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From the ruins of a once great empire only one princeling remains...

A conifer for fans of the post-apocalyptic genre, hailing from a genus that once lived from Antarctica to New Zealand to South America to the Indian Ocean now reduced to just one extant species found only in Western Tasmania. But even beyond the incredibly cool botanical history to put your friends to sleep with, the tightly scaled snaking branches that splay along the ground and translucent red cones like little strawberries make for an equally fascinating horticultural specimen. 

The myriad of skinny little wimp linguas flee before the broad shouldered chad heteractis with its rippling dimorphic chest hair of stellate boat-shaped rays and rich wooly under layer, so says the Flora of China's arcane key . At least that's how I remember it. All this to say that this exciting little number we collected in Yunnan boasts wider fronds and more uniformly attractive indument than the more commonly offered Pyrrosia lingua. Rare to see this species in cultivation (though it's possible some linguas or "sp."s in the market are actually heteractis) and the elevation of this collection leaves some question as to its hardiness as compared to those finally reaching the mainstream but rarity and risk often go hand in hand.

A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering

The flowers on this Australian bottlebrush are not for the faint of heart, while mildly referred to as lilac the screaming pink flowers are quite the statement, luckily the muted green to blue-green needle-like leaves pair very well providing a stolid year round grounding to its summertime rave scene excesses. Truly a fantastic group of shrubs that should be seen more in a vein similar to its oft-desired countrymen Grevillea especially in increasingly hot, dry, and/or deer-ridden areas. Let this be the bright colored scion to extoll the many virtues of its brethren. Hardy and adaptable in zone 8 and higher but potentially doable in colder climes if you don't mind a reset and reshoot every once in a while on the harsher years.

Cutting-grown from a plant grown by Roger Eichmann from seed collected from the “best” augustinii in June Sinclair’s renowned species Rhododendron garden.  We say “best” because that varied from year to year in June’s opinion as to which of her 3 favorite clones was the best but we can tell you that all three were stellar.  Masses of lavender-blue flowers can cover the foliage on one of the classic Rhododendron species that is the keystone plant in many a garden.

A refined shade plant that would grace any plant connoisseur's garden yet is perfectly happy to hang with us average Joes. Leaves evoking Anemone and pendant flowers combining pastels and lavenders in an understated parasol of exquisite design and dimension. A plant that is not on the radar of a lot of gardeners so let's keep it to ourselves. It has been pleasingly tough and durable in our shade garden. These are descendants of Czech rock gardener Vlastimir Pilous' wild collection from the Norikura mountains.

Leather Oak. Aptly named, with leathery, evergreen, almost holly-like leaves on this is serpentine endemic shrub oak native to chaparral regions of the California Coast Ranges as well as the foothills of the Sierra and San Gabriel Mountains. A FRF shout-out to the collection work of Ian Barclay of The Desert Northwest. This pairs nicely with manzanita in its native habitat, and would in your garden too. Excellent drought tolerance. Perfect for that dry or rocky spot in your garden.