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.

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 bushy hardy Fuchsia with arching branches and largish leaves which is good because they are one of the good things about this selection being richly colored in red if grown in ample sun.  The flowers are no slouch either and they have to bring it to keep up with the leaves and that they do with a red exterior and a double purple interior corolla.  Winter mulch.

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.

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.

Incredibly exciting rare ornamental Araliad from Taiwan where it can reach 30 feet tall.  Don't be scared by that as it will likely not attain those dimensions in your garden at least while you are the gardener!  Broadly orbicular leaves with 3-5 shallow lobes on stout branches makes this a riveting centerpiece.  These are seed-grown and best in mild gardens.

Uncommon species which has proven durable in containers and in the garden where it handled the 12F nasty winter of 2016-17 with equanimity.  Pink-backed white flowers followed by red fruit on stiffly upright stems.  From Erlangshan in Sichuan growing with the rare Epimedium flavum on a slope with Cardiocrinum in the wet thicket behind.

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.

Second generation seedlings from a Hinkley collection in Sichuan of this fine Lilac which can be kept as a large shrub or trained up to be a small tree.  Pendulous flowers white to pale pink inside with a lavender-pink reverse.  Very attractive and trouble free.

This sweet little New Zealand groundcover is perhaps best known by its former name of Parahebe olsenii.  Soft lavender flowers with a yellow eye rimmed in cerise feathering are held just above the small rounded evergreen leaves that have tones of green olive.  Tidy is a word that comes to mind.

We just love plants that keep us guessing. At first glance, is this one dead? Would we care if it was? It looks freakin' cool. A New Zealand prostrate groundcover with wiry stems that from gravelly/sandy soils from coastal to subalpine areas. Our plant is from John Massey's private garden at Ashwood Nurseries.

Holly-leafed Sweetspire.  Awesome evergreen shrub not unlike an effete Garrya in habit and flower but that is perhaps an unfair portrayal.  This has grown for decades in the Arboretum in Seattle as a fine free-standing shrub.  It really shines as a wall plant with a natural lax habit and the 10"-12" green-white scented flower tapers are fantastic in summer.

This gets more than its share of attention in our shade garden causing people to completely ignore the poor Gaultheria x wisleyensis on the other side of the path.  Gold washed, flecked and stippled foliage with light pink lacecap flowers.  An excellent Japanese selection.

A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering.  We have gotten rather picky about collecting Viburnum as there are some that simply don't cut the mustard ornamentally but this one caused not even momentary hesitation.  Glossy evergreen leaves with constellations of small gleaming blue fruit in the fall made an altogether dashing presentation.

A very welcome addition to our rock garden thanks to our generous taxonomist, Cody Hinchliff.  This native to the mountains of South Africa forms an architectural mound to 3' or so with many stems clad in short, stiff and persistent green leaves.  Terminal clusters of small cheery and sweetly scented yellow flowers.

This has grown into one of our favorite small deciduous shrubs which we grow near our bog garden.  Collected in China on the Sino-British Expedition to Cangshan in 1981 which was one of the first western botanic expeditions to China in modern times.  Copious pink-white flowers on a 4'-6' tall shrub.  Zone 6 at least.

We have just a scant few of this dwarf form of the Tasman Mountain Pepper which we presume to be from an exposed high elevation site on Mt Wellington. This is ideally suited to rock gardens where it will make a slow and low ball of reddish stems bejeweled with white flowers and oh so peppery black fruit. We were given this plant by the late Michael Wickenden of Cally Gardens in Scotland. Possibly the first introduction to the US.  Small plants of this small rarity.

A very slow-growing tree-form yucca from an Ian Barclay collection near Rodeo, NM. Doesn't need great age and trunk development to produce tall stalks of creamy white flowers which is good because if you are like us, you're buying ripe bananas. Ian is a font of knowledge on cold-hardy, drought tolerant plants.

From the southern portion of its range, this collection has performed wildly beyond expectations given the low bar set from the dormant plants in the wild where they were 8'-10' tall in full exposure.  We seldom name plants but this selection is worthy with profuse bee-laden white flowers from top to bottom.

A very good hardy hybrid Hebe from the UK which handles our winters here with no problem.  This is a low sprawler getting only about 6"-8" high and 20" wide or so.  Leaves of a nice gray olive green (or something like that) and nice flowers of blue-mauve.  A cross between H. allanii and H. pimeleoides.

This uncommon Daphne calls the Caucasus Mountains home and we find even its glossy green leaves an ornamental asset but really, one grows Daphne for the flowers.  This has terminal clusters of narrow yellow flowers which are very pleasant and the fun continues after blooming with good display of showy red fruit.  Which is where these came from.  Best in part sun and does great at woodland edge.

Beautiful variegated form of this new Zealand Griselinia.  As the species name suggests, this favors coastal conditions and can take the wind.  We saw the typical form growing happily at Robin's Hood Bay in England as we finished the Coast to Coast walk.  Think a much more refined laurel and you are in the ballpark.  Easy to prune, gets to 12', zones 8b-9 or warm 8a.

This collection is from what we regard as the southern form of this populous Asian species. What makes this special is that this was from the 10000' summit of this virtually unknown mountain and surely must be the highest elevation that this form grows.  That, plus being one of the toughest days we have had in the field. This makes a good show

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.

An uncommon species collected by Steve Hootman, one of the best plant hunters of the modern era.  Steve is the Director at the Rhodendron Species Botanic Garden and he found this in the Chinese Himalaya.  Smaller and more prostrate than R. laurifolium.  Greenish flowers.

Rarely offered little Wormwood which is troughable which is a term we should trademark in order to capitalize on the 20 or so people who have both troughs and a penchant for dwarf Artemesia.  We need a new business advisor or maybe we should listen to the current one.  Few inches high and spreading.  Yellowish flowers.

One of our most favored small trees is this princeling of a cornel.  Late winter flowers of yellow filamentous buttons followed by perfectly clean white variegation in the leaves and are further accented when the flowers turn into edible reddish fruits in late summer.

Shipping restrictions may applyA selection from the mountains of Orange County CA notable for its rose colored flowers.  This species has somewhat viscid green leaves that tend to drop in late summer but reappear with the rains of autumn and have handled temps to 15F here.  Late winter-early spring flowers in our area, these delight the overwintering Anna's hummingbirds.

This Central American epiphytic blueberry relative calls the cloud forests home and enjoys cool conditions with no frost.  Brilliant red new growth, tubular soft red flowers with red calyces followed by darkly intriguing fruit.  Will develop a caudiform lignotuber in time.  This is a visual feast and a balm to a mind jaded by the cartel commodification of plants.  Which is ironic considering the vast greenhouse plant factories in Central and South America owned by multinationals which produce mainstream young plants or cuttings for sale in the US.

Fun and very hardy selection that has willowy and twisting branchlets sporting 2" light yellow flower brushes on the branch tips all pointing willy-nilly for wild Medusal effect with a long bloom period on older plants.  Happy in nearly any soil and happiest with regular water.  Not deer fodder.