This is the Japanese version of our native False Hellebore. Wonderful broad pleated leaves and when old enough, nice spikes of white starry flowers to 3' or more. This likes a rich moist soil, emerges early in spring and goes dormant by mid to late summer. Deer resistant and very hardy.  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! Cannot be grown anywhere it gets hot and/or humid in the summer.

Originally introduced by Cistus Nursery from a seed collection at 8000' in La Siberica, Mexico. 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.

A remarkable arborescent species endemic to the Sierra de la Laguna of Baja California where this grew on a shaded ridge in mixed oak-pine forest at 5800'. This can get over 20' tall with a 10' inflorescence with yellowish to white flowers but that height might be for your child's child's child's child to enjoy - it will take a while!

Rare plant found only in limited areas in central Honshu, Japan where it likes the forest fringes in the subalpine areas and is known as hiiragi-sou or holly tree-leafed weed.  Hiiragi-sou sounds better than the translation.  This selection has dark blue flowers and is a deciduous clumper to 16" tall - very nice!

Chinese Bleeding Heart.  This is a departure from the ferny foliaged Dicentras we are used to by sporting broad leaflets looking more Astilbe than Dicentra.  Another departure is the cream to soft yellow flowers.  Vigorous in moist rich soil, this makes an impressive patch quickly.

This Spoon Yucca comes from a seed collection in Grant County, New Mexico at 6800'.  This is a full sun, drought tolerant impressive piece of work when it is mature.  The flower spike can reach 10'-15' with thousands of packed creamy florets arising from the center of the well-armored rosette of narrow, bluish, toothed leaves.

Riverine Tea Tree.  This uncommon to cultivation Tasmania endemic is often found along stream banks in its native setting so can take moister conditions than some other species.  White flowers on an evergreen shrub with good flaking bark and getting to 8'-10'.  Deer proof as well.

Quite an uncommon species with all cultivated material coming from the Chin Mts in west-central Burma, thanks to Frank Kingdon-Ward for that collection. A sturdy plant with a stout stem and bold leaves and small mauve orchid-like flowers nestled in the apex of the leafy stem.

Plantsman and bulb expert Jim Fox was staying with friends in England and admiring their fine Nerine 'Quentin' in their border which had a few seed which he passed to us. Mere decades later and - Voila! - we have Quentinlettes. Quentin is highly regarded in England and the offspring are good too.

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.

Think of this as a woodland Salvia which blooms in the Fall.  This Japanese jewel brings an unexpected and welcome shot of color to the shade garden in Fall with airy panicles to 3 or 4 feet holding zillions of small tubular purple-blue flowers.  Something nice to look if you are overloaded on the reds-oranges-yellows classic colors.

Seed collected at 3200 meters in Sichuan in an open grazed small meadow area adjoining low scrub. Tightly clumping, deciduous and allied to Iris japonica but is something totally new. Small blue flowers are laddered down the stems in the leaf axils.  This has baffled some of the top authorities on Chinese Iris both here in the US and in the UK

A collection from Tibet by Daniel Winkler.  This is one of the Asian rhizomatous onions making a nice clump of broadly grassy foliage with leaves 12"-15" long.  The flowers are in shades of pink and are open rounded umbels whose drooping florets look a bit like some of the fireworks seen in a Fourth of July evening sky. Hardy to at least zone 6 and likely lower.

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.

Frosted Jade Ajuga. This choice selection has fantastic foliage and very good dark cobalt flowers.  Not a spreader - this makes a clump with 16" tall stems.  Challenges all of your comfy notions about Ajuga but in a good way.  Great in our shade garden.

Alpine Water Fern. Found at higher elevations in Australia's New South Wales and Tasmania growing in grasslands, moist rock crevices and sphagnum bogs. A stalwart fern and go-to evergreen low groundcover because it looks great despite your prolonged attention lapses from Netflix binge-watching.

Crazy fern that takes away the need to fuss with growing this from spore as it makes a multitudinous panoply of ready-to-go plantlets on the leaves that will soon have you owning the corner in your 'hood dealing in fern babies.  Remember, if it's a kid, the first one is free.  Warmer gardens or indoors, mulch protect in zone 8 winters.

Redwood ivy.  Vigorous carpeter in optimal conditions with evergreen foliage  which bronzes up in winter.  The tiny white flower motes benefit from profusion and the fact that they are the smallest in the genus is offset by this species having the best foliage which is what you have 95% of the year.  Our collection from California

Steve Hootman, curator of the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden, often pats himself on the back for collecting this exceptional species in China and each spring as our plants flower, we murmur attaboys and give him virtual high fives.  Loves some shade, great foliage and spring pink flowers.

Named by plant guru John Flintoff who found this as an interesting seedling growing in plantswoman Loie Benedict's garden. Light green leaves with a spreading habit and flowers of a soft muted lavender which happily goes with most everything. As long as the soil is reasonably moist, this will be good in sun to light shade and is resistant to deer and rabbits.

Choice species (as seen in our shade garden) collected by NW Plant Wunderkind Riz Reyes on Mt Emei in Sichuan.  This species is often confused with Corydalis elata in the trade.  This selection is quite vigorous with red highlighted new growth and spires of icy blue flowers.  Moist.

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.

One of the largest flowered selections of Gentiana acaulis, this is truly a showstopper with its big, deep blue trumpets in spring and lighter reblooms after.  It may owe its vigor to hybridity but whatever the reason, we are down with it!  Moist, rich soil in sun and stand back and enjoy. Gentiana acaulis 'Maxima Enzian' is likely the same as Enzian is German for Gentian.

Our China collection of this most remarkable species. Favoring rich, moist areas which is required to pump up the nearly 6' in length frond volume. These fronds extend out laxly horizontally which assists in their asexual reproduction from plantlets developing from the little furry balls - careful! - at frond's end. Mulch crown in cold winters.

This is a seedling from one of the best clones of Darrell Probst's Spiny Leaf forms. The mama plant has luscious large bronzed new foliage with nice teeth on the margins and large creamy yellow flowers on low arching stems. The seedlings vary in flower color from light yellow to purplish flowers but all have seriously good foliage. All credit is due to the bees - we are just a conduit.

A expert grower friend in Scotland gave us seed of "proper" 'Lingholm' after he could no longer bear seeing the dark blue verging tinged purple flowers of the US 'Lingholm'.  We told him that gardeners here are near brought to tears by our domestic blue poppy and he said just wait.  Large flowers of the most piercing, unsullied sky blue. Cannot be grown anywhere it gets hot and/or humid in the summer.

A unique evergreen member of the Myrtaceae family native to moist, rocky areas within alpine and subalpine regions of Australia. This forms a dense mound with arching branches, 3ft by 4ft with early summer small white flowers en masse. Diminutive leaves become coppery in winter, smelling lovely when crushed.

Fine South American evergreen shrub to 20" or more when grown richly or half that grown rock garden lean. Wiry red stems bristle with small stiff leaves that pair well to the plentiful small white bells and reddish fruit later. From Simon Bond in England who had some obscure treasures when we visited his Thuja Alpine Nursery.

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.