Lily of the Valley.  A good selection of this stalwart species with a yellow margin to the leaves and said leaves are larger than average as well.  Typical scented white flowers.  There are numerous spellings of the cultivar name but since this is an American introduction, we can only assume this is correct.  Sad.

A very hardy Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit Ceanothus.  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 it's parents.

Dwarf Scandanavian selection of Chives which is way more ornamental than usefully edible.  Lots of pinkish lavender flowers on a very compact plant.  Quite useful in the rock garden or detailed planting site such as edge of a stepping stone or against a rock.

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.

A choice Primula from the Italian Alps that is seldom offered for sale.  I know we hate to part with any.  These make bold clumps of distinctive foliage with short-stemmed clusters of dark lavender flowers.  This likes a moisture retentive well drained soil.

A rare introduction of this small alpine Allium that is scarcely represented in cultivation.  Small flattened leaves arch close to the ground and the short-stemmed blue flowers are quite pleasing.  The leaves distinguish it from the similar but with rounded leaves, Allium cyaneum, which it shares habitat.

Rare and choice goody that Jim Fox brought to us from England.  Surprisingly hardy with screaming hot bright fuchsia pink daisies in summer.  Don't plant it with Dahlia 'Bishop of Llandaff' like we did - a memorable combo for its garish bad taste.  Winter dormant.

Rich deep blue trumpets with exterior pale striping on this collection from a 10,000' alpine moist meadow where it mingled with too many Primula, dwarf Rhododendron and a Bistorta that unexpectedly threatened to steal the show. This requires rich, moist acid soil with afternoon shade in hot sun areas.

This collection is from nearly 6000' in San Miguel Co., New Mexico and hardy down to Zone 5.  This yucca relative makes dense clumps of thin grassy leaves to 3' tall and holds the dense plumes of creamy flowers nestled in the uppermost leaves.  The brown seed heads evoke fat cigars.

Evergreen alpine Aussie growing in the same habitat as Snow Gums.  This has billowy gray-green foliage and 1" white flowers borne on last year's wood.  With age the bark exfoliates and reveals a very shiny trunk which adds to the allure.  Sun, good drainage, dryish and phooey to the deer.

Got lots of sun and sandy or well-drained soil with average to low fertility in a dryish garden beset by rabbits and deer but still want lots of flowers for the bees and other pollinators? Look no further as this will nicely fill the bill. Mature plant has hundreds of pink papery bracted flowers in midsummer on drooping stems. Best displayed in a raised bed.

A Dan Hinkley collection from Japan of this fine mid to late summer blooming Allium species. Good richly colored purple flowers are freely produced on this densely clumping little dude. Good in containers and great in the rock garden or special little niche.  This was originally misidentified as Allium thunbergii.

We are quite pleased with ourselves for collecting seed of this desireable and scarce variant in the eastern Sino-Himalaya.  This hardy Ginger relative has large flowers with white dorsal petals and a broad white labellum liberally washed in violet.  Very plant-nerd worthy as well as being just a beautiful addition to the garden.

This rugged South African is sun, wind and drought tolerant and absolutely hardy in the PNW.  One of the most admired plants in our border for its profuse display of large yellow to orange daisies on low stems.  Good drainage.

Nice rich red form of the Pasque Flower.  This makes over time a full mound of finely dissected foliage with a bunch of flower stems bearing the large cheery red flowers.  Sun and some decent drainage and you're good to go.

A sure-to-be favorite is this hybrid from Denver's Kelly Grummons who crossed or perhaps found a bee seedling between Salvia darcyi and S. microphylla. This 2015 Plant Select introduction wowed us when we saw it in Denver in 2014. Blood-red flowers on 3'-4' stems from late June to October and hardy to zone 5. Grummons - you rule, dude!

Blue-Eyed Grass.  A West Coast and Washington State native that grows in mid to higher elevations in moist locations. This is very easy in our lowland gardens and a nice addition to the native plant garden. Low tuffets of green grassy blades and small blue-lavender flowers.

A subtle woodlander for most of spring and summer until late summer and fall when it suddenly busts a move and starts strutting its stuff.  Fern-like foliage backs small white puffs of flowers in May which become showy clusters of bright white fruit in late summer & fall.  The white version of our red fruited native.

Fabulous hybrid ornamental Origano (O. rotundifolium x O. scabrum) which is both heat and drought tolerant and a perfect choice for the sunny rock garden or top edge of rockery wall.  This really does need sharp drainage to perform its best.  In the Midwest, it is used as an annual in window boxes.  Light pink flowers all summer long.

We received this extraordinary selection from and equally extraordinary plantsman, David Mason of the vaunted former Hedgerows Nursery.  Few members of the genus approach this for impact which is only heightened by flowering before other large-flowered forms.   The emerging spring growth is enclosed in soft salmon sheaths and the hot damn lavender-pink flowers stand proud before the leaves develop.

Leave it to Sean Hogan to make selections of a species that hardly anyone grows or knows.  Thanks to him, we grow it and are on a steep learning curve.  This has silvery leaves nicely lobed and revels in heat and will take dry conditions perfectly which only increases its hardiness.  Thriving in Portland.  This can produce small edible fruit.  Deciduous by the way.

Originally introduced by Cistus Nursery from a seed collection at 8000' in La Siberica, Mexico, this very desirable plant has become hard to find of late but our two plants finally flowered with impressive spikes that was one male and one predominately female so we had seed! These have been undamaged in brief nighttime drops to 10F and have formed new crowns after flowering so the show will continue. It is mandatory to have a series of parties when these bloom, btw.

We are smitten with Veratrum and this is an exciting addition to the mix.   This one has pale petals and darker eye pattern to the center, and narrow pleated leaves in an open and airy arrangement on the 3' flowering stem.  A rich moist soil in part shade will be just the ticket.  Our thanks to Aaron Floden for sharing this plant with us.

A very attractive introduction by us from Yunnan if we do say so.  Broad lightly hairy leaves in a dense clump with lots of large soft lavender daisy flowers fringed heavily in very fine petals surround a prominent dark "cone".  Doesn't rebloom - just does it right the first time.

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.

Excellent selection of this species in the acaulis group which has large flowers of a particularly good dark blue on long stems well, long for this species anyway.  Evergreen mats in rich moist soil in full sun with main bloom in spring and some rebloom in late summer.  Endangered species in its native Balkan Dinaric Alps.

This species was only recently described by botanist Julian Shaw in 2012 from a collection in Hoang Lien Son range on the second summit trail of Phansi Pu in Vietnam. These are second-generation seed-grown plants from a 2011 recollection by Floden-Mitchell & Wynn-Jones.

Meadow Blazing Star.  One of the many garden stars at Denver Botanic Garden's Chatfield gardens, this is especially favored by Monarch butterflies.  Fluffy rose-purple flowers to an an inch or more wide appear on the vertical 12"-36" stems midsummer to September.  Native from Alberta to New Mexico, this likes sandy or rocky soils on the dry side.  Rich loamy easy-livin' soils pushes too much growth leading to the dreaded flop.

A subtle woodlander for most of spring and summer until late summer and fall when it suddenly busts a move and starts strutting its stuff.  Fern-like foliage backs small white puffs of flowers in May which become showy clusters of bright white fruit in late summer & fall.  The white version of our red fruited native.

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.