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121 products
Think of this as a woodland Salvia which blooms in the Fall. This Japanese jewel brings an unexpected and welcome shot of color to the shade garden in Fall with airy panicles to 3 or 4 feet holding zillions of small tubular blue-purple flowers. Something nice to look if you are overloaded on the reds-oranges-yellows classic colors. Our staff plant nerd Cindy reports that she loves this in her garden so there you have it for local testimonials.
This is a true jewel and one we always look forward to seeing in the fall when the tabletop sized patch of low dense dark green leaves are alight with outrageous large white daisy flowers. Talk about contrast with so many of the hot colors of Autumn! In taxonomic flux, we previously offered this as Nipponanthemum nipponicum. The white flowers take on some pink-lavender tones as they age and all looks quite good over the dark green foliage.
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.
These Japanese versions of the European nobilis are ones we have grown from seed and have been hoarding for a few years but since there is no room left in the Hepatica house, we must send a few of our kids out into the world. Each plant varies a bit but all are good pinks and we get to pick. These good-sized plants are home-grown by us - not imported from Japan. Also note that these are not as hardy as the European Hepatica but good for sure in zones 8-9a.
This Strawberry Saxifrage has rich colored leaves quite maroon underneath and intricately marked in silver on top. This sends out runners like a strawberry which makes new plants at the tips & makes a great groundcover for moist shade. Dandy and delicate white/pink flowers on 18" stems. This has proved itself in our shade garden.
Tongue Ferns are widespread in China and Japan where they can be epiphytic as well as lithophytic on rocks. Fantastic variants are being selected by the cult followers of Pyrrosia in Japan and "Tachiba Koryu' is one with evergreen blade-like leaves sporting rounded lobes along the margins. Does fantastic at Peckerwood Gardens near Houston. We have seen the species making impressive colonies on rock faces or in mossy rubble during various China forays and it is always like coming across an old friend in the forest. This is best grown in loose, well drained soil and would be happy in a rotting stump or lightly shaded scree bed.
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.
This choice Tongue Fern is notable for the yellowish variegation on its evergreen 12" long leaves, and is likely conspecific with the clone sold as 'Variegata', Pyrrosia are easy but require great drainage and unless you are planting it in a stumpery, rockery or slope, you will need to seriously amend with gravel, bark or assorted detritus of life. Nice divisions from our stock plants.
These are cutting-grown from a plant Steve Hootman found growing in a garden in Philadelphia where it was defying conventional wisdom as to its hardiness. Being a savvy sort of fellow, he snagged a few cuttings thinking this might prove to be very useful. We think so too. While we haven't trialed this one out, our wild collection of a different form of the species is doing well. So many plants, so little space. If you're looking for a small-leafed evergreen creeper that will cling to rocks or a wall, then this might be just the ticket.
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!
This is an indicator plant useful for delineating highly refined plant geeks. Perfection of scale and form with very narrow slightly curled leaves and delicate white flowers followed by improbably rich blue shiny fruit. Involuntary moaning is perfectly acceptable. Very slow clumper.
Chunky well-established pots of this uncommon selection. A robust taller species whose leaves sport a moonlit sliver of variegation on the upper leaf margin. This is more than enough for the variegated-obsessed despite it benefiting from the magnifier function on your phone. Well-displayed large white bells.
Oyster Leaf. The leaves are edible and taste - and feel - exactly like raw oysters. If raw oysters are your thing, this is an OMG veg alternative. The now closed El Bulli in Catalonia, regarded as one of the greatest restaurants ever, ran with Oyster Leaf innovative ways. Loved to have tried the leaves striped in golden caviar and splashed with Grey Goose. Beautiful glaucous blue-green leaves on sprawling stems tipped in small sky blue flowers. This likes ample nutrition. Perennial and dormant in winter. This is a plant of just above high tide line on cold northern hemisphere beaches from Maine to Greenland and Japan to Alaska so if you have a cool to cold garden, here you go.
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!
This is a heralded Japanese Jack in the Pulpit whose species name sikokianum I believe translates into English as 'divine whup-ass' because this truly and gloriously kicks some tail in the garden. A mysterious yet provocative regal beauty. A classic for the shade garden. Small plants grown from seed shared by our pal Jacques, thanks JT!
Choice selection from Japan that is necessary. This small species gets to just 12" tall and has superb soft yellow variegated foliage in spring and early summer which matures to a light green. If it kept the preponderance of yellow then this would be a skinny and underfed selection but the summer chlorophyll kicks in just in time to give this vigor.
Frosted Jade Ajuga. A rare Ajuga the likes of which you may have never seen. We all are familiar with the utilitarian carpeting-with-abandon slug magnet ubiquitous in gardens everywhere. This is a different critter altogether and resembles Bugleweed about as much as a Bichon Frise does a Junkyard Dawg. Stays put in a clump with erect stems to 16" with showy leaves of white, green and cream and intense violet blue flowers. This has been one of the most asked about plants in our shade garden and when we say what it is, the answer usually is "That's an Ajuga? Do you have it?" It is completely deciduous as well which is another mind boggler. And for slugs - they do like this one too, but really it is mainly the new shoots in early spring. We just keep an eye on the growth and if they are getting nibbled then we go out one or two evenings and inflict bodily harm and don't worry much about the plant afterwards.
This coveted form has white flowers with a fully visible striking pink reverse to the backs of the petals. The leaves which follow bloom are impressive in their own right being quite large with rounded lobes and rich purple-maroon undersides. A plant of this in your garden will forever mark you as a discerning plant nerd. Ultimate hardiness is not known but ours has weathered 8F in our shade garden no problem.
This is very close to 'Kaleidoscope' and comes from the same Japanese nursery from which a plant was purchased and patented in this country as 'Kaleidoscope'. One has to wonder how a plant already in the trade on an international basis can be patented but that is a discussion that can run long into the night. 'Galaxy' is nearly indistinguishable from 'Kaleidoscope' and may well be a sister seedling or another selection in Japan. Lightly hairy stems hold the pale green leaves with their radially symmetrical chocolate splotches. Red flowers held beneath the foliage but who cares, really? It's all about the leaves. Moist shade and be prepared to be envied.
This was one of those "Holy shit - lookit that fern!" moments when we first spotted this species growing in a moist stable and vegetated scree at the base of a soaring vertical cliff face fronting this mountainous outcrop of improbable pinnacles in Guizhou, China, The fern was perfect in scale and not intimidated in the slightest with 5'-6' wide leaves on a clumping plant 6'-8' tall. We were dismayed not to collect spore but happy to get a small plant of this species from fernologist Sue Olsen a few years back. This grows to be a pretty hefty clump but does not run. Hardy to zone 8 and mulch crown if it gets serious in winter.