Roscoea

A species not often encountered for sale, the 2019 RHS Plant Finder lists but two sources in the UK and they won't have many. Neither do we but we want someone else besides us here in the colonies to enjoy this plus this will give that collector's itch a good scratching. A stout, smaller species with yellow flowers that is related to R. humeana. This was described as a species in 1982 from a George Forrest collection near Dali in Yunnan.

Another fantastic humeana clone of ours with very large flowers of which we are finally offering a few. This comes at no small personal diminishment of something deep and pure that must be the precursor to our intrinsic plant hoarding proclivities of which monetary compensation assuages but little. Similar but different than 'Boffo'.

Robust seed strain from our breeding work with each possessing its own unique varying degrees of dark foliage and flowers from red to red-pink to red-purple. Normally, we select one or two to keep - which we did - and throw the rest out - which we didn't - as these are all worthy of pride of place in the garden.

This lacks the variable purple streaking in the flowers commonly associated with typical x beesiana. Held well above the leaves, exotic flowers are a clear pale yellow the color of moonlight caressing the languid limbs of your beloved as you lament the bright moon dimming the Perseid meteor shower. Best in cooler climates but succeeds in Maryland.

The Harvington name comes attached to excellent British cultivars of a variety of plants most notably Hellebores and refers to those plants developed in the village of Harvington by nurserymen Hugh Nunn. We got these via John Massey of Ashwood nurseries, another name of which there is little doubt when it comes to quality. All this to say this is an excellent Roscoea selection with deeply purple flowers centered by a white spot like a star in the night sky. Though you might be better off with a hand lens rather than a telescope for this sort of stargazing.

A distinct form of this dwarf species collected near the former Tibetan town of Kangding in Sichuan. With a huge Chinese influx, Kangding has grown to well over 20X it's orignial size in the the last 20 years. This petite species is often found in close-cropped alpine grasslands and this pure white form with its small orchid-like flowers is delectable.

Our collection of this small Roscoea species where it grew in alpine turf. This sports wider leaves than R. scillifolia and with flowers of similar size. I realize this only helps if you are familiar with that species but the muse has disabled the backspace button. A 2020 study by Chinese researchers proposed that this be split from R. tibetica into a new species, R. lingbaoshanensis but we have not seen any formal description and this name has not been currently accepted. A hardy tuberous Asian genus in Ginger Family, Zingiberaceae, this will self-sow if allowed, to create a small turf itself.

A true Ginger relative, this is a vigorous and hardy hybrid between R. auriculata and R. cautleyoides and is a wonderful fusing of all that is good in both parents unlike me who got the short round gene. Stout tanned foliage with large variably purple streaked flowers in shades of cream.

Diminutive member of the true Ginger family, this little tuberous jewel makes up in volume what it lacks in size. Exotic small orchid-like flowers of soft pink. These increase by offsets and self sow making a grand little patch time with loads of the intricate little flowers.

White flowers with purple streaking on the long labellum - the lower, largest two petals of the flower. Roscoea auriculata and R. cautleyoides are the presumed parents of x beesiana and this group makes for excellent garden plants. Taller stems to 16" or a bit more, this can have a ghostly presence - almost eerie, depending on light, mood and current news cycle.

We received this plant as the cultivar 'Gigantea' which doesn't appear to be an accepted name hence our double quotes. Disclaimer aside, it is a big mother, stout of stem, leaf and flower and very grudging with seed and divisions. Large late summer light purple flowers. Muy Gigante!

Bringing the rare stuff out! This is a very newly described species from the Cangshan in Yunnan and collected by those intrepid folks at Crug Farm in Wales. This one requires room as it is stoloniferous which to our knowledge, is unique in the genus. If you want a tidy clump, we have a lots of other options but if you have space to fill and want something no one else has then feel free to do as we did and pick one up! Bright purplish smaller flowers on this rare species.

This is a little charmer from a Diana Reeck collection in Yunnan which is quite short to just a few 6" tall but with very lovely pinkish and white flowers. When we see this bloom it takes us back to those same woods where saw this same species a year after Diana collected its seed in 1996, This is a sturdy little fellow increasing each year by offsets and reseeding a bit. We're terribly fond of this one.

A cute little cousin to the hardy Gingers, this Zingiberaceae member has tuberous roots from which low wide short strap leaves appear and in the center are nested small pink orchid-like flowers. This one has its origin in a Roy Lancaster collection in China.