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When is a fern not a fern? When it is in the Poppy family which is where this choice bit of Japanese fern mimicry resides. Perfect fern-like leaves which we could easily mistake for a Blechnum (Deer Fern) until the spikes of purest white flowers appear in late spring. Lovely plant for turning a supposition on its ear as well as classing up the joint. This is an especially good crop freshly potted and even though for the next few weeks the roots will not fill out the pot, we have zero concerns about these successfully transplanting to your garden.

Mountain Lady's Mantle. This is a smaller version of the more familiar variety with what we think are more attractive leaves. Glossy dark green with an alluring sliver edge to the margin, the attractiveness is further enhanced by the small creamy yellow flowers in late spring.  Tough as nails and very hardy to the point of seeding around freely in our retail area gravel, not that we mind!

Seedlings from our collection in Sichuan in 2006. We were thrilled to find this Epimedium - just 5 plants with a few ripe seed - growing on a shallow layer of moss and humus on a damp rock face along a narrow dirt road. Interestingly, two of the plants had black seed capsules and the other three were green. Yellow flowers from April to mid summer and then again in fall in our fertile and moist shade garden. We had this listed last year as Epimedium davidii which it closely resembles and thought this but a variation in flower until the keen eyes of Ben Stormes noticed that this was indeed the rare Epimedium flavum found only on the Erlang Shan which is exactly where this was found. This area, like many once remote areas in China, showed indications of being poised to be developed for tourism and there is little doubt that the plants we found are no longer.

This exquisite Pyrrosia was shared with us by the ever-travelling plantsman Adam Black from his own collection in Taiwan. Imagine our suprise when on a stroll through the nursery with Adam we discovered we were now the sole keeper of this and its twin collection, that is until we got the great pleasure of returning it to Adam's keeping. Conservation at work baby! Now you can join us in that great effort and hopefully if we ever suffer tragic losses you can be our backup! The species matsudae is a bit infuriating taxonomically, in appearance it is VERY similar to Pyrrosia polydactylos, though it can be distinguished by the lack of uniformity in frond lobing. Adding to the confusion some sources have inexplicably lumped it with P. davidii which having many collections of that species is very much different. 

All of this probably means very little to you and you are simply drooling over the felty multi-fingered deliciousness presented outwardly, us too. This has proved hardy for us thus far in our collectors garden and wants the usual well-drained but moist, shady, preferably epiphytic situation as its brethren.

A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering

A deciduous shrub that can be treated as a perennial or a woody perennial with the form and firepower of a flowering shrub depending on your clime. Each year the pithy arching stems rocket up to human heights and explode into a cascade of pink pea flowers. A worthy addition to a perennial border or to add a floral punch in a space where evergreens are the winter showpiece. Plus, I must say its a pleasure at cut-back time with its neat arrangement and satisfying woody crack. Can be a bit aggressive in the warmer climes of the Southeast.

The devilish trident form leaves of this Japanese cultivar brought to the US by Barry Yinger have that alluring femme fatale combination of danger and beauty. While the name translates to bamboo leaf referring to its resemblance to trifoliate bamboos the latter would certainly have far less of a presence in human culture if they were as unfriendly as this impostor. Think of the screening you could make to keep those pesky neighborhood kids from tromping on your tender goodies. Comes with all the traits you expect from Osmanthus, tough, easy, fragrant flowering. One of the coolest in a vast sea of cultivars.

Found growing a shady mossy rock (much the situation I would choose if I were a plant) in North Vietnam this creeping semi-woody Gesner has some of the best foliage we've seen from the genus with purple-pink petioles, margins, and abaxial surfaces. No recollection of the flower but you can expect the usual dangling elongated foxglove corollas. For the tropical greenhouse or the coastal climate.