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A very hardy Ceanothus granted the Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit. If you are going to name something the Glory of Versailles then it had better be good! A deciduous shrub to 6' or 7' high or more and 5' or so wide with soft powder blue panicles of scented flowers mid summer into fall. C. americanus and the Mexican C. coeruleus are its parents.

Second generation 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.

Very good plant in the upper echelon of perennials and highly valued for its mid summer blooms of thickly textured intriguing yellow flowers on the terminals of the stems. These get nice broad leaves on herbaceous stems that in shape are not unlike a Hydrangea. Imposing at maturity.

Nice variegated Alstroemeria with clusters of narrow tubular red and green flowers which are a nice departure from the gaudiness of so many of the hybrids. Easy in a sunny spot and tolerates some drier conditions. Prefers a well-drained soil.

Very thrilled to be finally able to offer this Veratrum which was formerly in the genus Melanthium. Native from the Midwest to East Coast, this thrives in marshy, boggy settings or damp woods. Perfect in rich moisture retentive soil in the garden. White plumes of flowers to 5'+ in June and July. Deer proof - thank goodness for toxic alkaloids!

Silver Wings Evening Primrose. Narrow grayish leaves in a low branched rosette of leaves are perfect with the large 4" yellow flowers that open as the sun sets. Plant these where you can enjoy them during the evening wine stroll through the garden and then follow up with your morning coffee mosey. Good drainage, lean soil and sun. Well-suited for the rock garden, this Kansas and Nebraska native can take some dry.

This is an attention-getter and a performer. A surprisingly hardy true Ginger relative from northern India, this has survived our winters here in western Washington for the last 20 years with no problem. We simply mulch if we get worried. The leaves are tinted maroon underneath and the torch of dark yellow flowers coming out of red bracts in late July and August is an exceptional bit of the tropics. The 'Robusta' form is a bit taller than the typical run of the species and can reach 3' tall. A rich, moist soil that drains in a little sun to bright shade is best. We see this grown in some of the most notable gardens here in the NW which never surprises us. .

One of the best little plants you will ever have. An evergreen member of the Primrose family from high grassy meadows in Europe, this has multiple stems to 10" bearing sweet fringed lavender bells. This forms a nice clump in time and has no discernible faults and remains attractive even out of flower. A key component to the elfin garden.

A time-tested durable perennial for the garden which boasts deep purple flowers thatt continue into fall if dead-headed. If you can't be bothered to dead-head, then you will just have to content yourself with 2 months of outrageous color in early summer on a plant which will get to 3' by 3'.

These grow beautifully in the UBC Asian Garden in Vancouver where it grows up to 15'. Typically we would expect 6' or so in in the garden with the pale waxy evergreen leaves providing nice backing for the creamy multi-petaled flowers. Best in a mild garden like Seattle or PT.

A collection by Sweden's Goteborg Botanical Garden's 3 Henriks in China's Shaanxi Province at Nan Gong Shan 1250 meters. This is a small tree to 20'-30' with purplish new growth expanding to broadly cordate leaves and early summer pouchy flowers of pale red with yellow striations and purple spotting. Fast growing hardy tropical look. Cutting grown.

Very cool Candelabra type Primrose with whorls of rich black cherry flowers. Very distinctive and definitely eue-catching. Loves a moist rich soil where it will gently self sow and frankly boogie until dawn.

One of those perennial Lobelia that shouldn't be as hardy as it is but mountainous areas of southern Arizona and northern Mexico have plants with surprising hardiness. A graceful clump of thin willowy leaves on stems 15"-24" tall with a profusion of midsummer tubular red flowers with a bright yellow throat. Deciduous in winter, ours handles our brief drops to 10F with mulch. Good drainage aids in winter survival.

This is a treasure among Pokers. A small statured species with big time bloom from South Africa introduced to the NW by one of the finest small nurseries in the country, Hedgerows Nursery in OR who have now retired and we are diminished as a result. David and Susie grew exceptional plants nearly perfectly and their level of excellence is what we gauge ourselves against. Of course David cheated with that damned English accent. Back to the plant under discussion -this Kniphofia doesn't know the word quit and after a main heavy spring bloom keeps throwing up flowers spikes sporadically throughout the season given ample water and food. This was a rare plant in just a few localities near Durban in South Africa and is now thought to be extirpated in the wild. Not as hardy as some, this benefits from a good mulch if temps drop into the teens in which case it is happy as a clam.

This a bigger version of the little B. penna-marina ssp. alpina commonly found in nurseries. We never see this offered which is just a shame since it is a great fern. Well, not such a shame since a little exclusivity never hurts. This makes a dense groundcover of evergreen foliage.

Alternate-leaved Golden Saxifrage. Love it when customers share interesting plants with us which is how we came by this little goody. This is pretty much circumarboreal in the northern hemisphere where it is often found in rock outcrops in moist areas. Nice rounded evergreen leaves and umbels of yellow flowers in spring. This is going to work nicely as a small scale groundcover in a moist lightly shaded spot. It grows in some pretty northern cold areas with a distinctly continental climate so good and hardy.

Fragrant Dwarf False Indigo. An excellent plant for the xeric garden although not the best in sandy soils since it hails from good prairie soil in the midwest from central Canada down to Texas. Nice small woody shrub with erect small spikes of clustered small tubular flowes of violet blue petals and red stamens - whoa!

You don't have to sell your soul to have this in your garden but once you see it, you would be more than willing. New selection from the UK that has to be Lucifer's love child. This is so much better than that old devil. Stout dark sooty stems holding deep burning red flowers with a wide flared corolla that lacks only the smell of brimstone and the wail of sinners. We do get involuntary high-pitched keening from people who see our big display plant so maybe we're just missing the brimstone. Quite difficult to come by, these are single large corms we would typically put into a gallon pot for sale here at the nursery.

Second generation plants from our collection of this Solomon's Seal from the Cangshan in Yunnan. This has narrow leaflets arrayed in tiers with small bell-shaped pale white flowers overlaid in a dusky wash and which are clustered near the leaf bases which later become red-orange fruit bunched like small grapes. Surprisingly sun tolerant given enough water. In our lath house shade garden which is fairly bright, this has become quite impressive in the last few years making a bamboo-like clump of herbaceous stems to 7'-8' which makes us very happy.

Perfect fine texture with a silver sheen all year long. This is a gorgeous evergreen that further delights in the summer with small white flowers. Pinch it if you want it bushy and don't treat it too nice - it prefers a leaner soil that drains well. Tolerant of dry when established and likes full sun.