New & Restocked

For those who have grown ferns from spore you know that Cyrtomium are how-shall-we-say convivial, popping up where you least expect them. So here an offering for those who appreciate the unexpected joys of life. Due to their dubious origins we can't place a certain name or collection to them but the genus is notoriously indistinguishable anyway. What we can guarantee are the usual smooth evergreen sickle-pinna-ed leaves of the stalwart holly fern that mean you are equally assured of a first-rate garden plant.

Here in Port Townsend Coastal Californians are like the bogey man haunting the dreams of NIMBY types and work-a-day home searchers alike. However in our rain-shadow deertopia, plants resistant to roaming teeth and the occasional drought are like affordable multi-unit housing. Thus we come to be selling this Cali native, and a prostrate large-flowered form to boot. The thick evergreen (in mild winters) foliage forms a tough mat producing odd buds that secrete a sticky gum that transform into a carpet of large yellow daisies in Summer, providing an adaptable full-sun groundcover.

The all but unseen in the U.S. variegated form of one of the supreme small ornamental grasses. Retains the string-of-pearls white flowers while transforming the blades into an unmatchable pastel rainbow that on closer inspection betrays its elegant components of green blades with a white central stripe tipped by a purplish-pink. Its rare that a grass can reach the sublime but I think its fair to say this one does.

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. 

This manzanita endemic to a small area of coastal California centered around the Pajaro river valley has taken a few classes in color theory it seems, seasonally doling out perfect color pairings from an elegantly chosen palette. Blue green foliage and dusty red to copper bark provide a beautiful baseline supplemented by pops of bronzey-red new growth and soft pink flowers in the early spring which are particularly long-lasting in this species. Coastal elite indeed.

One of the Asian hornbeams longest in cultivation, as well as one of the most graceful, yet still sadly rare particularly here in the US. Most introductions trace back to the Himalayas and China, whereas this is possibly the first from Vietnam collected and shared with us by Aaron Floden. Gently drooping branches and pendulous catkins give a soft weeping effect (particularly good in this clone) without the messiness of a true weeper. A beauty and with good hardiness for its origins surviving -6 F in Aaron's home garden.

Willow Gentian. One of the truly excellent late summer/early fall blooming plants which jazzes up the shade garden with lots of stems in a circular arching vase shape with ranks of blue to lavender blue to sky blue flowers ranked along the stems. Just what you need when you are sick of Hostas. *These are seedlings and flower color will vary*

Fern fans we are, fern experts we are not, but we continue to chip away at the imposing taxonomic massif of Pteridophyta in hopes of becoming somewhat conversational in Fern. Currently, we can ask the equivalent of where the restroom is and order beer when talking Asian ferns. This is a creeping fern with long, thin rhizomes ideally suited for weaving through shallow moss on shaded rock faces with small orbicular-ovate evergreen leaves. This should be reasonably hardy as Acer griseum was growing a short distance away.

We have not named many plants despite many opportunities to do so but this is one we are fairly puffed up about. We love Roscoea for their durability in the garden and their exotic, almost orchid-like flowers. We were pleased to offer the famed red-flowered Roscoea purpurea f. rubra known as 'Red Gurkha' for the first time in the US whose flowers are indeed luscious and our only quibble is that the plant is a bit short. We wanted to get the vibrant red tones of Red Gurkha carried on into a sizable flower on a taller plant with ideally some color to the foliage. We cranked up the in-house hybridizing using a number of parents and one cross in particular showed excellent promise.

The next year saw us focus on replicating that cross with good success and the resultant seedlings were lined out in our trial bed two years later. We were able to judge that bed with a dispassionate and calculating eye when every plant came into flower and the resultant evaluation received a positive check mark on the new category we had to create of Hell, Yeah!!! Vigorous plants with foliage variously shaded in coppery hues and flowers that defy easy description. The flowers in mid to late summer bewitch with prism jewel tones of ruby and amethyst which shimmer with an entrancing depth of color. This is a seedling group and not clonal so there is some small variation but pretty darned consistent. We hope to sell enough to defray chiropractic shoulder treatment from repetitive injuries stemming from patting ourselves on the back.