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Collected as Tupistra in 1997 in the Cangshan above Dali at 10,000'. This was in a slump of debris on the road from the cliff above and located just past the 1981 SBEC collection of Rhododendron edgeworthii which was recognizable from expedition photos as the same plant growing on top of the same massive boulder. Narrow evergreen keeled leaves create a dense clump. Flowers a basal persistent cudgel of green buds which open to small strange green flowers turning to amber drops with age which delight the botanically inclined. This was fairly recently moved from Tupistra to Campylandra and in 2003 into Rohdea for those of you keeping taxonomic scorecards. A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering.

An impressive member of the witch hazel family with showy red flowers in the latter half of summer. We had our world-view of Rhodoleia shaken like a snow globe when we saw an imposing old growth tree of this species in southern Yunnan with a straight clean trunk going on and on. Evergreen leaves usually glaucous beneath. Wish it was hardier.

A scarce selection from Japan with white feathering at the ends of the leaves. Typical habit for the species which is great because you will want a nice clump of this! White flowers as well at the tips of the 4"-6' stems and all in all, a sophisticated addition to the shade garden.

Unidentified species of a seriously good Asian Pittosporum. This was an attention-grabber being essentially a small 15' tree with large - for a Pittosporum - evergreen leaves. What really stopped us was the large green seed capsules like small figs. These split open when mature to reveal showy orange seeds. Young seed-grown plants. We are hoping these will have good hardiness growing as they were a stone's throw from Acer griseum. A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering. Proceeds from this offering go to support the mission of Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy.

aka Schizostylis. An outstanding introduction by our friend Urs at Edelweiss Nursery. Compared to the cultivar 'Oregon Sunset', this has wider more rounded petals, is a shade or two darker colored and is significantly larger in flower. This is quite new to the market and is a great shot of color for the Fall garden. Very easy.

Every spring I say 'O-mi-gawd! How does that little thing do that?" Flowers completely over the top and a celebration of extravagant copious excess which would lead one to think this is the All-American plant but in reality is from the Kunming-Gothenburg Expedition NW Yunnan China 1993.

Chilean Guava. Our mama plant is loaded with fruit in the greenhouse right now and after eating some, we're questioning why we are selling any instead of keeping them to lavish ourselves in personal extravagance. If we were just two miles down the road by the shore we would grow these outside but here in the relative Siberia of the Quimper Peninsula Steppe, we dasn't take the chance. One of the perfect evergreen shrubs for mild climates, this has shiny aromatic leaves giving olfactory testimony to its inclusion in the Myrtle family. Nice white flowers followed by ruby flavorful fruit the size of average Blueberries and all on a broadly columnar plant to 8' tall. If this was hardier, it would be ubiquitous. As it is, it is worth coddling in cooler climes and personally we are going to throw down some Chilean Guava on our foodie friends come Christmas. The best thing about bringing an Ugni dish to Christmas dinner? It'll be the best Ugni anyone has ever had. Neo in The Matrix, not in black but in Chef white, holding a plate of Ugni a la Far Reaches in one hand and reaching out, beckoning "Bring it, foodies" with the other. Oh yeah, so doing the Ugni.

Long have we had a love affair with this most noble of the weed clan Plantago. Hailing from Spain where sun and good drainage and robust olive oils and sturdy red wines are so critical to properly growing and appreciating this gem, this adapts easily to the NW. A delight in the rock garden

This was named for the near black foliage color which occurs with the onset of colder winter temperatures. Spring and summer foliage is typically green and about 10" tall. The flowers are held above the leaves in spring and are small stars of yellow with orange veins. Choice.

This pale yellow Trillium is an attractive species in the sessile flowered group. Nicely mottled leaves are especially pronouced in spring becoming more muted as the season progresses. A shade garden without Trilliums is just a yawning chasm of emptiness and need.

For those who have grown ferns from spore you know that Cyrtomium are how-shall-we-say convivial, popping up where you least expect them. So here an offering for those who appreciate the unexpected joys of life. Due to their dubious origins we can't place a certain name or collection to them but the genus is notoriously indistinguishable anyway. What we can guarantee are the usual smooth evergreen sickle-pinna-ed leaves of the stalwart holly fern that mean you are equally assured of a first-rate garden plant.

When you think Hydrangea you mayyyy think climber if you are particularly nutty botanophile, but certainly unlikely. I can all but guarantee you that you aren't thinking both climber and native to Chile, but here we are with one that fits just that bill. Glossy evergreen leaves and plumes of white to pale-yellow flowers composed almost entirely of fertile florets. Rare in the UK and nearly non-existent in the US, this is one to cure those made nauseous by the endless sugar-sweet hybrids churned out by the big nurseries and breeders that represent the genus in common parlance.

Volcano is perhaps the finest example of one of the finest species of trilliums, taking the already difficult to improve on formula of T. chloropetalum and adorning it with saturated blood red flowers. Unfortunately it is extremely difficult to lay hands on and even our illustrious rare plant powers have none to spare. However these seedlings of Volcano could help you lead you part of the way to the euphoria of Volcano. These are not yet of flowering size so whether the exquisite flowers have been maintained in the genetic mixing pot is still to be determined. What we can vouch for are the incredible leaves on these plants, easily rivalling or surpassing their parent, deliciously dappled with silver and olive, they should serve to tide your lust until the grand reveal of the flowers.

A Philip MacDougall collection from central Taiwan of this dainty in appearance species. Small leaves which are reddish when young pair nicely with the small white flowers in spring which are fortunate to have a red spot on the back of each petal which makes them just that much nicer. Upright habit and likes part shade. Although this has been recorded as 25' small trees in Taiwan, you and I won't live long enough to see that so 6'-10' tall is a reasonable height to expect.

This Greek representative of the delightful alpine primula relative hails from the eponymous Pindus mountains. Characteristic glossy evergreen 'little coin foliage' underlies the distinctive fringed cone flowers. Those flowers take on a lovely dusky purple that pronounce it's maturity and propensity for depth and pretension over its more common, populist cousins, a real kill joy at family gatherings, but an understated joy in the rock garden.

A hardy upright Fuchsia for our Northwest gardens which has good sized red flowers with a prominent rich purple corolla. We always mulch our fuchsias for the winter and expect them to be cut to the ground in a normal hard winter but they regrow and bloom like nothing happened the following summer.

Species recently introduced from Vietnam and hardiness not known but warmer zone 8 and above is safe. Well worth taking a chance on as the lacecap flowers have that little sumpin' sumpin' that made this the staff favorite here. White sterile flowers surround fertile florets of pink to indigo depending on pH and clonal differences.

An exciting tender perennial Impatiens from Vietnam we brought in via the UK. Deep green leaves with magenta undersides on a stout 3'-4' upright plant are quite enough but add the late orange-yellow flowers with red lips and be ready for involuntary expletives and religious exhortations. We saw this in the wild and were blown away. We overwinter ours in a cool greenhouse. Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Collection

This is an indicator plant useful for delineating highly refined plant geeks. Perfection of scale and form with very narrow slightly curled leaves and delicate white flowers followed by improbably rich blue shiny fruit. Involuntary moaning is perfectly acceptable. Very slow clumper.

Seed-grown from a wild collection in Winston County Alabama of this unrivaled North American tree. This has the largest simple leaves of any native plant - up to 30" long - and let's add the flowers as well which are 8"-10" wide and rarely to 12". These fragrant soup bowls are white with rose-purplish bases and followed by showy big cone-like fruits from which red seeds hang by threads. Seriously. Rich moist soil sheltered from wind.