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Steve Hootman, Curator and Director of the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden, often pats himself on the back for collecting this exceptional species in China and each spring as our plants flower, we murmur attaboys and give him virtual high fives while virtually raising our glass in salute. Loves some shade, great foliage and spring pink flowers. Steve has bagged a host of amazing Rhodos on his collecting trips and this Peony is just as exceptional. Narrow leaflets with a distinct sheen provide backing for the fat dark pink flower buds which often emerge in the early to mid spring before the leaves. This gives an extended period of tantalization before the impressive pink flowers open. An added bonus are the lovely shiny black seeds arrayed in the starfish-shaped seed pods. All in all, a very choice introduction. Huzzah, Hootman and well done Laddie! Just cover the 'noses' an inch or two as too deep is worse than too shallow when planting peonies. This species is best in light shade although part sun such as morning sun is perfectly ok. These are seedlings that are a couple years from blooming size.

Staggeringly impressive recent introduction of this Solomon Seal species from - wait for it - Vietnam. This is similar to our favorite Polygonatum huanum (formerly as kingianum) but is just more of everything that is good. Large red flowers snug the whorled leaves on stems which reached 15' tall this year in the garden, and which remain green for us until temps drop below 20F. These are young plants but worth the wait!

Vigorous plants and our hybrids with mainly delavayi as the parent showing more vigor and variation in shape and color than what we associate with known delavayi of wild origin. Whatever the parentage, (I sometimes wonder about my own) these are arresting shade plants for rich moist soil. Red flowers are amazing surprises under the leaves. Persistence of patterned markings are variable and expect fading to varying degrees as the leaves mature. These are all unique individuals which we would be happy to have in our garden. We have offered these earlier as presumptive hybrids and we presume no longer. We will jump on the Dysosma instead of Podophyllum wagon soon.

Kind of a rocking plant in that it really requires nothing from you. We have it in a drier spot in our shade garden and it just trucks along looking good and putting on nice white flowers for months on end. Horrible winter weather comes and it doesn't care - just stays evergreen. We've gotten rather attached to it and you will as well. One of Beth Chatto's 100 favorites.

This is indeed the king. One of our most coveted plants, this is an especially fine form from our friend Philip MacDougall. This beauty can reach 12' tall with subtle hooks on the leaf tips to help it hang onto neighboring plants. The best thing is the ORANGE flowers in abundance in the leaf axils. Swoon City.

 The word exceptional describes this ultra-collectible plant – a species peony in the truest sense. It is unlike its well-known relatives and mudblood hybrid cousins in just about every way. Fleshy blue-green leaves are flattened and dissected in a way that resembles birdwings illustrated by medieval illuminators, ornamental to the maximum. The single, diminutive, downward-facing flowers on the other hand are something only a plantaholic could love, leathery and not at all blousey but with a charismatic scarlet and yellow coloration that makes some amends. Rarely offered and rarely seen, in part because it inhabits the dry pine woodlands east of the Mountain West. Even though it is native to Washington east of the Cascade Mountains, this collection is from the southernmost part of its range in Washoe County, Nevada.  Given its habitat, in wetter climates this will ask for quite good drainage in full sun to dappled shade – our happy plant likes our rainshadow rock garden.  Any inherent and perceived challenges are well worth the trouble for those with supreme taste. While these are relatively small seed-grown plants which aren’t flowering size - not of the standard hybrid peony three-eye variety – this is more than enough to get your plant-nerd on!. 

This has consistently been a head-turner here when it is in flower. A hybrid by Butterfield and registered in 1981, this fine selection is finally becoming available. Rich pink flowers of good size and a large fringed lip or slipper pouch which is decked out in orange-pink spots with the interior all orange ruffles and flourishes. A good increaser and best suited for pot culture where it can be brought in and left to go dormant in a cool spot over winter. Unless of course you garden in a very mild setting and then this is great outdoors where it can be tucked into a partially shaded rotting log or mossy rock outcrop. Pleione orchids require excellent drainage and we've seen them in China and Arunachal Pradesh growing on mossy cliffs or tree trunks.

This Chinese woodland Peony is one of the few species blooming and thriving in full shade as well as sun. Nicely dissected ferny foliage and slightly nodding single pink flowers, 2-3 per stem, makes this distinctively beautiful. We had a rare trip in the spring to Yunnan and Sichuan in 2006 to see plants in flower and this was one of the standouts. Later to make growth in the spring than some of the other species so don't panic. This has been a stalwart in our shade garden for many years and is an ideal candidate for those of you with late hard freezes as this breaks growth later in spring than the other species we offer. These are seedlings so it will be a couple years before you see blooms. The biggest problem with peonies is planting them too deep so just cover the red growth buds no more than an inch or two. These need a cool to cold winter dormancy so not a plant for LA.

