Our collection from Guizhou in 2010 of this mouth-watering shade perennial.  Branched stems to nearly 3' with large reddish-purple pendulous flowers followed by shiny black fruit.  We like this one so much we went back to the same mountain in 2012 and collected more seed!  Gonna rock the shade garden.

A no-fuss restrained yet refined evergreen Cardamine which is nearly faultless.  We haven't found a fault yet but most overachievers are hiding something deep under that charm and industry.  Rest assured, this will never go postal in your garden.  Dark green dense leaves set off  flowers of of purest white in early summer.

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.

Fun newish selection of the recently moved to Bistort from Persicaria with softly golden foliage which is a great backdrop for the 24"-36" flower stems bearing spikes of flowers the same color as Dorothy's ruby slippers. Easy, hardy, bright shade and gangbusters in rich moist soil.

This is a surprisingly hardy terrestrial Orchid that is quite easy to grow given a couple of rules.  Loose crumbly organic/gritty well-drained soil and fairly dry in the winter.  We've friends who grow these easily in Port Ludlow unprotected in rotting logs, stumps and deep moss on rocks.

We collected this in 1997 on the Tibetan Plateau near Zhongdian in an area of Tibetan open range. The early October withered, deciduous leaves and dried seed pods shrieked Iris!  Eventual flowers confirmed the species, first described in 1995.  Thin leaves and basal gorgeous flowers. Young plants.

Rare and elusive denizen of the New Jersey Pine Barrens which when in flower,  always strikes me as looking more extra-terrestrial than a product of our own earthly evolution.  Bizarre pink cones studded with blue anthers are just a giggle.  Rich moist soil in some shade.

Beautiful clumping species that may well be the queen of the genus.  Or are we granting royalty because it is new on the scene?  Maybe, but it is awfully good. This makes a stout small clump of evergreen fern-like leaves from which emerge in spring the peculiarly Coptis greenish-yellow flowers.  From China.

A purported G. papilio hybrid, our mama plant when in bloom with its 5 foot stems of red-mauve flowers sporting dark eye patches, frequently caused plant geeks to start speaking in tongues and offer creative enticements in exchange for a wee bit.  We have had to say "No." until now.

Fantastic little gem from the high mountains of Taiwan collected by our friend Philip MacDougall.  Our mama plant is several years old and is a compact dome just 9" high and maybe 12" across.  Early summer has this adorned in small dense heads of dark pink flowers edged in pale pink to white.

One of the larger flowered varieties of Wood Anemone, this has excellent white flowers which are more than enough to stand alone or perfect in a supporting understory role to larger shrubs and perennials.

Very good selection that does it up right with well-displayed apricot-yellow flowers.  The flowers arise from calyces that are more deeply colored and the individual tepals or petals have rounded tips giving it a pleasantly full appearance.  If you haven't discovered Columbus yet, this might be just the right time.

Neat species from China and into the Himalayas of Northern India, this has some stout stems that can reach 4' on old large bulbs with many leaflets arrayed like the spokes of an umbrella with long filamentous drip tips at the ends of the leaflets.  Large greenish to purple or white striped flowers.

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.

A hardy Ginger relative from our seed collection near eastern Bhutan.  This is a rare offering of this collection.  Narrow petals of white and peach are floral whimsy and always amuse us.  Unscented flowers which compensate by having the showiest seed display in the genus.  Mulch in winter.

A collection of this prized Asian culinary species from the Korean island of Jejudo which used to be Cheju or Cheju-do.  This is a true Ginger but in the case, it is the deep yellow flower buds that are eaten which open to lilac-pink flowers held at ground level.  The corn-like leaves get about 3' tall and this is hardy to zone 6 and even zone 5.

A collection by Tony Avent from South Korea as Polygonatum odoratum but it has been found to be a different species and one seldom seen in gardens.  Familiar arching stems to 3' with narrow white bells tipped in green hanging underneath.  These flowers are scented with lemon and is most noticeable as you stroll the garden with your morning coffee.  Zone 4 to zone 8b.

False Solomon Seal. This Chinese species is one of our favorites in the shade garden and we delight in its ribbed leaves with elegantly understated small violet daubing at the base of each leaflet followed by the precise detail in the small greenish flowers. In the late summer into fall, it has strut-your-stuff full heads of bright orange fruit.

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.

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.

From Wendy Perry of Bosvigo Plants in S. England comes this unfortunately scarce and choice Campanula.  Gently and very controllably spreading to make an impressive clump with spires of pure white flowers.  Pairs impeccably with Hosta 'Patriot'.

Our own hybrid introduction which we have trialed for 10 years before releasing a few.  A very long bloom period from mid summer into fall.  Narrow foliage supports 3'+ stems of rich burnt orange with the individual flowers glistening as if lacquered.  Attribution to everyone's favorite 1978 Captain Beefheart album Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller).

These are seed-grown from our plant of 'Hakure' which is often seen as 'Hakuree'.  The parent plant was bred and selected by Hiroshi Hayakama in Japan in the early 90's who chose this for its floriferous display of white flowers just touched with fleeting lavender and sporting twisted tepals.  Our seed-grown progeny will vary from deep purple to white but all will be good. 18"-30" tall.

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.

These we grew from seed we received which are a bit of a mystery as half the plants were as expected and the other these delightful rogues.  We've not flowered them but certainly looks to be allied to Lingholm but whether these will be sky blue or violet blue, we can't say other than either will be lovely.

Excellent member of the Crassulaceae which means it is a succulent basically but one that eschews the arid sunny spot in favor of lusher environs like our shade garden with dairy manure mulch.  Makes a thick clump of fleshy green leaves with taller stems of pendulous strings of beads yellow flowers.  Very easy to please and a show stealer in bloom.

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.

Staggeringly impressive recent introduction of this Solomon Seal species from - wait for it -  Vietnam.  This is similar to our favorite Polygonatum huanum (formerly as kingianum) but is just more of everything that is good.  Large red flowers snug the whorled leaves on stems which this year in the garden reached 15' tall and which remain green for us until temps drop below 20F.

Great foliage on this Wild Ginger from China which keys most closely to the species caudigerellum. A mist of white spray droplets on the leaves is especially vivid on the young foliage making this very desirable.  Small tan to soft red flowers are a welcome addition. We have seen nice clumps of presumably this species in Vietnam looking fabulous on the forest floor among the bright buff trunks of Camellia trees.

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!