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 South American Blue-Eyed Grass but since this has white flowers, would it be a White-Eyed Grass?  Why not?  We received our original starts of this from a keen Cape Cod plantsman and it definitely has merit.  The foliage is fine and of a densely grassy habit of an invited fresh Spring green.  Numerous white starry flowers.

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.

Flower power is the smallest of packages, this little but mighty rhizomatous yet bulbous Iris family member from South Africa brings a degree of satisfaction far beyond it's size when its short grassy foliage becomes completely obscured for weeks in late spring by rose red flowers literally cheek to cheek.  Good increaser, hardy in zones 7-8.

Presumed hybrid between Rhodohypoxis and Hypoxis from a collection on the Hebron Farm property in South Africa.  Some prefer to see this as a form of Rhodohypoxis parvula var. albiflora but given the red color, we lean towards the hybrid.  Great little rock garden plant provided it doesn't get too dry.

Little bulby plant from the Drakensberg Mts in South Africa.  This is a good rock garden subject in that it likes good drainage in the winter.  When growing, keep it watered reasonably and it will bloom its tail off with loads of small reddish flowers.  Mulch if bitter cold in winter.

Very intriguing perennial with intricate light brown flower buds that appear to be spun glass art depicting the skeletal structure of some microscopic sea creature.  From the center extends the feathered pinkish petals.  While not spectacular compared to a Dahlia, we think it spectacularly interesting but then we are certifiable plant loons.

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.

These are such good little quasi-bulbous plants from South Africa.  Likes a full sun rock gardens with good drainage.  Nice summer bloomers and good increasers making dense clumps.  Probably deer resistant.

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 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 floriferous hybrid with good-sized pink flowers that makes a definite statement en masse - you have to like pink a lot or this is not for you.  Subtly pale stripe on the midrib or keel of the petals is just a sweet bit of sugar frosting on this eye candy.  Quickly makes a dense little clump with lots of late spring-early summer flowers.  Similar and may be the same as 'New Look'.

This has grown into one of our favorite plants. Much like an Eremurus or Foxtail Lily in effect with basal strappy leaves and a 4'-6' tall branched flower spikes in May and June with lots of pale peach tinted white flowers opening from reddish-striped buds.  Longest-lived in sandy soils and late summer dormant.

Grassy little clumping rhizomatous bulb from South Africa which is easily grown here provided it has good drainage and moisture while in growth and a bit of mulch in winter. Dawn is a broad-petaled fairly large flowered selection in which the white flowers are just touched with pink.

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.

An undescribed species from a recent Hinkley collection in eastern Arunachal Pradesh.  A staggeringly good foliage plant fully clad in large deeply divided leaves and sporting yellow flowers - such a nice departure from pink!  These admittedly mingle within the foliage and teasingly tantalize in their allure.

Oyster Leaf.  The leaves are edible and taste - and feel - exactly like raw oysters.  If raw oysters are your thing, this is an OMG veg alternative.  The now closed El Bulli in Catalonia, regarded as one of the greatest restaurants ever, ran with Oyster Leaf innovative ways.  Loved to have tried the leaves striped in golden caviar and splashed with Grey Goose.

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.

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.

Pretty cool False Solomon's Seal whose terminal display of small, narrow-tubed yellowish to green flowers carries more interest than might be implied.  This is genetically distinct from the white flowered M. henryi from Yunnan and has a pure, sweeter fragrance than the more cloying white form.  We love them both.  Sometimes seen as the invalid species ginfushanica.

Choice little bulb for the rock garden, this increases quickly to make a dense grassy tuffet of leaves with lots of pink flowers in summer.  Likes moisture when it is growing and good drainage in the winter when it is dormant.  You would make some points with it by mulching if quite cold.

White Asphodel.  From Spain to North Africa and over to the Balkans, this has done very well for us in our garden.  Narrow leaves in small clumps with flower stems 2'-3' tall and perhaps with greater maturity, to 4', and which bear showy starry white flowers.  We also enjoy the darker round seed capsules which extends the interest.  This will go summer dormant

'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.

F2 plants from the original wild collection of this rare species. This is a very handsome thing with superb glossy textured leaves and showy displays of red fruit. Just looking at it, we thought - bummer, can't possibly be hardy but heard from one of the collectors that it handled zero Fahrenheit so woohoo!  We later saw for ourselves the reason why as we climbed on Mt Fansipan, "The Roof of Indochina' and saw this growing near the summit.  A portion of the proceeds goes to support the mission of Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy.

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.

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.

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.

Small but rapidly clumping bulb from South Africa with dense grassy leaves and small white flowers produced with some say reckless abandon during summer.  Named for Ruth McConnell who was one of the main growers and hybridizers of the genus in the UK.  This has been easy in the garden here.

Marvelous selection by Harold Epstein and named for his wife, this has some of the most opulently colored new growth which marries perfectly to the large purplish flowers.  A deciduous species from Japan and an excellent garden plant that has no faults as far as we can tell.

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.