Japan

This is the Japanese version of our native False Hellebore. Wonderful broad pleated leaves and when old enough, nice spikes of white starry flowers to 3' or more. This likes a rich moist soil, emerges early in spring and goes dormant by mid to late summer. Deer resistant and very hardy. Young plants.

Bulbs of this exquisitely choice red-flowered variant of this shorter species. Saturated red interior with a white and red exterior - dang! This normally flowers 5-6 years from seed and these are a good age to get established for maximum oomph when flowering. You will be forgiven for any horticultural braggadocio!

Excellent little Asian Allium that is very nice with small heads of white flowers. Perfect for the rock garden or does great in regular garden beds as it does appreciate some moisture during the summer. Sun and decent drainage and thrives in one customers garden in Michigan. Tidy and of good disposition and certainly not a garden thug.

Gorgeous little gem out of Japan with a rich yellow center to the leaf surrounded by green with some nice feathering details. This will increase quickly but not aggressively and adds a nice splash of color in the shade garden. The white flowers go well with the whole package.

How does that old saying go something about 3 lips are better than one? Or was it heads? or was it 2? Nah pretty sure it was three lips and who would beg to disagree after seeing this oh-so-kissable little mutant hardy orchid. The name says it all, where the usual flowers of the species usually have only one ruffled lower edge the flowers on this form have a triangular trinity that only adds to the exotic appearance. 

A Dan Hinkley collection from Japan of this fine mid to late summer blooming Allium species. Good richly colored purple flowers are freely produced on this densely clumping little dude. Good in containers and great in the rock garden or special little niche. This was originally misidentified as Allium thunbergii.

This tasteful perennial from Japan bides its time in the shade garden as the floral hoi polloi scrabble for attention during spring and summer. Once the fracas has died down, this takes center stage in September and October with its intricately constructed buds like little pieces of sculpture which open to fuzzy light lavender flowers. 

This is a cultivar being exported from Holland. The flower color is a shade darker than typical so that is good. What isn't good is that this is an imposter. One reference we found says the flowers should face upwards, this doesn't but if it did, it would merit clonal naming. "Shi-ran" is simply the Japanese name for Bletilla which would suggest that this was a generic import by the Dutch from Japan. aarrgghh. Every source we have seen that lists this selection has this same plant. All of this said, it is a slightly darker form and not unlike one we grew years ago as 'Rosea' also from Holland.

Here is a little Japanese bulbous plant that will add some late summer glitz to the rock garden or special foreground planting niche. Not shy about blooming, this will strut its stuff with round purplish flowerheads on 10" stems which sends our friends the Butterflies and Bees into quiet delirium.

This naturally occuring hybrid Deparia comes to us via plantsman Lance Reiners. Forms a clump of glossy dark green single fronds, each of which is marked by an extremely crenate margin, think scrapbooking scissors. The overall effect is rather eel-like and somewhere between a small blechnum and a tongue fern. Very unusual and quite attractive, wants a wet but well drained spot. Should be hardy down to Zone 7 given its parentage but will possibly go slightly lower.

A comparatively graceful species of Veratrum with broadly narrow leaves, if that makes any sense and sadly, it does to us. The 4'-5' flower stem has numerous lateral branchlets clad in lots of red-maroon flowers. To compare to the better-known V. nigrum, narrower leaves, flower stems much more open with flowers more red than purple-black. Excellent long-lived plant of outstanding hardiness best suited for the cool to cold zones. Deer resistant as well.

Light pink starry flowers grace this covetous form of this wee Japanese species. A gentle peregrinator spreading by short stolons and making a fine little clump which manages to evoke a warm fuzzy feeling in both the jaded collector as well as your average "dirt" gardener. We live in both worlds and we like it. A lot.

A very good and stable selection from Japan of this little woodland creeper. Dark green leaves are well-marked with feathered yellow tips and in spring this has pendant white starry flowers. This will increase to create a definite bit of visual velcro in the garden because as your eye roams the plants, it will stop abruptly on this one.

A rare Toad Lily restricted to a small area of moist cliffs in Kyushu, Japan where its long 2'-3' arching stems can hang in excellent presentation of its upward-facing yellow flowers. This would look pretty fantastic in a container or planted in a Fern stumpery if flowers were allowed. Cool summers and moist - not for hot interior gardens so great here.

One of the better selections of Aucuba and very rare in the nursery trade. This was brought to the US by the now defunct Asiatica Nursery and shared with us by Lance Reiners. Narrow leaves consistently freckled in gold presents as major pizzazz with unmistakable elegance. A tough evergreen tolerant of dry shade once established. Zones 7-9.

Early Form  This jumpstarts the Solomon Seal season by being among the very first to start growing in spring.  Dense clumps of gracefully thin stems with an instinctual air of culture to the presentation of foliage and white flowers – not unlike the plantsman, educator, author, presenter, tour guide – ok, we’ll stop with the resume of the tasteful Cole Burrell who shared this with us.

Rare plant found only in limited areas in central Honshu, Japan where it likes the forest fringes in the subalpine areas and is known as hiiragi-sou or holly tree-leafed weed. Hiiragi-sou sounds better than the translation. This selection has dark blue flowers and is a deciduous clumper to 16" tall - very nice!

A very good evergreen fern native to Taiwan, China and Japan which we imported from a specialist in the UK. Tidy and attractive species reaching 30" wide with fronds to 20" tall, this requires shade to part shade. And brace yourself - it is tolerant of dry shade! Happier of course with some water, Spore-grown by us.

Luscious variegated selection out of Japan of this small evergreen shrub. The leaves are heavily frothed and patterned in creamy whites which can take on some pink depending on the season and exposure. No two leaves are alike on this new wave plant canvas. Small white flowers under the branches. Small but nice plants.

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.