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A Cody Hinchliff wild collection of this long-blooming Arizonan salvia. The long wait to see what species this would be when it flowered was well rewarded with white centered indigo flowers ensconced by particularly dark calyces that received unanimous approval from the staff. Extremely hardy, to at least zone 6, and with all the usual benefits of sage, pollinator magnet, drought tolerant, deer resistant, fragrant foliage etc. 

Curious and uncommon walnut relative from our Asian seed collection where we found this as part of the rich mixture of trees and shrubs on steep mountain flanks. Pinnate leaves harkening to the family Juglandaceae but instead of nuts in a hard shell, this has nutlets in vertical ornamental cones which persist all winter. Too cool for school! The small cones have very small and insignificant yellowish flowers in June and July but the value comes from the long winter interest.

To want more than 'Blue Jewel" is just wrong. This selection of one of the premier spring stalwarts subscribes to the theory that "more is better" and overwhelms with a myriad of small dark blue flowers. In this case, Miles Davis was wrong when he said "Less is more". He didn't garden. More is more.

Excellent member of the Crassulaceae which means it is a succulent basically, but one that eschews the arid sunny spot in favor of lusher environs like our shade garden with dairy manure mulch. Makes a thick clump of fleshy green leaves with taller stems of pendulous strings of bead-like yellow flowers that are nothing less than captivating. This is one of those plants we have had for a long time but one that surprises us each year when it blooms because we don't expect something so familiar to float our boat quite so high. Very easy to please and a plant people want when they see it in flower.

Pains us to part with these on the rare times that Plant Merchant overwhelms Plant Hoarder. Diminutive Pineapple Lily that gives way more pleasure than its size might suggest. Time to take the high road here and not get into personal digressions. Pure white 6"-10" bloom stalks lasting for weeks. Great little container plant but don't leave the pot out over winter. It is ok in the ground here if mulched in winter.

This dandy Salvia came to us from the garden of Dan Post of whom we hold in the highest possible esteem. He has trialed this under intense deer pressure and it gets a thumbs up in all the critical categories. Easy, hardy, deer-proof and lovely. Bushy big leaves to 2' and tall branched flowering stems to 40" with blue violet flowers splotched in white, touched in yellow.

Mountain dweller in the Cascades BC to CA, popping over to Colorado and up into the northern arctic regions. Good rock garden plant down here where the livin' is easy. Succulent blue-green leaves clad the many stems while the terminal clustered red flowers glitter like a garnet hatpin.

Fern fans we are, fern experts we are not, but we continue to chip away at the imposing taxonomic massif of Pteridophyta in hopes of becoming somewhat conversational in Fern. Currently, we can ask the equivalent of where the restroom is and order beer when talking Asian ferns. This is a creeping fern with long, thin rhizomes ideally suited for weaving through shallow moss on shaded rock faces with small orbicular-ovate evergreen leaves. This has been extremely hardy for us for years in our shade garden, and should fare well in lower zones as well given that Acer griseum was growing nearby.

(Apologies for the second change in species, the limits of species in this group of Lepisorus aren't fully clear, and L. pyriformis having been only recently published is not included in the Flora of China though it fits better than the previously used L. rostratus)

A Schefflera of smaller stature with a need to please. This flowers when quite young with spherical clusters of creamy-white flowers followed by even showier balls of black fruit. Self-fertile, this handles the reproductive function nicely on its own which is all the rage in this era of the pandemic. A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering. Nice gallon size. Of narrow habit, this is a good choice for smaller, mild gardens.

This is the Award of Garden Merit form of the species which has a superior presentation in its fronds which are blessed with a long terminal pinnae. And really, who doesn't want a long terminal pinnae? The typical species is a familiar sight growing on the trunks of our native Bigleaf Maples here in western Washington but this form is rare.

A little gem this one is. Fully double white flowers like elfin roses held on short stems in spring and early summer on this little creeper. Perfectly suited to the rockery, rock garden or special spot, this will charm even the most cynical and caustic of gardeners except those who hate double flowers but even they awake smiling on occasion in the middle of the night after dreaming of this blooming in their garden.

