. Later to make growth in the spring than some of the other species so don't panic. This has been a stalwart in our shade garden for many years and is an ideal candidate for those of you with late hard freezes as this breaks growth later in spring than the other species we offer. These are seedlings so it will be a couple years before you see blooms. The biggest problem with peonies is planting them too deep so just cover the red growth buds no more than an inch or two. These need a cool to cold winter dormancy so not a plant for LA.
Chinese Bleeding Heart. While we miss Dicentra, we do enjoy this new name and the "ichtyo" reference to the fishtail flowers. This clone probably hails from a Sichuan Mt Emei collection by Don Jacobs. This is a vigorous and impressive plant growing in shaded moist sites in the wild. Taking that into account, that is where we grow it here in our shade garden where it grows under an Ilex fargesii with the odd Lilium nepalense poking through. Broad leaflets on 20" tall foliage with large palest yellow flowers. In exceptionally rich moist soil this can really get a head of steam going and perhaps be too much of a good thing but in our shade garden we have been nothing but happy for the seven years it has been growing.
Fun newish selection of the recently moved to Bistorta from Persicaria with softly golden foliage which is a great backdrop for the 24"-36" flower stems bearing spikes of flowers the same color as Dorothy's ruby slippers. Easy, hardy, bright shade and gangbusters in rich moist soil.
Grown from a seed collection in China by the brilliant plantsman Bjornar Olsen, this is an easy and very pleasing lily. Turk's cap style flowers are predominately in shades of pink, varying in intensity. The recurved tepals are pale white on the margins and speckled with deep carmine spots. Spreads fairly fast, making a lovely patch.
This is the coveted true species unlike the usual Allium sikkimense which is what you get from most seed exchanges. Ours came from Ian Christie in Scotland and with Ian's name as provenance, there is little doubt. Besides we flowered it and it is correct! Thin grassy leaves in dense tussocks with small headed blue flowers in late summer. A Chinese species that is not one of the bulbous summer dormant types but appreciates moisture during the summer and is quite easy despite its relative scarcity.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A gorgeous begonia growing near small cardamom plantings along the trail in the forest heading to higher elevations. Fantastic foliage with dark and sultry clouding and with undersides a vivid red and held by similarly colored stems furred in pale hairs. The white flowers contrast perfectly.
This proved hardy in the beastly 2021-2022 winter with a bit of bark mulch in the Lehman-Russell garden in Seattle. Members of Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy we might add. When we saw new growth appearing there the following spring, we were briefly but enthusiastically afflicted with Steve Martin Happy Feet. A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering.
This proved hardy in the beastly 2021-2022 winter with a bit of bark mulch in the Lehman-Russell garden in Seattle. Members of Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy we might add. When we saw new growth appearing there the following spring, we were briefly but enthusiastically afflicted with Steve Martin Happy Feet. A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering.
A very attractive introduction by us from Yunnan if we do say so. Broad lightly hairy leaves in a dense clump with lots of large soft lavender daisy flowers fringed heavily in very fine petals surround a prominent dark "cone". This steals the show in mid to late July here in our gardens. Karen, a friend of ours who has exceptional taste was strolling the gardens last night (July 20), saw this Aster blooming and said "I want that plant!". And she had barely touched her glass of wine so it was a completely valid assessment. When shipped in the fall, we'll need to cut this plant back.
Excellent selection from the former Heronswood nursery of this robust woodlander noted for the dark hued stems especially in the new growth. This is an exuberant grower sending up big dark chocolate asparagus spears of new growth in late spring which branch out as they get taller bearing small creamy-green bells followed by glistening small black fruit. The young leaves carry some of coloring of the new growth and the whole plant retains this color better if grown in sun in our mild sun climate. In our shade garden, the foliage matures to a very pleasing dark olive-green and seems like some impressive cousin to bamboo as it can each 5'-6' tall. We always mulch ours in winter as we don't want to freeze out the crown and the new growth can start early here in the PNW so this mulch protects it from getting frosted. An easy and stunning plant. This was and still is offered as a selection of Disporum cantoniense but we thank Bleddyn Wynn-Jones for correctly identifying this as to species.
Extreme rarity from the summit of Jinfoshan where this was found growing in moss and leaf litter atop a narrow shoulder of hard limestone napped in snow from the night before. A diminutive species to just 3" tall with small evergreen thumbnail leaves and small white flowers touched in rose on the interior. Light lavender fruit follows. We expect this to be among the hardiest of the Disporopsis and are pleased to be the first to introduce and offer the true species. As a side note of irony, the collection site has subsequently been destroyed by development for eco-tourism.
Our collection from Guizhou in 2010 of this mouth-watering shade perennial. Branched stems to nearly 3' with large reddish-purple pendulous flowers followed by shiny black fruit. We like this one so much we went back to the same mountain in 2012 and collected more seed! Gonna rock the shade garden.
We remain a bit confused on this one and maybe we can blame it on overwork but mostly there is still no universal consensus on taxonomy in the genus. We originally offered this as P. versipelle subsp. boreale and then Aaron Floden told us that Julian Shaw's recent work had reclassified this into P. mairiei, so we dutifully changed the name. Eventually Darrell Probst saw this and wondered what we were doing, as he collected the original seed from the type locality for versipelle subsp. boreale. These botanical dust-ups, while fun to observe, can be frustrating in getting a broadly accepted name so we're going back with our buddy Darrell on the name.
These are from a superb collection by Darrell Probst from China, which is notable for having over 20 small maroon-mahogany flowers clustered just under the leaf blade. If you have a choice, more flowers makes it easy! This is a striking addition to the shade garden and a moist rich soil will make this very happy, which has a direct positive influence on you. We're pretty sure you won't find this too many other places. We always liked it but now we like it even more!
These are from a superb collection by Darrell Probst from China, which is notable for having over 20 small maroon-mahogany flowers clustered just under the leaf blade. If you have a choice, more flowers makes it easy! This is a striking addition to the shade garden and a moist rich soil will make this very happy, which has a direct positive influence on you. We're pretty sure you won't find this too many other places. We always liked it but now we like it even more!