H

Interesting and showy Japanese species that makes tidy little evergreen clumps. This is a just too darned slow to ever make it a viable plant for mainstream nurseries but it so worth the wait. So of course we love it! Unusual lavender-pink flowers held well above the foliage. These will slowly increase to make one sweet little grouping. Good moist soil in shade. The whole clan appeals to us beyond reason - Helonias and Ypsilandra are stellar relatives. We have a few very chunky plants we've kept for propagation but now that we have enough in the pipeline, these stalwarts are expendable. It's tough love here at The Farm but we know you'll do right by them.

From the southern portion of its range, this collection has performed wildly beyond expectations given the low bar set from the dormant plants in the wild where they were 8'-10' tall in full exposure. We seldom name plants but this selection is worthy with profuse bee-laden white flowers from top to bottom.

If this is the new wave then I'm a bitter old codger, and I pray they don't mean to drag down the euphoric music genre down with em. It's not often you're growing hydrangea for a foliage plant, but for those who lust for the over-the-top, flamboyant, gaudiness that only the most outrageous variegation can provide, fear not your soulmate has found its way to you. Flowers are relatively subtle lacecaps compared to most marketed macrophyllas. The leaves however feature screaming yellow margins, with a variable cream inner border and natural green center making for a definite conversation starter, just please leave Depeche Mode out of it for my sanity.

An English selection of a North American species, shared with us by our dear friend and renowned Hepatica grower, breeder, and expert, John Massey of Ashwood Nurseries.  It is impossible to think of John without a liberal sprinkling of "exquisite" permeating the thought train and this includes reflections on Hepatica americana 'Ashwood Marble'.  The trilobed rounded leaves are exquisitely (see how that happens?) patterned with a base color of greenish pewter divided by muted chocolate-purple ragged peninsulas.  Delightfully small-scale, the petite soft lavender flowers with white anthers are profusely borne.  Great under deciduous trees and the species is also found on shaded rock outcrops in the wild.  John's book "My World of Hepaticas", is simply put, exquisite.

aka Schizostylis. This selection of the Southern African bulb was selected by plantsman Eric Smith and sports flowers of a deep salmon pink that even the best of sunrises would find a welcome addition the palette. Said by some British sources to often be found still blooming at Christmas, good tidings indeed for those Northwesterners desperate for a little Winter sunshine.

Like lots of things we sell here, we searched near and far for the ideal Far Reaches Farm cap and this is it! Distressed 100% cotton in a variety of colors with a sweet antiqued brass buckle for a custom fit. We had it embroidered with our logo by a small shop in town to help support our little local economy. If you are mystified by the color names, here is a handy key: Khaki is a light olive tone, Maroon is a faded, dark red, Hunter is deep green, Charcoal is blue-grey, and Navy is dark blue.

This is just a good clean form we have bulked over the years by patient, ever so patient, year after year, division. Clear white flowers with the subtle pop of red anthers and a marbled leaf to boot. This all combines in a presentation of exquisite subtlety that propels you back via state-induced memory to past intersections with grace and beauty.

Lavender flowered version of the typically blue-flowered European species. Thanks to our friend and Hepatica guru John Massey of Ashwood Nurseries for sharing seed. We have flowered these plants and they are indeed lavender! Perfect in the woodland garden, very hardy and with impeccable provenance.

A hardy Ginger relative from our seed collection just a long days drive from the Tibetan border. Narrow petals of white and peach are floral whimsy and always manage to coax a smile out of us. The unscented flowers compensate for that lack by having one of the showiest seed displays in the genus. This collection seems to be distinctly shorter than other forms of spicatum we grow. Mulch in winter.

Antique hybrid nearly lost to cultivation but thanks to Jim Fox, we can keep this going. Jim visited Graham Stuart Thomas at his home in England and Graham handed Jim his spade and insisted he dig a piece. As if God himself spoke, Jim obeyed. This is the kind of provenance that makes the Keno brothers animated on Antiques Roadshow. Narrow elegant yellow flowers and fragrant in the evening, this is such a nice change from the huge modern hybrids as it retains a nice species look which we gravitate towards. It is important to keep these heirloom plants going as many of Perry's introduction are now lost to cultivation. Hybridized by Amos Perry who was one of England's first two Daylily breeders and he registered 'Thelma Perry' in 1925 as a hybrid with H. thunbergii as the pod parent and H. citrina as the pollen parent.

