Himalayas

Himalayan Maidenhair Fern. Evergreen to semi-evergreen creeping fern making the the most textural groundcover imaginable. Salmon pink new growth goes to light olive and finally green leaflets on black wiry stems just 8"-12" high. Likes a loose moist soil but will tolerate dry when established.

Giant Himalayan Lily. Outrageous Lily family member which can reach 14' high in flower with huge 10" long Easter Lily white flowers flushed purple in the throat. This has an intoxicating fragrance which rides on the breeze throughout the garden especially in the evening. Large green heart-shaped leaves evocative of a Hosta ever increasing in size until it is old enough to bloom which is usually around 7 years of age. Once it is old enough, it sends up this amazing flower stalk in spring culminating in flowers in the latter part of June. This requires so much energy that the main bulb dies but it usually makes several offsets to carry on in subsequent years. As a bonus, the dried flower stalk with its decorative seed pods makes for an arresting bit of indoor decor. Considering the time involved, the sheer magnificence coupled with the poetic finality, flowering is an event that demands a party with plenty of sparkling wine. It's a great excuse for a little justifiable bragging. Plant shallow in rich and moist soil.

BARE ROOT PLANTS MUST BE SHIPPED BY MID-APRIL

Collected in northern India by the intrepid plant hunting duo of Bleddyn and Sue Wynn-Jones, this species offers some midsummer exotica with yellow flowers emerging from soft red calyces on 2' stems. Yet another hardy-for-us species in the Zingiberaceae that we are enamored with.

Also found as Potentilla lineata. We originally received seed of this back in the 90's from a Chris Chadwell collection in Nepal. An exceptional foliage plant with long silken silvery leaves and tall loosely arrayed yellow flowers in early summer, which we have offered in the past simply as Potentilla sp. This was misidentified by another nursery in the area as P. gelida and as a result, is in the trade here as P. gelida which is unfortunate as it bears little similarity to this ornamentally uninteresting species. Then to make matters more complicated P. lineata recently became Argentina lineata nonetheless it is one of our favorite herbaceous Potentilla-like plants which Chris ID'd for us here in the summer of 2013.

One of the few plants the damn yaks don't eat up in the Tibetan Plateau which explains why we were able to collect seed of this herbaceous honeysuckle relative. Bold leaves with absolutely nothing flowers in June which yield smashing clusters of marble-sized red fruit.

Offering from division of this excellent selection by our friends at Crug Farm who collected this in Nepal while plant-hunting with Dan Hinkley and Jamaica Kincaid. The species is typically very robust and stout and this is no exception with green leaves and a red pseudostem. The white flowers with a light lavender wash are a nice departure from the norm. This does not like warm night-time temps and hot, muggy humidity - it's from the mountains after all.

Very collectible selection of this hardy terrestrial orchid which boasts - yes, boasts, of its unique, light chartreuse foliage. if your ears, like ours, are tuned to that high frequency in which plants converse, you can just make out this orchid sounding like an NBA player after throwing down a one-handed jam from an alley-oop "Yeah! Lookit me! Me! I'm a bad-ass orchid! You ask yo mama how bad I am! An yo sister - she loves how my leaves shine when the lights go down." I've given up on the NBA because such displays are wearisome but somehow, with this orchid, it is an endearing cheekiness. Light yellow foliage looks it best in bright shade to part sun and not the part during the hot part of the day. Leaves 18"-24" with pinkish-purple flowers a few inches taller in June and hardy to zone 6 especially with winter mulch.

Named for the stringently impeccable plantswoman and designer, this large-leafed deciduous Bergenia with pink-white flowers is a worthy namesake. She had a deserved reputation of not brooking fools gladly but strangely was always pleased to see us - perhaps a case of the exception proving the rule. Light green leaves with crenulate dentation on the scalloped leaves.

A decidedly unBaby's Breath Baby's Breath. This is a delightful deciduous creeper that absolutely covers itself in lavender tinged white flowers with darker pencilings. Very nice in the rock garden or rockery. Appreciates good drainage but some moisture in the soil.

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.

Pretty awesome evergreen fern because not only is it cool, but it increases fast enough to make a statement in the garden before you are in your dotage and have forgotten why you bought this, yet not in that rampaging acreage-eating Borg-assimilating manner that is sometimes described as "a good nursery plant".

An recently described (2018) Hinkley collection in eastern Arunachal Pradesh. A staggeringly good foliage plant fully clad in large deeply divided leaves and sporting yellow flowers - such a nice departure from pink! These admittedly mingle within the foliage and teasingly tantalize in their allure. Hardy in mild Z8b gardens with a deep airy mulch. With many herbaceous "hardy" begonias, hardy as long as the rhizomes and crown don't freeze!

We always think of this as an easy and affordable substitute for orchids as the flowers are reminiscent. In the ginger family, this is easy Asian tuberous plant can be grown in part sun to light shade. It will get a foot or more high and will have a succession of showy purple-pink flowers and clump quickly.

This epiphytic Vaccinium relative - indeed some have merged the two genera - is a stunner. Growing on trees in the cloud forests of the Himalaya, this forms woody lignotubers from which arise the branches clad in evergreen leaves which hold the narrow pendant yellow flowers in late winter and spring. This is an especially good form with red calyces. Tolerant of light frost and needs very good drainage. Our overwintering hummingbirds love this in our greenhouse.

Cutting-grown from the single seed which germinated from our collection at 13000' in an open alpine meadow in eastern Bhutan. The meadow was dotted with these junipers which made upright shrubs like an elfin forest to 3'-6' tall. We pitched our tent near the woodland edge next to a grove of Rhododendron wallichii upon which we draped with wet clothes hoping they might dry enough to be less wet. With a bit of time on our hands, we wandered among the dozens of these intriguing conifers and found a single dwarfed plant that was a low congested mound with quite blue foliage. This is the plant we collected seed from and unfortunately the seedling is "normal" pingii. It is not all that unfortunate though as this is the true species and quite rare in cultivation according to conifer expert Tom Cox of the Cox Arboretum in Georgia who pretty tickled to see this when he visited. Apparently much of the J. pingii in the trade is something else entirely and to find the real thing is a good thing.

Nice hairy-leafed species from the Himalaya ranging from Nepal to Pakistan. This is semi-deciduous in our area and will go totally deciduous in colder zones. Like most Bergenia, this can take full sun, but late spring frosts can ding the new leaves and pink flowers. Rounded hairy mid-green leaves with reddish petioles. This clone a gift from a serious collector's garden.

A distinct Hardy Ginger with leaves and flowers evoking Canna more so than any other in the genus. Gorgeous foliage and the flowers although few are quite large and a striking reddish orange. Likes a moist spot in the garden and can take full sun to part shade. Winter mulch.

If Thomas Hardy had written a book based on this plant, he would have tiltled it "Fusca the Obscure". Or Poe "Descent into the Plant Maelstrom". BIO -Botanical Interest Only. If you buy this we're doing an intervention on you and get you into the Plant 12-Step Program. You need help.

We've seen this wee gem in both Bhutan and Sichuan at high elevations at 12000' where it mingles in alpine meadows. Open-faced lavender pink flowers at ground level followed closely by foliage just a few inches high. Easy in the garden. Who would suspect it's a Solomon's Seal?

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.