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Fabulous hybrid ornamental Oregano (O. rotundifolium x O. scabrum) which is both heat and drought tolerant and with its small compact size is a perfect choice for the sunny rock garden or top edge of rockery wall. This really does need sharp drainage to perform its best. In the Midwest, it is used as an annual in window boxes. Light pink flowers all summer long and perennial in zone 7 and above.

Fantastic little gem from the high mountains of Taiwan collected by our friend Philip MacDougall. Our mama plant from him is several years old and is a compact dome 2' tall and wide. Early summer has this adorned in small heads of dark pink buds which open to dense heads of clustered flowers which have a pink throat with a corolla edge of pale pink to near white.

Eastern species with nodding flowers of pure deep red. These are nice, blooming seedlings from plants Sue brought from her old nursery in Vermont. Parted with reluctantly and Sue reserves the right to take them back if she deems it appropriate for the welfare of the Trillium. Personally we like Trilliums that clump up sufficiently to divide and this is one of those species.

From the southern portion of its range, this collection has performed wildly beyond expectations given the low bar set from the dormant plants in the wild where they were 8'-10' tall in full exposure. We seldom name plants but this selection is worthy with profuse bee-laden white flowers from top to bottom.

Our collection from an end-of-day hunch-driven venture up a nondescript dirt track into forested hills which remains one of the best two hours we have ever spent in the field. A deciduous species with upright fronds 20"-30" tall on plum-colored stems (stipes and rachis). Texturally, graceful and light. Spore-grown by us. Tolerates deep shade and rabbits.

It's a well-known fact of life that miniature means cute. And this widdle-bitty Iris hits all the same dopamine and oxytocin receptors longing for the long forgotten taste of that sweet sweet brain candy we shoveled in so naively as children. Nurseryman Darrell Probst clearly has an eye for the adorable, as this unique selection of an already extremely rare and choice iris sports pale flowers of only about 1.5" amidst fine grassy evergreen foliage.

Our China collection of this most remarkable species. Favoring rich, moist areas which is required to pump up the nearly 6' in length frond volume. These fronds extend out laxly horizontally which assists in their asexual reproduction from plantlets developing from the little furry balls - careful! - at frond's end. Mulch crown in cold winters.

A collection from northern Vietnam of this rare gesneriad by intrepid plant hunter Steve Hootman. This has vertical branches on a small shrub clad in dark green ranked leaves evocative of boxwood but that similarity is quickly dispelled when the tubular flame red flowers appear. The flowers are followed by interesting narrow and thin almost bean pod-like seed capsules dangling from wiry pedicels. Best grown frost-free, this likes an acid, free-draining soil as it is often epiphytic on trees or rocks. Excellent container plant which can be moved inside for the winter or simply kept as a houseplant as this is the same genus as the familiar Lipstick Vine. Steve, in addition to his mandated world-class expertise in Ericaceae, has in recent years developed an unprofitable but deeply personally rewarding interest - some might say obsession - in the Gesneriaceae and we are happy beneficiaries of his collecting prowess and now the trickle down effect has trickled further to you.

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.

White Velvet Spiderwort. This gets great cobwebby silver-white foliage with light purple flowers nestled in the leaf axils. Likes it on the drier side thank goodness and is far hardier than we thought. This overwintered in the ground outside at plant maestro Brian McLaughlin's garden just down the road at 10 degrees one winter "although I mulched it" he hastened to add. The biggest issue for us is not so much the cold but adequate winter drainage because we can get some rain. It resents water-logging but is really quite easy and just very eye-catching as it looks more house plant the garden plant.

Mountain dweller in the Cascades BC to CA, popping over to Colorado and up into the northern arctic regions. Good rock garden plant down here where the livin' is easy. Succulent blue-green leaves clad the many stems while the terminal clustered red flowers glitter like a garnet hatpin.

A smaller Japanese Wild Ginger that eventually clumps quite densely. It looked good in our garden for many years but we dug it and potted it so we could share these and must plant some back. Small heart-shaped leaves with an irregular central green isthmus flanked on either side by a froth of silver. Small purple-brown flowers are not missed hiding under the fine leaves. This looks like the form from Mt Takao based solely on web photos from habitat. Wish we had our own photos from Mt Takao!

Dog Tooth Violet. Trout Lily. Avalanche Lily. Fawn Lily. The names go on and on but appellation aside, all you really need to know is that this is one great bulb for the shade garden. Perfect companion with Trilliums and Ferns and such a cheery flower. This is supposed to be a hybrid between E. tuolumense and E. revolutum but we struggle to see much revolutum - maybe a whisper. It is sterile giving testimony to its hybridity and as a result of not putting energy into seeds, it puts its efforts into offsets and so clumps up quickly into something quite impressive. Big fresh green leaves and cheerful yellow flowers 3-5 per stem in April. Nice bulbs.

We have long affection for all the forms of the dwarf Iris cristata which is an east coast native and with Powder Blue Giant, our affections sometimes manifest themselves in PDA's such as stroking the large medium blue flowers and oohing. Deciduous carpeter. A real sweety.

Rich purple flowers of a color more suited to the dreams of the Pope than the Devil, unless of course the Devil is dreaming of someday wearing those rich purple Pope-robes, in which case it is appropriately named. Just speculation. Great color anyway.

These Japanese versions of the European nobilis are ones we have grown from seed and have been hoarding for a few years but since there is no room left in the Hepatica house, we must send a few of our kids out into the world. Each plant is different from white to pale pink and we get to pick. These are larger, established plants - not fresh from Japan. Also note that these are not as hardy as the European Hepatica but good for sure in zones 8-9a.

Very cool South African bulb grown from seed we received from English plantsman Harry Hay many years ago. Harry was a discriminating collector of plants and generous in sharing. This has broad strap leaves and tall stems bearing pendulous flowers of softly muted green. Truly regal. This has been amply hardy for us and appreciates a bit of shade from the hottest part of the day and will do well on an eastern aspect which where we have ours planted on our sunny border. 

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!

Very collectible selection of this hardy terrestrial orchid which boasts - yes, boasts, of its unique, light chartreuse foliage. if your ears, like ours, are tuned to that high frequency in which plants converse, you can just make out this orchid sounding like an NBA player after throwing down a one-handed jam from an alley-oop "Yeah! Lookit me! Me! I'm a bad-ass orchid! You ask yo mama how bad I am! An yo sister - she loves how my leaves shine when the lights go down." I've given up on the NBA because such displays are wearisome but somehow, with this orchid, it is an endearing cheekiness. Light yellow foliage looks it best in bright shade to part sun and not the part during the hot part of the day. Leaves 18"-24" with pinkish-purple flowers a few inches taller in June and hardy to zone 6 especially with winter mulch.

Into the rabid cutthroat world of the Gesneriad convention goes the strongest soldier of rare plant reconnaissance, Steve Hootman, curator of the Rhody garden and out comes a treasured jewelbox of all but unseen Gesner hybrids. Move over Mr. Cage there's a new heist-master, and I guess that makes us the black market dealer and you the faceless, nameless, glitterati of the botanical underworld. Imagine the gasp as the auctioneer brings forth this beauty, all red-bracted and silver-veined. Let the bidding begin