V

A hybrid between V.myrtillus and V. vitis-idaea making a dense little shrub 2' high. Why stiff yourself with a boring beyond belief Boxwood when you could have this splendid little gem with pinky-white flower bells in late spring and small blueberries in late summer? Good organic soil.

Rare ghostly white flowered variant of the typically dark-flowered Veratrum formosanum . We lusted after this plant since the 90's after seeing it recorded in the Flora of Taiwan and finally secured it from the legendary Jim Sutherland at Scotland's Ardfearn Nursery just a few years ago. So excited we tossed our caber. Is it better than the typical formosanum? No. More collectible? Oh, hell yeah! Deer resistant. We conservatively list this hardy to zone 6 but it is likely hardy to 5 or even 4.

Way too much name for a favorite Veronica. This thrives in the sun and the gray foliage with blue candles of flowers butted up to a black rockery rock would make the cover of Rock Garden Quarterly.

A collection from northern California where this mingled with Pseudotrillium rivale and Rhododendron occidentale among other tantalizers. This one has flowers noticeably larger than the other forms we grow which means the tiny white flowers make the leap from speck to mote. Vigorous evergreen groundcover for mostly shade that tolerates dry which slows its spread. The leaves will take on burnished purple to red colors in winter.

No shipping to the State of: OR A nice dwarf evergreen Blueberry from Yunnan and Sichuan where it is found growing epiphytically in large trees of evergreen oak and hemlock. This is a very good garden plant needing an airy organic soil. The foliage has salmon to red colors depending on the season. Fall small fruit.

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.

Madeiran Blueberry. We have the late Art Dome to thank for sharing this Vaccinium native to Madeira with us. He grew this beautifully in his Seward park garden but it really does need a mild garden. Big flowers for a blueberry and lots of tasty fruit. We were all grazing last summer.

Cutting-grown from a rare wild seed collection of this infinitely ornamental species by Dr. Aaron Floden, consulting taxonomist to Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy.  Leatherleaf Viburnum is a superb evergreen species whose large leaves are nicely textured for multi-season interest.  Cymes of white flowers beckon bees and butterflies and are followed by fruit that is first red, then a shiny black.  This gets to 10' tall and as wide and works as a standalone plant or excellent as hedging.  As a seller of plants, we are contractually obliged to tout the value of this for hedging.

An uncommon little jewel from the mountains of Taiwan, these are 2nd generation plants from the original wild collection by the Wynn-Jones back in the early 90's. Chris Chadwell had distributed seeds from this early expedition of theirs and and we received a packet and the offspring from these original few seeds are the origins of virtually all plants of this species in the US. It always intrigues us to watch the integration of a plant into horticulture from a plant we introduce. Unlike our native colossal Veratrum, this is relatively demure with neat tussocks of low grassy foliage. This blooms young with deep maroon flowers on gray-green stems. Deer hate Veratrum and good to zone 4 up to zone 8b.

One of the true stars of our new crevice garden this Turkish native may not be what you expect of a Veronica but certainly is what you expect of a first-rate garden plant. Slowly forms a glossy evergreen mat of tiny cut leaves that conjure up thoughts of ultra-skilled clockmakers or artists who craft on grains of rice. This alone makes it a worthwhile do-er but the all-encompassing eruption of botanical-blue star shaped flowers is the real charmer. These arrive beginning in Spring and are still chugging along, if not at full force, in October at the time of this writing. 

We're Veratruphiles, no doubt about that and this was a prized acquisition. A Japanese native which is a smaller counterpart to our own native Veratrums or False Hellebores. This is smaller getting to just 3' tall in flower with the flowering stalk draped in white and green flowers tripling the foliage height, claiming it's rightful place only when at its peak and otherwise demurely playing the role of high quality foliage texture.

 

 

This sweet little New Zealand groundcover is perhaps best known by its former name of Parahebe olsenii. Soft lavender flowers with a yellow eye rimmed in cerise feathering are held just above the small rounded evergreen leaves that have tones of green olive. Tidy is a word that comes to mind.

Superb blue-green leaf selection of this exceptionally ornamental evergreen Himalayan Blueberry. We saw this in western Arunachal Pradesh in 2003 at 10,000' and discovered an eastern range extension of this in Sichuan in 2006. This is a superior form to both populations and likely has its origins with Barry Starling, UK Ericaceae expert. Fruit is edible but very tart, good only for special preserves and you might be better served eating the birds that came to eat the berries. Not that we would. Or do.

Native to Chile, this is in the Solanaceae and will become a 4'-6' evergreen shrub with drooping and narrowly tubular yellow flowers with long exserted stamens. The foliage is a bit unpleasant when crushed - and only then - which makes us think it will be deer proof. Has proved hardy outside in our PT frost pocket for a good decade now, may get cut back by the fiercest winters but bounds back quickly. Good for a sunny position and was given the Award of Garden Merit by the Royal Horticultural Society.

One of the sweetest little groundcovers we have grown. Aside from the small terminal clusters of deep blue flowers in late spring and early summer, we are taken by its good evergreen foliage and year-round tidy appearance. It is in one of our troughs and spills over the lip perfectly. Good for the rock garden.

A distinctive Vaccinium (Blueberry) collected by Jens Nielsen in western Yunnan at 3000 meters. Large leaves of serious substance alternately flank the arching stems and take on red-bronze colors when young as well in winter on the least mature leaves. No surprises on the white urn-shaped flowers or with the purple-black fruit which add ornament to an already interesting plant. We can only guess as to mature size of the plant but would think 3'-4' tall with arching and trailing branches to 6' or more. This is likely epiphytic in the wild which means good drainage in the garden.

This collection is from what we regard as the southern form of this populous Asian species. What makes this special is that this was from the 10000' summit of this virtually unknown mountain and surely must be the highest elevation that this form grows. That, plus being one of the toughest days we have had in the field. This makes a good show with likely white flowers followed by heads of red fruit that matures to blue-black and the evergreen leaves are more attractive than the northern populations. A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering

A very dwarf selection of our evergreen native red huckleberry found in the garden at St. Andrews in Scotland. This is extremely dwarf to just a few inches high but spreading to 3' across in time. How long to reach 3' across? A good long time. Brilliant red and orange new growth. Perfect little rock garden shrub which we received from John Weagle in Nova Scotia.

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!

This is a fine winter-blooming deciduous Viburnum named after Charles Lamont of Edinburgh Botanic Gardens who made the first cross using the parents Viburnum grandiflorum and V. farreri. Charles didn't cherish the seedlings and chucked them which may be where we got the verb "chuck." I love fanciful etymologies. Bodnant Gardens soon duplicated the cross and named some seedlings including the extremely popular pink flowered 'Dawn' and one white flowered selection which was named in honor of Charles Lamont. It is light pink in bud and then ages white and the scented flowers can be seen in November through to March or April depending on your climate.

There are a lot of bogus Charles Lamont being offered by very reputable nurseries which are pink. These are wrong. Charles Lamont is white, pinkish in bud. Ours came from a very uppity and serious English nursery in the mid 80's with the grave pronouncement that this was the genuine Charles Lamont. Being younger and a simple Yank, I'm sure I replied with an enthusiatic "Dude! This is righteous!" I remember not being shown any other special plants that resided behind the rope. These are small but very sturdy plants which will take off for you.