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One of the good ones raised by Keith Lever at Aberconwy Nursery in Wales and granted an Award of Merit by the Royal Horticultural Society in 1991. Large trumpets of dark royal blue tempered with violet and lit by white exterior stripes and throat. This is a compact grower which makes for a concentrated display of these flowers and would be a suitable subject for a pot. Full sun in moist soil for best results.

Awesome Geum rivale hybrid from Yorkshire plantsman Geoffrey Smith which we brought back from Binny Plants in Scotland some years ago and can now offer a few from division. This has a refinement lacking in the newer in-your-face hybrids which we quite appreciate. Nodding coppery-pink flowers straighten out becoming soft pink. This is the correct clone as opposed to mislabeled plants from Holland.

A mat-forming, creeping bit of amusement from New Zealand where it grows from Auckland south. This is related to the monster Gunnera of cast concrete leaf fame but is just a tad more manageable. Great at pond's edge in the shaded woodland and small pipecleaners of reddish flowers are a pleasant surprise. The orange fruit against the small rounded brownish leaves is a welcome bonus track.

Rich deep blue trumpets with exterior pale striping on this collection from a 10,000' alpine moist meadow where it mingled with too many Primula, dwarf Rhododendron and a Bistorta that unexpectedly threatened to steal the show. This requires rich, moist acid soil with afternoon shade in hot sun areas.

This was a purchase by the Miller Botanic Garden in the late 90's from the RHS store at Wisley and to our knowledge, is not available in this country and very scarce elsewhere. An early bloomer, in fact, it is flowering now this late December in its pots sitting outside unprotected as we have had a relatively mild winter so far. Huge flowers resembling an elwesii Whittall Group but it isn't according to Galanthophiles we know. Increases well and a good performer in the garden. Yes, it is one bulb.

Asiatic Gentian with big deep blue trumpets on this mat forming beauty. Rich moist acidic soil is best for this late sumer-fall bloomer. Outrageous in bloom and this will quickly, for an Asiatic Gentian, make a nice dense patch as it roots along the stems. Not a thug, nor invasive or a problem - this a good thing. Moist acidic soil in full sun is just the ticket.

A smaller Geum from the UK with flowers of a gentle soft yellow shot through with apricot veining. Our stock comes from the distinguished Hedgerows Nursery who bestowed us their plants of this upon their retirement and what a boon! It made all those farewells pints well worth the expense. A low grower well suited for growing near a path.

This Japanese woodlander is among the very elite of plants for shade. Slow to propagate and uncommonly beautiful, this is always coveted and spendy. Broad Maple like leaves are the foil for the large 3" light lavender Poppy-esque flowers. Cool shade is ideal for this prize.

I want my burial mound covered solid in this - seriously, it's that good. Wavy edged leaves on a low evergreen clumper with big deep blue trumpets on 2"+ stems. An established clump of this is simply riveting with dozens of big flowers the blue you dream of. Rich soil and moist. Loves food.

One of the very good Asiatic gentian hybrids which we procured in Scotland a few years back. This has good, white megaphone-shaped flowers which are liberally, if subtly, spritzed with pale blue spots. Makes a dense small mat of green needle leaves which dies back in winter. Moist, acidic and sunny.

Exceptional selection of this cross between Garrya elliptica and G. fremontii from Glasnevin in Ireland. What is notable about this is the long late winter catkins have conspicuous wine-colored bands. We're talking Pinot Noir here not Pinot Grigio. As a bonus, the stems are dark colored as well. Winter interest, anyone?

A good dark blue Asiatic Gentian which true to name, brings a turbulent close to the summer with a vivid display of rich blue flowers held above the low mat of needle-like foliage. Variously seen offered as a selection of sino-ornata or veitchiorum, this seems more likely to be the love child between the two species as the dense and vigorous habit is more sino-ornata and the deep mid blue color perhaps a nod to the luscious intensity of dark blue in veitchiorum. A fine addition to the gentian collection and best in rich moist soil in half to full sun. Hardy to zone 4 anyway.

Asiatic Hybrid with Gentiana sino-ornata in its past, this is a very fine introduction by Truls and Emma at Wild Ginger Farm. Large white flowers with a few green flecks in the throat are improbable contrast to the dense green fine needle-like foliage in August and September. Rich moist soil in mostly sun. Zone 4b.

A selection of this outstanding European alpine species notable for having large flowers and being quite a good bloomer. Not all acaulis flower freely but 'Krebs' brings it with large upward-facing trumpets of impossible blue except they are right there in front of you so it must be possible but how can such a tight mat of small green adpressed leaves produce such a fantastical display of color intensity? The good thing is we don't have to know how and why about everything and sometimes it is quite enough to have your senses left reeling by a wee bit of green that does something so flamboyant that it would leave Sir Richard Branson shaking his head in rueful acknowledgment at having been thoroughly bested. We were so excited to finally get this clone that we told all of our friends we got 'Krebs' and it was a long time before we noticed no one was coming over or inviting us to dinner. Our friends aren't plant people for the most part so the misinterpretation was understandable and most have come back once we explained but we really miss Rich and Karen.

Exceptional color form on this compact selection of this very hardy Gentian. Big magenta buds open to purple-pink flowers in late August to October giving your garden a kick in the pants when other plants are packing it in for the year. Small enough to work in containers.

The one-spotted form of the classic Giant snowdrop. Maintains the broad grey-green leaves and buoyantly rounded flowers of the species but does away with the upper green band generally seen on the inner segments in favor of just the apical wishbone green marking giving a distinctly snowier and elegantly clean appearance.

Our friend Ian Barclay's introduction from Desert Northwest Nursery (awesome plants!) of this seedling of 'Leanne' and an improvement of that selection. Darker green foliage and lighter yellow flowers in mid to late winter and a small rebloom in fall. Grows fast and leave it some room like all Grevillea but very amenable to pruning. Prefers mineral soil, no fertilizer.

A lovely Geum we brought in from Scotland and at last have a few to share. A smaller plant with flower stems to just 10"-12" tall holding soft pink flowers whose petal edges are toothed and feathered in an enchanting frill. A color that blends gently with others and well able to stand out on its own merits. We struggle to find fault.

A hybrid selection of the Asiatic Gentians. In rich moist acidic soil such as what we have on our sunny pond edge, this will make a small carpet of green short grassy foliage which explodes in late summer and fall with masses of thumb-sized light blue trumpets. A nice patch of this stops people in their tracks. This whole group of the Asiatics just leaves us a little emotional in a good way except when we see one we don't have and then admiration quickly turns to lust which seamlessly transitions to avarice and then its a downward slide to shameful contemplations but before it gets to that point we've learned to either leave, pop some meds or call a sponsor. This is deciduous and dies back to little crown buds in the winter so don't panic.

Exceptional white-flowered Asiatic Gentian from the Berrybank Hybrids bred by Ian McNaughton in Scotland. We never met Ian but were fortunate to meet his plantswoman wife Beryl which is a lasting fond memory. 'Oban' fulfills Ian's breeding goals of compact habit and upward-facing flowers in clusters. For cool climates.