This has good, white megaphone-shaped flowers which are liberally, if subtly, spritzed with pale blue spots.  Makes a dense small mat of green needle leaves which dies back in winter.  Moist, acidic and sunny.

We love the Asiatic Gentians and want them all as they are easy, hardy and put on such a show in late summer/early fall.  We were thrilled toget this one from our friend Urs of Edelweiss Nursery who brought this in from a German gentian specialist.  Not your typical blue, this has white flowers with pale yellowish stripes.  Moist and sun.

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.

Exceptional white-flowered Asiatic Gentian from the Berrybank Hybrids bred by Ian McNaughton in Scotland.  We never met Ian but were fortunate to meet his plantswoman wife Beryl which is a lasting fond memory.  'Oban' fulfills Ian's breeding goals of compact habit and upward-facing flowers in clusters.  For cool climates.

A close relative to Gentiana acaulis and regarded as being in the acaulis group. This is one of the forms found in the nursery trade here in the PNW which means it is a good grower.  Maybe a little mongrel vigor from G. acaulis to pump up the volume on those big blue trumpet flowers above an evergreen spreading mat.

A classy selection we brought in from the UK as the pure white clone 'Serenity,' but turns out to be a dead-ringer for this Scottish selection with alternate petals dusted in light turquoise.  At first we were a wee put off and aye, felt a bit of an eejit, but now we ken this a bonny lass and we not be haverin'.

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.

A large-flowered and very dark blue selection bred by Scotsman Ian McNaughton.  The October trumpets are so dark that a distinct wash of purple plays in the outer throat of the corolla as I look at it on this October 8.  This wee bairn of Ian's breeding meets his goals of bigger and more flowers - a bonny Gentian!

Our collection from a wet alpine meadow in Sichuan at 10,000 feet.  A tantalizing array of forms of sino-ornata, but this one's veitchiorum gestalt with its dark blue flowers and somewhat broader foliage kept resisting positive ID, so we are open as always to outside confirmation.

A hybrid selection of the Asiatic Gentians.  I've always envied the Strathmore's in their big Manor House and the huge estate with impeccable gardens and all just so and in perfect taste with impeccable timing.  And all seemingly effortless.  Rich moist soil results in decadent sky-blue trumpets.

Asiatic Gentian with big deep blue trumpets on this mat forming beauty.  Rich moist acidic soil is best for this late summer-fall bloomer.  Outrageous in bloom.

Evergreen mat-former with very large cobalt blue trumpets spring to early summer.  This might ruin your other blue flowers for you as they will look embarassingly insipid in comparison.   A rich moist soil in full to mostly sun is best.  Despite popular opinion, these are pigs and thrive on a good manure mulch!

Really good German hybrid with Gentiana veitchorum as a major genetic contributor.  We're obsessed by the Asiatic Gentians ( this is one) and we well remember G. veitchorum blooming in the alpine fields on the Zhongdian Plateau.  Big dark blue trumpets in September.  Rich moist soil in mostly sun.

Excellent introduction from the breeding work of Keith lever at Aberconwy Nursery in Wales.  A compact grower with dark blue upward facing trumpets lined with white in the interior.  This requires full sun to do its best and requires a rich, acidic soil that stays moist.  Your reward is one heckuva show in late August clear into October.

One of the good ones raised by Keith Lever at Aberconwy Nursery in Wales.  Large trumpets of dark royal blue tempered with violet and lit by white exterior stripes and throat. This is a compact grower which makes for a concentrated display of these flowers and would be a suitable subject for a pot.  Full sun and moist.

A selection of this outstanding European alpine species notable for having large flowers and being quite a good bloomer. Not all acaulis flower freely but 'Krebs' brings it with large upward-facing trumpets of impossible blue in mid spring.  Now you don't have to be embarrased you have Krebs.  Rich moist soil in sun.  Hardy to zone 5.

This Asiatic Gentian has fully double dark blue flowers lasting for weeks in late August into Fall and will cause visitors to perform a potentially dangerous pivot in midstep as they are strolling by when they realize they are seeing double so have your waivers all signed. Sun and moist acidic soil.

I want my burial mound covered solid in this - seriously, it's that good.  Wavy edged leaves on a low evergreen clumper with big deep blue trumpets on 2"+ stems.  An established clump of this is simply riveting with dozens of big flowers the blue you dream of.  Rich soil and moist.  Loves food.

A few think is a hybrid or perhaps the closely related G. angustifolia but it makes no difference in the garden however as this is riveting with freely produced large trumpets that scream BLUE!!!!  Really quite impossible to assess this taxon objectively when you are totally gobsmacked by the flowers. A selection we brought home from Scotland.

A fine selection with seasonally variable light blue trumpet flowers. Most folks instantly gravitate towards the impossibly dark blue selections and while these are critical to have, consider how much darker they will look with this growing alongside.  Just sayin'.  Evergreen mats in rich soil.

Willow Gentian.  One of the truly excellent late summer/early fall blooming plants which jazzes up the shade garden with lots of stems in a circular arching vase shape with ranks of blue to lavender blue flowers ranked along the stems.  Just what you need when you are sick of Hostas.

Pink Willow Gentian. Choice and scarce pink form of one of the classic fall blooming gentians, this develops into a robust plant with many arching stems ranked with pink flowers. An easy wow.

Selection out of Germany of this darned fine species.  Evergreen tight mats of small green leaves with impossible azure blue trumpets standing at attention looking very superior and perfect.  Well, it is a German selection after all and this shows a certain adherance to standards which the lesser gentians can only dream about attaining.

A tough perennial from the southern Caucasus which has steadfastly refused to die despite some of our unintentional best efforts. This will, in time, make an impressive small clump of numerous upright stems to 12" or so which are tipped in late July to September with multiple blue flowers with pale whitish throats.  This is happy in limestone conditions and is happy here in neutral to moderately acid. It wants to please.

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.

A strong-growing form favored among some of the remaining specialty nurseries in Oregon.  Dense evergreen mats of tight foliage erupt in spring and sporadically thereafter, with improbably large and impossibly saturated deep blue trumpets.  This mountain species is no effete alpine, moist rich soil is its cup of tea.

Our collection of this as yet unidentified Gentian from an isolated peak with difficult access.  This was growing on steep open banks overhung with Schefflera fengii and Rhododendron sinofalconeri where it made rounded small shrublets with semi-woody stems covered in clusters of shades of blue flowers.

Very uncommon selection from the UK which we are pleased to introduce to these shores.  An Asiatic Gentian whose parents include such species as Gentiana sino-ornata, G. veitchiorum, G, farreri etc.  These revel in cool climates, moist acid soil and reward with late summer-fall bloom.  This is a good dark blue with purple tones.

Exceptional color form on this compact selection of this very hardy Gentian.  Big magenta buds open to purple-pink flowers in late August to October giving your garden a kick in the pants when other plants are packing it in for the year.  Small enough to work in containers.