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A Toad Lily collected in China by our friend Bill McNamara of Quarry Hill Botanic Garden which is a superior foliage plant with bold black mottled leaves which are especially vivid when in new growth. In bright shade to part sun, this has strong and stiff vertical stems which have mid to late summer buff to amber-brown speckled flowers. Pretty cool and the first of the Tricyrtis to bloom for us and we find the vertical seed capsules which carry through into fall to have a supporting if subtle role in the garden. We saw what we think is the same species growing in a lightly shaded ravine on Leigongshan in China in 2010. Tricyrtis are undergoing a good bit of name revisions recently and Bleddyn Wynn-Jones thought this might be a different species when he visited here in August of 2013 but we saw the same collection at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh later in the fall labeled as T. latifolia so there obviously is some taxonomic dust still to settle.

Choice woodland species from Japan where the small bowl-shaped white flowers are much admired and combine harmoniously with the simple rounded leaflets. An easy herbaceous species and one of the few Peonies that thrives in the shade. Looks great with Ferns, Hellebores and Hostas. This species has been submerged into Paeonia obovata by Hong De-Yuan in his extraordinary monograph 'Peonies of the World, Taxonomy and Phytogeography'. This book, along with the newly published second volume (2011) 'Peonies of the World, Polymorphism and Diversity', will remain the undisputed last answer for the foreseeable future.

That said, we will retain the epithet japonica to differentiate it from obovata as this blooms much earlier than our pink P. obovata from Japan and has an entirely different horticultural gestalt in the garden. We can hear Hong De-Yuan now "I pour my life into this unrivaled and exhaustive treatment of the genus Paeonia and this is what you take from it - horticultural gestalt? AARRRGGGHHH!" These are seedlings that are a couple years from blooming size.

Rarely offered selection of this very hardy and extremely garden-worthy group. Lots of pink to lavender flowers in spring. Creates a nice mat and is easy to divide the the rooted crowns to make more. Part sun to shade suits this best.

Marvelous selection by Harold Epstein and named for his wife, this has some of the most opulently colored new growth which marries perfectly to the large purplish flowers. A deciduous species from Japan and an excellent garden plant that has no faults as far as we can tell.

A selection we imported via Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy from the UK that was propagated from plants which survived the prolonged Big Freeze of December 2010. An event like this winnows the posers and despite the horrors, is a great opportunity to assess which plants have some unforeseen hardiness genetics. Evergreen shrub to small tree with gorgeous exfoliating cinnamon colored bark, white fragrant flowers and edible blue-black fruit. A portion of the proceeds goes to support the mission of Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy.

Nice golden striped leaf version of the familiar Lily of the Valley. This is just as easy and tough as the regular version and you can enjoy those same scented white flowers in that little mini vase on your nightstand. This will sometimes throw a reversion with solid green leaves and if that happens then a simple yet deft surgical excision with your Hori-Hori is indicated. Actually you don't have to be all that deft or surgical - this is so tough that clumsy will do!

A very good and stable selection from Japan of this little woodland creeper. Dark green leaves are well-marked with feathered yellow tips and in spring this has pendant white starry flowers. This will increase to create a definite bit of visual velcro in the garden because as your eye roams the plants, it will stop abruptly on this one.

Or Orange Queen in translation from the German. A tough and showy evergreen Epimedium whose tangerine flowers are among our favorites. This makes nice dense clumps which are fairly weed suppressive. Always a good thing.

A white flowered version of the normally pink Japanese which we never have enough of as it sells immediately. One of our customers tells us how it well does under the trees in dry shade and we grow it in the dry end of our shade garden. This has large fuzzy leaves and spreads rapidly by rhizomes if moist or slowly if dry or just right if in-between.

One of the quiet stars of our shade garden is this cross between rich yellow Anemone ranunculoides and white Anemone nemorosa. The result is a vigorous small scale shade loving groundcover with profuse primrose yellow flowers. Perfect as a planting under larger plants. Moist.

One of the sweetest little bulbs imaginable! Summer dormant with dainty white flowers on 6" stems appearing in Aug into Sept. This grows in Portugal, Gibraltar and Morocco and is just as happy growing with our native Madrona (Arbutus menziesii) here as it is Olives back home. Grassy foliage up in fall and winter.

Pinecone Thistle. Pretty cool 6"-12" tall plant from dry pine woods and wastelands in southern Europe and northern Africa. The spineless gray-green, thistle-like leaves, are felted gray-white underneath and are a perfect accompaniment to the art project flowers. Tufts of filamentous purplish flowers erupt from hefty cones of overlapping, feathered brown scales. Beautiful conversation plant for the rock garden and while perennial, it is short-lived, so save some seeds.

This genus is undergoing a lot of taxonomic revision causing our brains to difforme trying to come to grips. Rectangular leaves reddish abaxially (underside) and adaxially (topside) a satiny olive-green. Small dark violet flowers held below the leaves. Rare thing suitable for the garden theme of mind-bending plants.

Marvelous little Thrift that is the lazy gardener's cushion plant. The English alpine gardeners in particular pride themselves in growing these difficult plants that forms cushions or 'buns'. Well this makes a perfect tight round dome on its own with pink flowers right in the foliage. Easy.

We are quite pleased with ourselves for collecting seed of this desireable and scarce variant in the eastern Sino-Himalaya. This hardy Ginger relative has large flowers with white dorsal petals and a broad white labellum liberally washed in violet. Very plant-nerd worthy as well as being just a beautiful addition to the garden.

Grown from seed collected in the Yoro Mts in Japan, this compensates for being shorter than its cousins by being hardier to Zone 6. Personally, I subscribe to the fishing theory that it is not the size of the worm you use but how you wiggle it. Rich moist soil and creamy trumpets in 2-3 years.

Jim' Pride' is the selection of this sedum relative from the Caucasus Mts which is notable for the showy variegation. This is not as vigorous as the typical green form and the nodding strands of bead-like flowers are creamy rather than yellow as well. Easy evergreen.

A very elegant species combining refinement of foliage and flower. Rounded leaflets softly tinted in flesh tones back the single pink goblet shaped flowers. Exquisite is a word not used lightly here. A denizen of the Japanese woodlands, this performs beautifully in full to part shade. The flowers, while small, are not to be discounted as the presentation is very good. What is better are the flamboyant starfish seed pods which open in fall to reveal a jewel box of glistening seeds like blue-black pearls nestled in the carnelian of infertile seeds. Fair to say this is the queen of our shade garden in the fall and all who view her display become instant loyal subjects. These are seedlings that are a couple years from blooming size.

This vining monkshood is from our seed collection of this herbaceous vine which was growing in a large shrub hanging out over a stream in a cold rain. The potential for becoming even wetter was pretty good and fortunately, such a risk proved well worth it as this has large blue flowers with a pale white lip. This has been a star in our shade garden flowering in late August into September. Small tuber capable of growing 10' or more this year given good conditions and something to twine on. Deer resistant.

Evergreen alpine Aussie growing in the same habitat as Snow Gums. This has billowy gray-green foliage and 1" white flowers borne on last year's wood. With age, the bark exfoliates and reveals a very shiny trunk which adds to the allure. Sun, good drainage, dryish and phooey to the deer. Just a superb plant.