Sort by:
1703 products
1703 products
A very welcome addition to our rock garden thanks to our generous taxonomist, Cody Hinchliff. This native to the mountains of South Africa forms an architectural mound to 3' or so with many stems clad in short, stiff and persistent green leaves. Terminal clusters of small cheery and sweetly scented yellow flowers. Good drainage and can tolerate low water.
aka Schizostylis. This selection of the Southern African bulb was selected by plantsman Eric Smith and sports flowers of a deep salmon pink that even the best of sunrises would find a welcome addition the palette. Said by some British sources to often be found still blooming at Christmas, good tidings indeed for those Northwesterners desperate for a little Winter sunshine.
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.
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.
This is perhaps the first of the hybrids to be introduced between Corydalis flexuosa and Corydalis elata and remains one of the best. The derivation of the name 'Spinners' can be traced to this being a chance seedling in Kevin Hughes garden who then brought it to work which was the renowned Spinners Nursery in England. Researching this, we discovered the rather more interesting Urban Dictionary definition could also possibly apply given its dainty appearance and enthusiastic performance in the garden. Scented blue flowers aging to purplish from mid spring to early summer in moist shade to part sun down to zone 6. Hopefully plantsman par excellence Ed Bowen who shared this with us doesn't mind that we are doing what nurserymen do - propagate and sell! We had better check with him PDQ. (Until he gets back to us - it is open season on Corydalis!)
A rare member of the Scrophulariaceae from the Chilean Andes. This has done great in our shade garden where the shade, moist but well drained soil and tasty helpings of dairy manure really help. Evergreen leaves except if real cold and red tubular flowers on up to 18" stems in early summer. This has made an excellent small-scale groundcover and thanks to Claire Cockroft for thinning her plants and sharing with us.
From manic hybridizer Darrell Probst comes this herbaceous Asian Hydrangea relative. Softer blue than D. caerulea but with leaves showing a distinct Camel Toe cleft attesting to D. bifida affinity. (Had a friend who was Wardrobe Mistress for PNW Ballet and Camel Toes were her bane) The fertile flowers on this are a study in intricacy and worth bending over for. I meant that the plant is short and not because it is 16 bucks! Sheesh. Can't believe you were thinking that. This likes some light shade a good soil that doesn't dry but drains.
This is an overachieving Type A taking care of No. 1 first let me tell you some more about myself hardy Orchid but while we find these qualities wearisome in people, we are all over it when it comes to Orchids! Gotta love the attitude of a 40" flowering stem holding as many as 35 pale pink flowers, Nothing like a nice shot of mongrel hybrid vigor for excelling in the garden! Good drainage with moisture.
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.
I want my burial mound covered solid in this - seriously, it's that good. Wavy edged leaves on a low evergreen clumper with big deep blue trumpets on 2"+ stems. An established clump of this is simply riveting with dozens of big flowers the blue you dream of. Rich soil and moist. Loves food.
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.
This is pretty much our default tree whenever anyone asks about a good small tree. This has zero bad habits that we know about it and is a rapid grower with small evergreen leaves and minute yellow flowers that smell heavenly of marzipan or something similarly decadent.
One of those captivating Chinese species. This has a neat stoloniferous habit sending out runners and making new bulbs so you soon have a grove of Lilies. Flowers white with dark spots with recurved petals in the classic "Turk's Cap" style. We love it.
Aptly named, a Crocosmia of truly majestic proportions and grandeur of flower. Arguably the finest large-flowered cultivar, this indeed has the largest flowers among the dozens of varieties we grow. Wide open rich orange yellow faces with dark red-orange backs on 40" stems. It totally rules. It's no despot but a kindly monarch who just likes to party hard in late summer. It needs a little room to spread so grant it the space and allow it to bestow upon your garden a late summer bonfire of color. A George Henley introduction from 1918.
A Great Plant Pick, and rightly so because this performs in the garden. Thin spikes of soft pink flowers are held nicely upright, more so than many other cultivars and pair wonderfully with the bold green foliage to create a ethereal pinkish floral haze above the bulwark of green. Not weedy or aggressive, this is good.
These are seed-grown plants from a fantastic rich purple form of the Blue Poppy shared with us by Merrill Jensen of the Jensen-Olson Arboretum in Alaska where these magical plants grow like Matanuska cabbages. This is a very choice offering. We've not seen this before and the pedigree remains a grandis mystery, so to speak! These could vary from seed but we hope not and be sure to save seed after flowering as you will want a drift of these! Only for cool to cold climates, with no warm humid evenings.
A very charming lithophyte from our collection in China where it clad the upper portion of an appliance-sized boulder in the shade of an open broadleaf evergreen forest. This evergreen to semi-evergreen fern has leaflets so soft they rival the downy belly of a baby chinchilla - pure conjecture but accurate. There was heavy usage from grazing in the area this was found and there were examples of Lithocarpus being felled by keeping a fire burning at the base of the trees. The grazing benefited Rhododendron spinuliferum however, which turned these gangly shrubs into perfect dense, upright specimens that Peter Cox said were the best he had ever seen.
Uncommon species which has proven durable in containers and in the garden where it handled a nasty 12F winter with equanimity. Pink-backed white flowers followed by red fruit on stiffly upright stems. From Erlangshan in Sichuan growing with the rare Epimedium flavum on a slope with Cardiocrinum in the wet thicket behind.
Another gorgeous introduction from Hugh Nunn whose nursery is in the village of Harvington. This has obvious Roscoea humeana in its parentage which contributes large flowers well-displayed on a stout plant. A light cream is the flower color and ours were initially but these same plants have become more yellow. Which is not a bad thing but curious. Even though this in the Ginger Family, it is not suitable for the Southeast as it likes cool nights.
Rad new introduction to cultivation of this tremendously adorable Vireya section Rhododendron collected on a shaded rocky cliff face not far from the Vietnam border. Small glossy green leaves colored in bronze when in new growth. This is essentially a creeper as it was truly hugging the rock growing in little humus pockets. Nice and cheery small open-faced yellow flowers are borne over a long span. Cute quotient is pretty much pegged right at the max. Hardiness is unknown as there is no track record on this species but the mainland Vireyas have surprised with some species like R. rushforthii being quite good in the Seattle area. To be safe, lets start at a warm zone 8b and hopefully work down with experience. Easy in a pot and can be overwintered in a cool sunroom until more is known and probably the best thing to do its first winter with you anyway.