Bleeding Heart.  Given the Award of Garden Merit in the UK, this is truly a winner with icy blue ferny foliage subtending the dangling white heart shaped flowers.  A superb form of our western native and deserving of a place in any garden.  Can you tell we like it?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

So notoriously promiscuous as to make a rabbit blush, these evergreen bulbous Iris family members are all about the summer of love. Embracing any bee that taps on its window bringing pollen from any nearby floozy flower, this exhibits a Bacchanalian moral turpitude that is either damned or extolled.  These are young seed-grown plants from one of our darkest Dierama so at worst, this will still be pretty good.

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.

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.

Fantastic Barberry from extraordinary plantsman Michael Wickenden of Cally Gardens in Scotland.  Elegant in habit and presentation whose narrow leaves and thin stems lend this a poise seldom associated with the genus.  Truly pink flowers with whitish inner parts puts this over the top.  A Far Reaches North America introduction.  Zone 7, likely lower.

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.

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.

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.

We have long affection for all the forms of the dwarf Iris cristata which is an east coast native and with Powder Blue Giant our affections sometimes manifest themselves in PDA's such as stroking the large medium blue flowers and oohing.  Deciduous carpeter.  A real sweety.

Our collection of a good dark violet-pink version of this widespread Asian Allium.  A very easy plant in the garden getting up to 20" tall and having the added bonus of being edible should emergency rations be needed. We had originally described this as being light pink based on some pale October flowers lingering in the cold mists clinging to the mountain but fortunately these turned out different in a very positive way.

This Lamiaceae species comes from woodlands in Japan such as Fukushima Prefecture.  All summer you get to enjoy the subtly interesting leaf shape and texture, pondering what possessed you to grant this space in your overplanted garden.  Once the riot of summer color is gone, the lavender spikes of this uncommon species brings clarity.

A subtly appealing Frit for the bulb enthusiast and one which does well in the garden (as opposed to fussing in containers or growing in bulb frames) This has up to 3 bell shaped flowers of a blend of olive-green and purplish-brown. Sun to half sun and decent drainage and increases quite well. Flowering size.

Excellent dwarf grass forming dense tussocks with dark seedheads bobbing on wiry stems.  Choice little plant for the rock garden or trough and suitable for the open garden in that special little niche.

One of my favorite Alliums from Mark McDonough with cool gray green foliage and sugar pink 2" balls of flowers in midsummer.  This is a rhizomatous type making nice clumps without being invasive.  The foliage looks good during bloom and the bees & butterflies have a rugby scrum over the nectar.

A comparatively graceful species of Veratrum with broadly narrow leaves, if that makes any sense and sadly, it does to us.  The 4'-5' flower stem has numerous lateral branchlets clad in lots of red-maroon flowers. To compare to the better-known V. nigrum, narrower leaves, flower stems much more open with flowers more red than purple-black.  Excellent long-lived plant of outstanding hardiness best suited for the cool to cold zones.  Young plants.

One of the best of the Blue Poppies and certainly one of the most reliably perennial.  This large flowers of good medium blue.  This appreciates a partly sunny to bright dappled shaded position with good loose organic soil that drains yet doesn't dry out.  A percentage does die after blooming so save seed to be safe!

Bottlebrush.  Perhaps the hardiest clone enduring single digits with scarcely a whimper.  (It may be whimpering but my own wails of despair drown all else out).  Evergreen picking up russet tones in winter.  Summer fuzzy red flowers on the stems.  Deer Proof/drought tolerant.

Tough Sage from Asia Minor -Turkey, Georgia and Iran - where it grows on stony slopes up to 11000 feet so check the boxes on hardiness zones 5-10, good drainage, full sun and moderate water needs.  While you have your pencil, check deer and rabbit resistant, white flowers, summer blooming and 30 inches tall.  Now you are free to doodle.  Seed shared with us by horticultural mega-icon Panayoti Kelaidis from his Denver garden.

Our collection of this Chinese mayapple from Yunnan China.  Pink flowers in spring followed by large red roma tomato fruit in Fall.  Rich moist soil.  Great foliage.

A plant of refinement to be sure.  One that is appreciated and admired by the higher echelons of gardening.  A collector's plant.  Different ways of saying that this is not a flamboyant show-stopper but a tasteful blend of delicate texture and airy soft pink flowers that helps make it all work.

The darkest foliage on any Angelica.  I googled it and got an interesting hit on an escort in London with ebony skin named Angelica.  The plant may actually be darker, costs quite a lot less and I'm sure easier to keep happy.  Biennial so plant the seeds that form after the lovely pink flowers.

A rare species from shaded moist areas in coastal Mendocino and Sonoma Counties in CA. Pleated leaves and branched flower stems to nearly 2 feet bear beautifully fringed snowy white flowers. Regarded as tender, Veratrum expert Christoph Ruby of Hof Botanic Garden in Germany tells us zone 5 hardy!

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.

Our collection of this most impressive vining Monkshood.  Sumptuous flowers of a good blue with a white interior  This one is a real cracker and these will easily grow 8'-12' or even 15' tall provided they have something to twine onto.  An immense treat in August and September.