A perennial (usually anyway) thistle relative from South Africa which makes a multicrowned clump of softly spiny leaves which by themselves merit nothing more than a good hosing of Roundup but the large purplish flowers are the swan emerging from the ugly duckling.

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.

The "Giant Form" we got in the UK and it is rather large. Quite. Ours are in full sun in lean infertile mineral soil and watered just three times since our last dab of rain on June 14.  It is now August 28.  Given this tough love, leaves up to 40" long and flower stems to 5' tall.  Likely bigger with kindness and bees love it.

Neat species widely distributed from Thailand to China and into the Himalaya to Bhutan. This has stout stems that can reach 4' on old large bulbs with many leaflets arrayed like the spokes of an umbrella. Large green flowers often tinged with purple followed by red fruit. With such a broad range, there is variation in the species

We're looking at a houseplant here for everyone except those with that San Francisco microclimate and if you are lucky enough to have such a thing, just for the record - we pretty much hate you.  But we'll set aside the envy and sell you one of these astoundingly lovely ferns with long white ghostly fingered fronds.

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 collection by Crug Farm from Fansipan in Vietnam of this very distinctive clumping grass is especially yummy with showy pink flowers in this form. The evergreen leaves are bold, broad and lightly pleated with the flower heads mingling among the upper reaches of the leaves.  Solidly dramatic!

Maidenhair Spleenwort.  I love common names.  I must dig out our 15th century Herbal and read up on how to properly decoct this sweet little fern for afflicting humors of the spleen.  Or I can just grow it in a gritty well-drained shaded rock garden and enjoy its evergreen delicacy.

Here is a little Japanese bulbous plant that will add some late summer glitz to the rock garden or special foreground planting niche.  Not shy about blooming, this will strut its stuff with round purplish flowerheads on 10" stems which sends our friends the Butterflies and Bees into quiet delirium.

Seed collected by FRBC botanist Dr. Cody Hinchliff in Arizona from a summer rainfall area. Don't panic - this will still be tolerant of dry but will be more amenable to summer water than others. Wider than tall as it spreads by underground stems, the narrowly tubular scarlet flowers are a late summer to fall delight.

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.

Distinctive Chinese species with this variety being especially so with its narrow evergreen leaves well-measeled in creamy yellow spots.  Clustered small red-purple flowers give way to large red fruit in fall which is just another bit of ornament for this tough plant which can tolerant dark shade and neglect.

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 pandemic Netflix binge-watching.

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.

An Epimedium species of great merit and the Spiny Leaf Form from Darrell Probst puts this into the first rank of the evergreen species.  Gorgeous big leaves richly bronze and captivating when young.  This doesn't need to bloom to make us happy but the soft yellow flowers are welcome.

One gold leafed seedling among thousands from seed sown of our Blue Poppies. Fortunately fertile, we are at last able to offer a few of this first gold-leafed form of this type of Meconopsis. The leaves are most intense in spring and the flowers are a lovely amethyst. Like most, some are perennial and some are not.  Save seed!

Himalayan Maidenhair Fern.  Evergreen to semi-evergreen creeping fern making the the most textural groundcover imaginable.   Salmon pink new growth goes to light olive and finally green leaflets on black wiry stems just 8"-12" high.  Likes a loose moist soil but will tolerate dry when established.

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!

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.

'James Roof' is a man among boys when you are talking West Coast Silktassels. This male cultivar is gloriously well-hung with flowering catkins that dangle nearly a foot in length resulting in catkin-envy among other Garrya cultivars and the occasional insecure gardener.  Or so we are told. Tough evergreen doing it's thing in early spring.

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.

Cuttings received from our friend Maurits in Holland who is obsessed with cold hardy Mediterranean style plantings.  This is essentially a low evergreen groundcover - to 8" tall - and hails from a frost pocket in Mount Buffalo National Park in Victoria.  Has profuse creamy flowers with an exuberance of stamens.  Rare, choice, and a first-time offering.

This genus is undergoing a lot of taxonomic revision causing our brains to difforme trying to come to grips.  Rectangular leaves reddish abaxially (underside) and adaxially (topside) a satiny olive-green. Small dark violet flowers held below the leaves.  Rare thing suitable for the garden theme of mind-bending plants.

This is one of our favorite little dwarf shrubs that totally rocks the rock garden.  Slow, slow growth, densely twiggy, small heavily textured leaves and small clusters of deep pink flowers in mid summer makes this a great choice for containers or that small special place.

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.

We originally received seed of this back in the 90's from a Chris Chadwell collection in Nepal.  An exceptional foliage plant with long silken silvery leaves and tall loosely arrayed yellow flowers in early summer.  This is one of our favorite herbaceous Potentillas which Chris just ID'd for us this summer of 2013.

This is thought to be an intergeneric hybrid between 2 of New Zealand's shrubby daisies.  This gives a fabulous textural addition to the Mediterranean garden like some happy marriage of heather and rosemary.  Small white flowers cluster at the tops of the stems.  Good drainage, tolerant of some dry.

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.

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.

One of our favorite Roscoeas (we admittedly love the one we are with at the moment when it comes to these) which distinguishes itself by a haughty erectness (only achieved a great cost at expensive finishing schools) in apparent conflict with the "Do Me Now!" exotic yellow flowers.