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235 products
This unusual form of the Welsh polypody is one funky little dude. Pinnate fronds marked by pinnae of irregular length make it look as if it has undergone a friendly nibble from time to time, and each pinna is made yet more bizarre by a midrib that extends past its natural end to form a barb-like appendage akin to the stinger of its less amiable namesake. For the lover of botanical oddities (don't worry you are in good company) this is no doubt an absolute must have!
Giant Chinese Mayapple. Seed-grown from an exceptional form of Podophyllum pleianthum called 'The Giant' which is notable for its extra large, tractor seat green leaves. In Podophyllum, size definitely matters! This will be an impressive plant in the moist shade garden reaching up to 40" tall with maroon flowers tucked under the leaves. The basic formula for success is food + water = Big Leaves.
The original introduction of this species by friend and mentor Steve Doonan from Taiwan in the late 60's or early 70's. This is the typical species and differs from ones seen with twisted leaves which were from tissue culture. Divisions of the plant given to us by Steve. Steve told us this survived in a pot outside one extreme winter for him at 0F.
No ignoring this Primrose in flower! Some Primula are wee subtle things with no greater effect than the sound of a distant flute teasing the edge of hearing. This Primula is a full triumphant symphony with you sitting in the orchestra pit. Big heads of many nodding orange/yellow fragrant flowers. Rich and moist.
What a pink! The distillation of hues, shades and tints into a saturated concentration of the pink pigment is an unqualifed success in this saucy Primrose. The flowers erupt from the winter resting buds before the leaves expand and demand attention in the garden. Best in a rich moisture retentive soil.
A collection by Tony Avent from South Korea as Polygonatum odoratum but it has been found to be a different species and one seldom seen in gardens. Familiar arching stems to 3' with narrow white bells tipped in green hanging underneath. These flowers are scented with lemon and is most noticeable as you stroll the garden with your morning coffee. Zone 4 to zone 8b.
This from an unforgettable visit to Aberconwy Nursery in Wales, exceptional alpine plant growers. A tender African violet relative, this makes dense rosettes of spirally arranged rugose leaves - the perfect backing for the white flowers! A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Introduction.
Choice shrubby flowering cherry that gets to 8' and as wide. Makes a mass of zig-zag twigs in winter followed by profuse white flowers with pale pink calyces, and all the hot colors in fall from rich yellow to rich purple. Hard to find fault with this and there is too much of that going around nowadays anyway. Excellent for bonsai.
Good blue-flowered marginata selection named for Primula enthusiast Jimmy Long. The species is native to European alps and is found in rocky cliffs often under overhangs. These have been easy in pots in the open nursery and are great container or rock garden plants.
Broad petals with an intricate dendritic margin that provides a bit of wonderment. The backs of the petals are a gentle amethyst which bleeds through to the white face of the petals infusing them with the color of sun-tinted old glass. This is easy to accommodate in the garden as it is not coldly distant with a petulant haughtiness but it does like to be admired which will come easily.
There is some debate over the hybridity of this cultivar (or cultivar group potentially) and we are pulled in differing directions by the prevalence of hybrid suspicions normally winning out and the relative rarity of true hybridization in most ferns. Regardless of whether it is a mutt or a purebred it is a fine variation on an already classic theme. Finely cut fronds with such regularity in shape that one could easily be forgiven for assuming it to be an unfamiliar species. Cultivar ferns can be a bit marmite but I think even the purists would find this acceptable if not outright agreeable. (It is entirely possible if not likely that the correct name for this plant is 'Cornubiense Foliosum', see Martin Rickard's book on Polypodium for a full idea of the complexities)
A princess in a tall tall tower, unicorn bait, or simply the most elegant of all the P. glycyrrhiza cultivars. Living up to the medieval chivalric ideal of beauty in chastity this is the true sterile 'Malahatense', a far superior variety to the cruder fertile form sometimes sold under the name. The usually entire margins of the species are transformed into flaming deeply lacerated plumes, often of an attractive blue green that fades into lightness towards the edges. Airy grace apt to induce fainting spells in the weakly constituted, keep the smelling salts nearby and be prepared to white knight your true 'Malahatense' queen against the pauper pretenders out there.
If, like me, your answer to what's better than a pinnate leaf is "why a bipinnate leaf of course" then you are in good company here. A fern for fine-foliaged fanatics fueled by feather-like flights of fancy, this welsh polypod has pinnately or sometimes bipinattely lobed pinnules especially towards the base of each frond creating the delicate effect of a fern shaped snowflake!
Double Flowered Solomon's Seal. Hard to come by and desirable double form of this excellent garden plant. The extra petals looks like a little green rose when you lift one of the dangling white bells and peer inside. It is one of those little surprises that makes the garden so fun.
A fun Primrose that, when settled in and enjoying a rich crumbly soil, can really make a nice patch. This spreads by underground rhizomes and is a good colonizer. With some plants, when you say 'colonizer' it rightly sounds an alarm much like a submarine klaxon on an emergency dive. Not so this. Rich tomato-pink flowers above season-interest-extending, felty foliage.
Candelabra Primrose. Staggering floral display of tiered rings of flowers arrayed up sturdy stems from 18" to 30" when living large in rich, moist soil and all of this above broadly sumptuous and lightly rumpled foliage. A swash of these always leaves one a bit short of breath with its beauty. Yours will be either vibrant fuchsia or tomato terracotta - a surprise awaits down the line.
Red Panda' was an O'Byrne hybrid seed strain of somewhat variable copper-leafed beauties and we sell the best we have seen of this strain as 'Red Panda'. We've duplicated the cross with similar results and are calling the progeny 'Red Panda Group'. These are good plants and approach the 'Red Panda' clone.
Another excellent selection shared with us by Jan and Marty, this has flowers with a reverse of rich purplish-pink and faces of lavender pink that are washed in white. Each petal is gently heart-shaped which is very fortunate when one considers the possibilities offered by other organs. And we will stop right there.
Our collection from Asia of this evergreen fern we might refer to as Pyrrosia lingua, but given that taxonomy is especially fluid these years, we're allowing it might be something different. This formed an impressive colony on the bluff overlaying a partly shaded large rock slab where it would endure periods of dry. Vigorous! Good drainage is important.
An uncommon variety of the standard evergreen Tongue fern found across East Asia. To this already attractive species 'Keikan' adds wide fronds with rippling deeply lobed margins resulting in a striking flame-like effect. Best grown in a well drained location or on a slope where it will happily spread by its trailing rhizomes.