One of the finest of the species Peonies, this Mediterranean goody is among the first to bloom in spring. Fabulous new growth and very showy single pink flowers. If you want scent, get a hybrid. If you want class, here you go. This is a stunning and very good plant whose foliage gleams with a metallic sheen which looks great throughout the summer. The late summer/early fall seed pod display is of high ornament. Good, well drained soil, this will be more heat tolerant than the other species and the one most apt to succeed if you live in an area with minimal winter cold. When planting, just cover the red buds no more than an inch or two. These are seedlings that are a couple years from blooming size.

Chinese Mayapple. One of the great shade plants with just outrageous new growth when the bold and distinctly lobed leafed are colored in ochre velvet with complex dark patterns like something seen during guided psychotropic therapy. Broadly rounded and lobed leaves shield the red flowers beneath. Rich moist soil and avoid direct sun. This a shorter plant and more richly colored overall than the delavayi we offer as a presumptive hybrid. We will soon adopt Dysosma as the genus - maybe in the winter when we can make all the database changes.

Beautiful flowers on this selection from the Versailles grex of the cross between P. limprichtii and P. formosana. Large rich pink-lavender flowers with an expressive fringed lip invites you to explore the voluptuous inner hollows colored sensuously in orange and yellow. Why silk pajamas, candles and Bolero just popped into mind is curious........and not a bad idea.

Pretty fantastic selection originating in China but now out of Japan at considerable cost. This Mayapple will develop quite irregularly lobed leaves that are like a psychotropic rectilinear parallelogram awash in pale patterns and dark mottled patterns flashing you back to your youthful experimental phase. Divisions from our plants - not fresh imports. Legal in all 50 states for recreational use with no side effects other than recurrent euphoria.

One of the most intensely colored Juliana type Primroses out there. This puts on a no-holds barred display of shrieking magenta flowers that is a celebration of pigment with no apologies. The rich color sets it apart from all others. Tolerates full sun if given enough water but looks better given some relief from afternoon sun. Very tough and a good clumper. Our plant came from Rice Creek Garden in Minneapolis years ago so that gives some clue as to hardiness. It also came under the name of 'Lois Lutz' which we have sold it as for a number of years including this year on our online store here. Thanks to the American Primrose Society show people down in Portland for pointing out the error of our ways.

This sweet little Trillium from the Siskiyou Mountains has been moved into its own genus of which it is the sole representative. This is known as a monotypic genus and we are drawn to such isolated species. This is quite diminutive but is very beautiful with usually white flowers but can be pink or have varying degrees of dark pink spotting. It increases well by division - these are nice freshly divided plants.

This is a surprisingly hardy terrestrial Orchid that is quite easy to grow given a couple of rules. Loose crumbly organic/gritty well-drained soil and fairly dry in the winter. Oh yeah, real cold is not the best either. We have friends who grow these easily in nearby Port Ludlow in rotting logs, stumps and deep moss on rocks with a tarp thrown over in winter to shed rain but that is in a mild maritime garden. Traditionally this is grown in containers and overwintered in a cool sunroom or coldframe. Were making this sound harder than it is and we don't mean to as it is worth the minimal fuss. Pink and white Cattleya-type flowers on such a little plant. This increases freely by small bulblets which is how we have come to offer these to you.

A tried and true selection that really puts out with classic orchid flowers with rich pink petals backing a white cup that is nicely fringed on the lip with some light spotting on the interior and touched in yellow in the throat. An amalgamation of attributes in one flower. Good increaser needing good drainage like a rotting log and overwinters here in Puget Sound.

We learned our original offering of this was incorrect as noted by a Primrose Society judge who said what we had was 'Jay Jay'. Shortly thereafter, we got a letter from Deborah Lutz who said our 'Lois Lutz' was not correct and she should know as Lois was her mother and would we like the correct one? Thank you and Yes! We can now offer the correct 'Lois Lutz' with a provenance that would delight any appraiser at the Antiques Road Show. This is vigorous and floriferous with masses of short-stemmed vividly vibrant flowers that hide the foliage. And it is correctly named!

While typically grown in pots and overwintered in a cool frost free spot, we've grown these in rotted cedar logs or on mossy boulders and simply protected them during cold snaps and have had excellent success with these outdoors. Excellent drainage is key. These will increase nicely through small offsets and who doesn't love orchids in the garden?

Striking hybrid with yellow flowers, nicely fringed lip and interior heavily spotted in red. We have seen one reference to this as being a hybrid between P. albiflora and the lovely yellow P. forrestii. We have seen forrestii in the Cangshan and despite it being fall and thus no leaves or flowers - just dormant pseudobulbs packed into a rock crevice, we still did a botanical St. Vitus dance. This has filled that void magnificently.

Part of the Vesuvius series of hybrids by Ian Butterfield, this bulbocodioides crossed with x confusa has it all working. Rich deep pink flowers are a perfect frame for the psychedelic rabbit hole of a fringed floral lip whose base color of yellow-orange is heavily overlaid by carmine conjoined spots. And it's legal.