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Chatham island endemic, arborescent, Ericaceae. For those who haven't already slammed the add to cart button, these are found only on one small New Zealand coastal island group and boast extremely unique juvenile foliage comparable only to the supreme Dragon Blood Tree (Dracaena draco) from South Africa, thus the heavy metal dragon-leaf name. These spiky tufty columns of leaves eventually develop into trees with a sprawling wind-blown habit and a plethora of blade-like leaves. These are cutting-grown from wild collections made for the Pacific Connections garden project at the Washington Arb. Grows in rich peat or bog areas in habitat so something acidic, loamy and consistently moist should suit it just fine.

Ahh the beach, sun, salt, spray and....botanizing? What can we say we can't help ourselves, and locally when doing some beachside botanizing what is likely to draw you in is that perfect beach body, hairy and bigheaded, that's right we're talking Carex macrocephala, the big-headed sedge. Normal grassy sedges have edges leaves but with far more flower power than your average Carex. Rare in cultivation so sandy and well-draining if you want to be safe, but will likely tolerate a wide range of conditions like its brethren.

We sourced this from Edrom nursery in Scotland amidst our quest to attain Roscoea world dominance. Large soft yellow flowers sub in for the usual dark purple, which in all honesty pairs better with the rosy blush of the peduncle, shame that's one letter too many for Scrabble excellence but learning for the sake of learning I guess.

The Harvington name comes attached to excellent British cultivars of a variety of plants most notably Hellebores and refers to those plants developed in the village of Harvington by nurserymen Hugh Nunn. We got these via John Massey of Ashwood nurseries, another name of which there is little doubt when it comes to quality. All this to say this is an excellent Roscoea selection with deeply purple flowers centered by a white spot like a star in the night sky. Though you might be better off with a hand lens rather than a telescope for this sort of stargazing.

A behemoth of an introduction from our friends at Celestial Dreams Gardens. Stoutly stocky with an implacable confidence that only comes from knowing you are the apex Roscoea in our large school of species and cultivars. Thick stems hold big white flowers whose beauty fills the mind, preventing any ear-worm memory of the 'Jaws' music to intrude.

This tasteful perennial from Japan bides its time in the shade garden as the floral hoi polloi scrabble for attention during spring and summer. Once the fracas has died down, this takes center stage in September and October with its intricately constructed buds like little pieces of sculpture which open to fuzzy light lavender flowers. 

Let's be honest if you're growing Podophyllums for the flowers you're probably a misses the forest for the trees type, and don't be fooled the huge multi-pointed star leaves of these are still just as flashy as ever. That being said, we here at Far Reaches tend to be of the more is more, por que no los dos persuasion and the large paler-than-usual flowers of this selection are quite the added bonus. Thanks to Jacques Thompson for sharing this beauty with us!