Gentiana

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.

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 largest flowered selections of Gentiana acaulis, this is truly a showstopper with its big, deep blue trumpets in spring and lighter reblooms after. It may owe its vigor to hybridity but whatever the reason, we are down with it! Moist, rich soil in sun and stand back and enjoy. Gentiana acaulis 'Maxima Enzian' is likely the same as Enzian is German for Gentian.

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.

Pink Willow Gentian. Thanks to Claire Cockroft for sharing these with us so we can pass them along to you. Choice and scarce pink form of one of the classic fall blooming gentians, this develops into a robust plant with many arching stems ranked with pink flowers. An easy wow.

A classy selection we brought in from the UK as the pure white clone 'Serenity,' but turns out to be a dead-ringer for this Scottish selection with alternate petals dusted in light turquoise. Full sun in cool sun areas, or part sun in hot sun. Moist acidic soil please.

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.

A strong-growing form favored among some of the remaining specialty nurseries in Oregon. Dense evergreen mats of tight foliage erupt in spring and sporadically thereafter, with improbably large and impossibly saturated deep blue trumpets. This mountain species is no effete alpine, moist rich soil is its cup of tea.

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.

A fine selection with seasonally variable light blue trumpet flowers which we received from our friend Urs Baltensperger. Most folks instantly gravitate towards the impossibly dark blue selections and while these are critical to have, consider how much darker they will look with this growing alongside. Just sayin'. Evergreen mats in rich soil.

Evergreen mat-former with very large cobalt blue trumpets spring to early summer. This might ruin your other blue flowers for you as they will look embarrassingly insipid in comparison. A rich moist soil in full to mostly sun is best. Despite popular opinion, these are pigs and thrive on a good manure mulch! Thanks to our friend Urs for sharing.

Selection out of Germany of this darned fine species. Evergreen tight mats of small green leaves with impossible azure blue trumpets standing at attention looking very superior and perfect. Well, it is a German selection after all and this shows a certain adherance to standards which the lesser gentians can only dream about attaining.

A few think is a hybrid or perhaps the closely related G. angustifolia but it makes no difference in the garden however as this is riveting with freely produced large trumpets that scream BLUE!!!! Really quite impossible to assess this taxon objectively when you are totally gobsmacked by the flowers. A selection we brought home from Scotland.

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.

A tough perennial from the southern Caucasus which has steadfastly refused to die despite some of our unintentional best efforts. This will, in time, make an impressive small clump of numerous upright stems to 12" or so which are tipped in late July to September with multiple blue flowers with pale whitish throats. This is happy in limestone conditions and is happy here in neutral to moderately acid. It wants to please. Does well in Denver Botanic Gardens as well as gardens in Sweden.