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One of the hardiest of the Leptospermums which, in time and left alone, will achieve the appearance of a ruggedly handsome small tree. We say this in case you have control issues and mistake shearing for pruning in which case this will be a nice dense ball. Or square. Or blob. Evergreen, nice white flowers, deer-proof, drought tolerant. Thanks to Leptophiliac Ian Barclay for sharing this.

Evergreen or in this case everorange stiff blades which complement the starry white flowers in late spring makes this New Zealander an invaluble addition to the garden.

White Skunk Cabbage. Beautiful Asian version of our familiar Skunk Cabbage. Big white flowers are a knockout and they don't smell bad - what a bonus! Good rich moist soil or boggy spot.

Our plant was gifted to us by Kenton Seth of crevice garden fame who also happens to be a keen plantsman. This is native to the coastal areas of the West coast where it is found in moist meadows and along streams where it can naturalize in gravel bars. Blue and white flowers are awesome for pollinators. It will tire out after a few short years but save seed or let it naturalize via self-sowing.

Shrubby little Gesneriad (African Violet family) which will form multiple stems to a foot or so tall with lots of funnel-shaped light lavender-white flowers with throats lined in dark veins. Kind of reminds us of one of the subshrubby Monkeyflowers in a way. Best kept from frost but easy inside over winter. This is widespread in China dipping into Vietnam and jumping over to Taiwan and Japan ranging from 1000' to 7200' stems 3" to 4' tall. There seems to be one form commonly in cultivation which is the glabrous var. pauciflorus and obviously the hardy alpine 3" tall form as well as the subtropical 4 footer needs to be introduced! Sounds like a sponsorship opportunity for a collecting expedition by the Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy in case there is a generous gesneriafficinado out there despairing over the paucity of available diversity in Lysionotus pauciflorus.

A collection by plantsman extraordinaire Darrell Probst from China. This has evergreen broadly grassy leaves and nice spikes of lavender flowers held above the foliage. A lovely rarity.

Guitar Plant. Choice evergreen Tasmanian Proteaceae family member whose vaguely guitar shaped flower buds open to a wild riff of white flowers that will have you playing the air trowel. Hardy to a normal zero degrees and drought tolerant when established. Needs no fertilizer.

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".

This is an interesting Asian fern of which we have just a few nice divisions. This grows as an epiphyte on tree trunks which is typical for the genus and was found at the high point in the mountain range so should have some hardiness. The distinctive large rounded paired sori on the backs of the leaves also fit the genus. This has been a good grower with creeping rhizomes allowing for division. Proceeds from this offering go to support the mission of Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy.

A collection from Kyushu, Japan by the Wynn-Jones of Crug Farm. Deeply incised palmate leaves with long finger-like lobes are visually arresting in themselves while the early to mid summer large yellow daisy flowers just piles on the eye candy. Structure, beauty, form and function - only the most bitter cabbage would fault this for not being edible!

If you have the spot for this plant then there is no reason to not to grow this unless you simply don't do red because this is a smoldering fountain of saturated pigmentation celebrating the red spectrum. Red foliage and bright red flowers on 3'-4' stems in late summer. Moist and rich.

Potentially the first offering of this plant in the US we brought this back from Far Reaches sister city Pan-Global Plants, the stellar nursery of plantsman Nick Macer who wild collected these in Guizhou. Very unique look with dark green rosettes of leaves centered by a cluster of yellow flowers, will slowly spread to form a truly special groundcover Broader and fewer leaflets than the more often seen var. stenophylla. 

A superb form of Lathyrus vernus, the Spring Bush Pea. This has long willow-like leaves compared to the typical form and the same lovely violet flowers. A graceful perennial, this makes a dense clump retaining textural interest long after the flowers fade. This narrow leaf form has a number of names - subsp. gracilis, 'Gracilis', var. flaccida, 'Flaccida', 'Filifolius' that are used interchangeably and we're not sure what is correct but we know that if we simply say 'Narrow Leaf' then you can use whichever name carries the most weight in your opinion. Excellent is sun or light shade and a plant we would not be without.

This is the first introduction in the US of this selection. We got cuttings from a friend in The Netherlands who is a rabid collector and he was very excited to send us cuttings. This is a hardy Tasmanian species that has a hint of pink in the flowers and dark pink new growth.

Lespedeza bicolor can be an invasive pest but this dwarf version from Japan is a non-invasive pixie. Small blue green leaflets in 3's on a many-stemmed 12" tall deciduous bush to twice as wide or a bit more. Cute reddish purple pea-like flowers are perfectly in keeping with the tidy presentation. From a friend on Cape Cod.

Yet another venerable member of the legion of incredible South African bulbs. This one likes it arid and with as little frost as can be managed, but it isn't uncommon to see them in pot culture among xeric specialists, just bring them indoors when they are in their winter dormancy. Incredibly uniquely textured leaves ridged and bumpy like some kind of exotic lizard in muted tones of purple-brown. The flowers provide quite the contrast to the dour prehistoric foliage, happy little candelabras of candy-floss pink!

Neat selection from Japan of this fall-blooming woodlander. Golden yellow are its hallmark in spring to mid summer after which they become a light yellow-green but still an element of light brightness in the shade. Late in Oct/Nov, this defies conventional wisdom by producing yellow bottlebrush flowers. Hardy to zone 4.

This subshrubby gesneriad from Yunnan-Vietnam border region is in a favorite genus and we have yet to see a Lysionotus that we don't like.  Evergreen foliage on semi-woody stems with creeping creeping stems which help to solidify its grip on the mossy trunks of trees or on rocky outcrops.  Long wiry pedicels hold oversized tubular white flowers nicely appointed in longitudinal pink stripes.  Best frost-free.

A charming little evergreen Lysimachia with lovely dark rounded ovate leaves on slightly kinky stems.  Probably kinked stems would be more accurate but kinky sells. Small yellow flowers are borne over many weeks and all is in a harmonious scale.  Growing with Disporopsis aspersa, Mahonia, Ligustrum, and Ophiopogon which are all hardy here in zone 8a so we will say the same for this without outside trials.

Meadow Blazing Star. One of the many garden stars at Denver Botanic Garden's Chatfield gardens, this is especially favored by Monarch butterflies. Fluffy rose-purple flowers to an an inch or more wide appear on the vertical 12"-36" stems midsummer to September. Native from Alberta to New Mexico, this likes sandy or rocky soils on the dry side. Rich loamy easy-livin' soils pushes too much growth leading to the dreaded flop.