A bold plant of 12' forming part of the species-dense broad-leaf forest margins on the incredibly steep slopes of a mountain previously not visited by westerners to our knowledge. It was a long day's climb which ended in the dark with rain and wind on a bare ridge hoping the tent didn't blow away with us in it. Fortunately, after 20+ miles and 5800' feet elevation gain, sleep came easy! Broad leaves with up to 14 leaflets held on petioles touched in red. Cream flowers and black fruit on dendritic panicles. Proceeds from this offering go to support the mission of Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy.

Always vying for Top Hebe in our esteem, this compact grower sports narrow blue-gray leaves with months of white flowers. Our plant has weathered our worst winters with nary a whimper and is at this moment of writing on August 5, without fault, well into month two of blooming. We had the good fortune to have superstar UK garden photographer Andrea Jones visit the summer of 2013 and our 2'x3' plant of Hebe recurva, which was underplanted with Mertensia maritima, was looking smashing. The Mertensia had of its own accord draped a stem over the Hebe and was at its peak with its own even bluer leaves and its small sky-blue flowers. Andrea homed in on this like she was laser-guided and we only wished that we could take credit for the artistry. She was kind giving us credit for the combination while creating the space for serendipitous opportunity.

White flowered version of the typically blue-flowered European species. Thanks to our friend and Hepatica guru John Massey of Ashwood Nurseries for sharing seed. We have flowered these plants and they are indeed white! Perfect in the woodland garden, very hardy and with impeccable provenance.

This delightful hybrid Hepatica selection originates from Connecticut grower Lincoln Foster and more than keeps up with even the best of those produced by the British Hepatica elite. Impossibly rich purple flowers which do away with the distraction of stamens in favor of variably semi-double petals and a bright yellow button of stigmas. 

Purple flowered version of the typically blue-flowered European species. Thanks to our friend and Hepatica guru John Massey of Ashwood Nurseries for sharing seed. We have flowered these plants and they are indeed purple! Perfect in the woodland garden, very hardy and with impeccable provenance.

The pure white flowering form of this hardy gateway drug gesner. Has everything the die-hards love about the genus with the leathery evergreen rosettes and amiably nodding open faced flowers. Happy on rock or in a sharply drained situation. Divisions off of seed grown plants from the original clone.

Choice Romanian species with evergreen leaves and blue flowers. This spreads by creeping rhizomes and in time, you can divide and spread about the garden or dangle as elite trade bait among your gardening friends. Grown from seed given us by our friend and Hepatica King, John Massey.

A recent collection of this Zingiberaceae which we have not yet identified. A graceful species with relatively narrow leaves and very pleasing melon colored flowers. This is from fairly low elevation and growing both as a terrestrial and as an epiphyte. In zone 8 gardens, we would mulch well to keep frost from reaching the rhizomes. Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Collection

This is a gleaming bit of sunshine carried into your shadowed shade garden and released. The cupped leaves to just 5" high bring more light to their bit of turf than their size would suggest. The small light lilac flowers are nice but incidental because with this Hosta it is all about the glow.

This is a pretty interesting selection of climbing hydrangea we received from the intrepid plant hunting duo of Bleddyn and Sue Wynn-Jones of Crug Farm Nursery in Wales. They collected this on a plant hunting trip to Sikkim and found this in the forest near the town of Yuksom. This has the typical small coral-green lacecap flowers and will self-adhere to a wall or tree-trunk as do the others but what sets this selection apart is the generally evergreen leaves which turn purple in the winter. Admittedly, Crug is in a mild portion of Wales which helps with the evergreen nature but what a nice bit of unexpected ornament. This was not collected at a particularly high elevation and we have no idea how hardy this will prove to be but for that sheltered spot in need of winter interest, gotta try it! Especially if grown on a wall, hardiness should be greatly improved and we expect this to be good to zone 7 anyway.