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A native of the wild east of Washington state, this is one outlaw that couldn't escape the long arm of taxonomical law and its free-wheeling life as the impossible to spell Synthyris has ended in emasculation at the hands of all consuming Veronica. Cormac would weep. Nonetheless it's evergreen discs of boot-spur margined foliage and vivid purple gun-barrel flowers spikes will live on in garden legend.

Originally collected as Thymus drucei amidst the limestone barrens of County Clare, Ireland by Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy board member Cody Hinchliff. A hotspot of botanical diversity where unique climate and geology combine to create a pocket of delightful rarities often found in higher elevations. These are limited to far Western Europe more generally and have the usual fragrant rounded leaves of Thyme on creeping red stems. The flowers set them apart however being a good bit larger than the foliage and appearing in such quantities as to almost entirely obscure the latter. Forms a small mat or clambering clump. 

A crisp October morning at 10000’ on the frozen summit of a mountain in Hubei with small copses of Rhododendron oreodoxa var. fargesii huddled together with leaves curled tubular in the cold. The grassy patches among the rock outcrops were brown and sparkling with frost crystals.  We were there in search of the wee Allium henryi discovered in this area by Irish plant hunter Augustine Henry in the 1880’s but perhaps not introduced as our research indicated it was dubiously in cultivation if at all.  At this point in the season, most herbaceous plants had succumbed to repeated hard frosts and we were left searching for likely maybe could be Allium withered brown foliage and tattered spent seed heads all of 3-4 inches in height.  The view was spectacular although until we could claim a seed or two of a dwarf Allium, we could not give its just due.  At last we found a scant few small plant remains in a weekly-grassed spot and some equally petite remnants in humus pockets on the flanks of a shaded rock cliff.  Less than 10 seeds from each and we could find no more allowing us a moment to soak in the magnificence of lesser mountains marching away before as with precipitous valleys intervening all clad in true firs (Abies fargesii var. fargesii) which was so familiar yet so exotic.  We realized this was one of the great vistas and Kelly said “Mom would like this” and from his pack pulled out a Ziploc of said mom’s ashes and gave them a good scattering.  So what about those onion seeds?  One lot did indeed turn out to be the blue-flowered Allium henryi with flat leaves lined in white underneath while the other, this one, proved to be the thin-leaved and also blue-flowered Allium cyaneum.

A pure white form of the Eastern US native dwarf crested Iris selected by Don Jacobs. This Angel is one of life rather than death rising up to the diminutive heavens in late Spring. Likes a moist shady woodland home and will softly spread it's angelic wings to form a nice clump in time.