Found in Boone North Carolina by an extension agent, this Glad is possibly a hybrid with dalenii and has pretty awesome cold hardiness having proven itself in zone 6. July flower spikes to 4' with apricot flowers touched in peach at the petal tips as well as in the throat. Very good increaser as this makes numerous cormlets so spread the love.

Horned Poppy. Officially designated as a Xeric Awesome Perennial, these originally came to us as seeds from Panayoti Kelaidis' home garden in Denver. This has rosettes of foliage which erupt in early summer to 2'-3' branched displays of orange to yellow poppy flowers. Nifty long curved seed pods too. This really wants good drainage in lean soil with hot sun where it will self sow which is good as the parent plants can be short lived. We had one make a low wide dome of gray-green foliage and we counted between 400-500 orange-yellow flowers on it - hopefully some of these seedlings will carry on the tradition. Some of these will be Glaucium flavum, some will be grandiflroum and others will be obvious hybrids but none will disappoint.

We were gifted this little green "roller" from John Grimshaw, Director of the Yorkshire Arboretum at Castle Howard. As he handed us a nondescript pup, we wondered what magical thing attended this to earn a place in his exquisite collection. "This is from the garden of Carl Linnaeus" STFU! The Father of Binomial Nomenclature!?! Linnaeus & Grimshaw - now that's provenance! Plant geek manna from botanical heaven. This is possibly Jovibarba globifera subsp. allionii.

Our collection of this as yet unidentified Gentian from an isolated peak with difficult access. This was growing on steep open banks overhung with Schefflera fengii and Rhododendron sinofalconeri where it made rounded small shrublets with semi-woody stems covered in clusters of shades of blue flowers.

The deciduous Photinia beauverdiana is a loose-limbed, sinuous presence in the garden. White flowers are followed by showy clusters of orange-red fruit which hold their position long enough for a slam dunk combination with the autumnal yellow of the leaves. Kelly was standing on a sloped mossy rock stretching to collect a fruit of this for a friend when he fell, holding the fruit safely aloft rather than using his hand to break his fall, and cracked a rib. From that day on, he has trash-talked this graceful species as "That phucking Photinia". A well-loved punchline lost to its taxonomic repositioning into Pourthiaea, well those 'Pour' taxonomists are just gonna have to suck it up cause we give everything for the bit here.

A. villosa is widely grown in the rock garden world and widely distributed in the world at large. This variety however is something a little more uncommon, and with the distinction amidst other varieties of being stoloniferous, reaching out red hairy tendrils tipped by a colonial rosette produced by the mothership. This sort of imperial behavior is rightly shunned in modern geopolitics, but quite welcome in the garden. This is particularly true when each silver fuzzy rosette which composes the expanding territorial mat produces it profusion of hot pink, yellow-eyed flowers. A great beginner rock or crevice garden plant which is easily shared or divided and spread around.

Yet another venerable member of the legion of incredible South African bulbs. This one likes it arid and with as little frost as can be managed, but it isn't uncommon to see them in pot culture among xeric specialists, just bring them indoors when they are in their winter dormancy. Incredibly uniquely textured leaves ridged and bumpy like an exotic lizard in muted tones of purple-brown. The flowers provide quite the contrast to the dour prehistoric foliage, happy little candelabras of candy-floss pink!

One of our favorite plants for the landscape is this New Zealand Iris relative. Tough evergreen leaves makes a broadly grassy mound 2' high x 3' across and has numerous stems bearing lots of 1" pure white flowers. Wind tolerant. May be cut to ground in severe winter. Easy care.

An English selection of a North American species, shared with us by our dear friend and renowned Hepatica grower, breeder, and expert, John Massey of Ashwood Nurseries.  It is impossible to think of John without a liberal sprinkling of "exquisite" permeating the thought train and this includes reflections on Hepatica americana 'Ashwood Marble'.  The trilobed rounded leaves are exquisitely (see how that happens?) patterned with a base color of greenish pewter divided by muted chocolate-purple ragged peninsulas.  Delightfully small-scale, the petite soft lavender flowers with white anthers are profusely borne.  Great under deciduous trees and the species is also found on shaded rock outcrops in the wild.  John's book "My World of Hepaticas", is simply put, exquisite.