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If the nursery catches on fire or there is an EF5 tornado bearing down or skies darken from a locust plague of biblical proportions, this is in the first armload we grab. A gesneriad from our collection in Asia where this grew on shaded, mossy rock faces enjoying Acer griseum and Emmenopterys henryi as neighbors. Gloriously large, totally tubular lavender-pink flowers awaken urges long forgotten. Hardy here at FRF in the maritime PNW. A portion of the proceeds goes to support the mission of Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy.

This is a lovely thing we received from Ellen Hornig at the late Seneca Hills Nursery in New York where she was able to grow this thanks to deep lake-effect snow cover. Looking perfectly intermediate between Dierama and Crocosmia, this is the perfect choice if you are wanting a soft pink Crocosmia but can't find one.

This is an excellent rock or crevice garden Penstemon we picked up at Aberconwy Nursery in Wales. Their selection for lavender flowers of Penstemon rupicola, we suspect it is a hybrid as the species normally has blue-ish foliage and pink flowers. Great introduction regardless and it is thriving in our crevice garden. First introduction to North America for this Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy offering.

Pretty much an awesome plant for the rock garden or hell strip as this relishes good drainage and hot sun. We saw this at Lakewood Gardens in Denver summer of 2014 and had to have! A small subshrub covered in blazing red tubular flowers and allows no other plant to have any attention whatsoever. On the moderate to dryish side and lean. Did we mention deer don't like this? The current (now April 2017) issue of the North American Rock Garden Quarterly has Marian as the covergirl and it is well-deserved notoriety. BTW - if you are not a member of NARGS - that is a mistake fortunately easily corrected by going to their website and joining. Good publication, great plant people, exceptional conferences and tours and then there is the most awesome seed exchange list - some of our best bragging plants have their origins in that seed list.

Sea Holly. One of the best of the lot with great marbled foliage and blue thistlely flowers which are great for drying. Likes a sunny poor soil and is known for laughing disdainfully at Port Townsend deer, the modern rats of the new Millenium. Let this self-sow for best results.

Seed-grown from a collection in the Indian Heaven area of Gifford Pinchot National Forest in the southern Cascade Mts of Washington. Surely one of our favorite Penstemon, this has glaucous, rounded leaves on creeping mats with pink flowers that just lovely. This requires a rock garden, trough or crevice garden as it needs a lean and gritty, mineral soil with excellent drainage. This is a mountain plant and hot humidity both days and nights are fatal. Just sayin'. Loving it here in Port Townsend!

A woody species peony we first saw in Yunnan in 1997 growing in the open woodland surrounding the alluvial plain of the Ganghoba valley with Dipelta, Rodgersia and Arisaema. This will get 4'-6' tall with nicely dissected foliage and the small but intense flowers on these young, seed-grown plants will likely be red although orange is possible as we have both and bees will be bees.

Exceptional selection of this cross between Garrya elliptica and G. fremontii from Glasnevin in Ireland. What is notable about this is the long late winter catkins have conspicuous wine-colored bands. We're talking Pinot Noir here not Pinot Grigio. As a bonus, the stems are dark colored as well. Winter interest, anyone?

One of the best of the herbaceous Potentilla hands down, period. End of story. This is a "Quit talking, just do me, baby" Potentilla. Deep double orange flowers combined with the soft caress of green-gray foliage are an exquisite pleasure verging on pain it is so intense. The grays in the foliage are considerable less than 50 shades tending towards more green. Full sun.

Cool little gesneriad which recently was transferred from the now defunct genus Briggsia Glabrella. We only call this molecular meddling when we are updating our various database entries and pot tags. Shaded moist areas in Guangxi and SE Yunnan and can take light frosts. White/pale pink flowers.

A selected form from England notable for pale cream flowers which are lighter than typical for the species. We're just over the moon about Roscoeas and this uncommon selection is certainly in the top tier. All the allure of a hardy orchid without the expense. Trouble free pretty much.

A favorite of ours from South Africa. We have this growing in front of our greenhouse and the first winter we mulched it and covered with a tarp. No damage. The second winter we just threw a tarp over it and no damage. Then finally we didn't protect it at all and there was no damage at 17F - even the flower buds were unscathed. Yellow daisy flowers are lovely over the glaucous succulent foliage.

Perhaps the most widely grown species of this genus rarely seen in the Northern hemisphere but much beloved by those in the know. This is due to its history of cultivation as an edible substitute to taters, but having seen the tubers myself I think I'll be stickin' to spuds. Also perhaps one of the hardier members with some making claims all the way down to 7b. However the range is large and varied in elevation, this Guatemalan collection as of yet remains untrialled. Ours go winter-dormant in the greenhouses which makes it a good candidate for pot culture anyway, coming out in the warmer months to twine its way upwards until it explodes into a glorious array of bright pink, lime throated flowers. 

A hybridizing dead end with no hope of winning the Lhasa Zingiberaceae Club Roscoea show and getting its time on the podium with adoring retirees from around the world ooh-ing and ahh-ing from their couches. Nonetheless these are sweet plants with their own appeal, just like your friendly mutt. Short with red stems and green leaves and flowers like that of "Red Gurkha" but with a varying degree of violet tinge. 

A plant of many names, 'Grandiceps', 'Grandiceps Group', 'Diane' here we have opted for crediting the original selector of this strongly crested form of our native licorice fern, Lawrence Crocker cofounder of Siskiyou Rare Plant Nursery and resident fern man. The edges and end of the fronds are highly curled and rippling ready to lend a flamboyant touch of crashing evergreen waves to the boulder or log of your choosing.

A likely Gladiolus papilio hybrid with some saying it is a form of papilio, our mama plant when in bloom with its 5 foot stems of red-mauve flowers sporting dark eye patches, has frequently caused plant geeks to start speaking in tongues other than Latin binomials and to offer creative enticements in exchange for "just a small start". We have had to say "Sorry" until now although if those enticements are still on the table, we're listening. Perfectly hardy in the ground here.

Did we mean to infer that this is a PINK Gillenia???? Why yes, we did. And it is. Pink, definitely pink. An exciting offering of a dandy variant on a choice eastern native. Pink Bowman's Root will get 24"-30" tall with multiple stems sporting an airy array of pink flowers. The leaf color will be improved and intensified with some sun and great fall color to boot. This can take full sun in our cool-sun maritime Northwest but part sun to shade in hotter areas.These are hefty plants field-grown for two years from the plug size one sees generally offered and are a cut above. Bringing the action on this one.

A precocious species which can flower the first year from seed with spherical clusters of dusky cream florets. The flowers, while quietly attractive, are eclipsed by the showy fruit congregated in impressive large black balls which are very attractive. This was found growing epiphytically on a large fallen log spanning a streamlet and is a good choice for smaller gardens.

Excellent Irish selection formerly called 'Helen Dillon' but determined to be properly 'Irish Crimson' One of the most requested plants in our garden and forever associated with the amazing gardener Helen Dillon. Small upright leaves brilliantly colored in winter with vivid pink flowers. Very few from division. Best color in full sun.

Awesome Sweet William selected by John Grimshaw from seedlings at Monksilver Nursery and is notable for the foliage which turns maroon-black providing the perfect foil for the velvety maroon clustered flowers which smells of chocolate in warm weather - damn! Cut back after flowering for another go around. John personally gave us a piece from his garden so we have a fond attachment. A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering. Proceeds from this offering go to support the mission of Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy.