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.

This clone came from a knowledgeable plantsman in Vietnam and no data as to whether it was from a wild collection or a cultivated plant originating from China. Evergreen Solomon Seal relative with white bells under upright and slightly arching stems clad in alternate green leaves.  Hardy in Kansas.

This smaller Schefflera is a very ornamental species from our collection northern Vietnam from a mountain previously unexplored by westerners.  Loose panicles of presumed creamy flowers and black fruit.  Similar but different to Schefflera sp. NV 023.  Pretty cool!

From Vietnam by Floden-Mitchell-Wynn-Jones of this surely lovely Ginger family member.  We say surely because most Alpinia are lovely and we've grown this for ten years with nary a flower.  No fault of the plant but of our cool climate with no summer heat.  Dense clumps to 30" tall.  Let us know when it blooms.

Chinese Bald Cypress. Another one of those monotypic genera we love! This deciduous conifer is the only species in the genus and highly threatened by habitat loss in the wild. This will get to be a big tree which your yet unborn child's children can sit under. In their boat. Fairly slow - ours is in our bog garden pond.

A collection by Shayne Chandler from the Five Fingers mountain range in Vietnam.  This zone 8 hardy shrubby gesneriad was first introduced by Steve Hootman over 20 years ago from China and it is good to have another collection from a new area.  Tubular red-orange flowers and boxwood-like leaves.

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.

This is likely the first introduction of this curious Tea family member from our collection in Guangxi Province. An evergreen shrub to 10' in the wild with long slightly drooping olive-green leaves prominently hirsute especially along the margins. Flowers are small and white and give way to small black fruit. We are thinking hardy to zone 8.

Staggeringly good foliage Begonia collected by Ozzie Johnson at Bai Dat Sun in northern Vietnam.  Large tan-green leaves with later than 5 o'clock shadow of red hairs.  Pink flowers play peekaboo in the foliage.  A species not fully trialed for hardiness but we are speculating zone 8b or a little less with judicious applications of mulch for winter freezing.

Species recently introduced from Vietnam and hardiness not known but warmer zone 8 and above is safe.  Well worth taking a chance on as the lacecap flowers have that little sumpin' sumpin' that made this the staff favorite here.  White sterile flowers surround fertile florets of pink to indigo depending on pH and clonal differences.

This choice evergreen Tongue Fern is notable for the yellowish variegation on its evergreen 12" long leaves and is likely conspecific with the clone sold as 'Variegata',  Pyrrosia are easy but require great drainage and unless you are planting it in a stumpery, rockery or slope, you will need to seriously amend with gravel, bark or assorted detritus of life.

A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering. A bold plant of 12' forming part of the species-dense broad-leaf forest margins on the incredibly steep slopes of a mountain previously not visited by westerners to our knowledge. It was a long day's climb which ended in the dark with rain and wind on a bare ridge hoping the tent didn't blow away with us in it. Fortunately, after 20+ miles and 5800' feet elevation gain, sleep came easy! Broad leaves with up to 14 leaflets held on petioles touched in red. Cream flowers and black fruit on dendritic panicles. Proceeds from this goes to the FRBC.

Collected in northern Vietnam at Lao Cai, Y Ty at 2340 meters. This, like most Clethra, will make a nice deciduous shrub that is open in habit when young and like a small tree when mature. Scented mid to late summer white flowers that individually are larger than usual for Clethra. This has done well in a colder garden in Sequim and certainly good in Zone 8 if not colder. This has become a favorite here at the nursery.

Small winter-flowering species collected by Kettle and Wynn-Jones on Mt Fansipan in northern Vietnam. This is nice little ginger given varietal status due to its larger flowers and much larger sagittate anthers. Sagittate anther envy - it happens even in the plant world. Stems to 28" with very nice spidery white lightly scented flowers

A precocious species which can flower the first year from seed with spherical clusters of dusky cream florets. The flowers, while quietly attractive, are eclipsed by the showy fruit congregated in impressive large black balls which are very attractive. This was found growing epiphytically on a large fallen log

Alas, most Schefflera you have known and loved have been moved to other genera with just a scant handful remaining in Schefflera. Perfectly sensible for a very large genus spread over several continents. These are seed-grown from our plants from the recent first North American introduction.

This is a collection from Lao Cai, Above Silver Waterfall, Vietnam 2150 meters just in case you are in the neighborhood and want to check out the original plant.  This is a reasonably narrow shrub which flowers very young with small pale pom-poms of clustered tiny flowers which are followed by black fruit.

One of the few Eupatorium or Joe Pye Weed species that has not been put
into a new genus, this has narrow toothed leaves edged in cream and
white.  The three foot stems are topped by pollinator-friendly pink
flowers in September. Best in a moist situation.  This species is used
in China to make fragrant oils as the whole plant is fragrant when
crushed much like Lavandula.angustifolia.

A Vietnam species which has been hardy to 15F.  Great container plant with tubular red flowers which can easily be moved inside for the winter where it can serve as a houseplant  until it is time to go back outside.  Or keep it outside until there is danger of frost and then hustle it in and bring it back out when safe.

Awesome tree Witch Hazel family from north Vietnam where this Josh McCullough collection hails from.  We saw this broadly vase-shaped 50' tree in the Dayaoshan in China.  Large evergreen leaves unfurl with bronze tones from large flattened stipules.  Small filamentous reddish flowers which we have yet to see.  Zone 9 and hoping for warmer parts of zone 8.

A Hinkley collection from Vietnam of this stunning foliage species whose bullate rumpled leaves are covered in imposing bristle-like hairs.  A gorgeous container plant or if you live where the frost is light and infrequent - and you know who you are and just so you know, we hate you - then this is fine out in the garden.  Flowers white if memory serves.

Our selection of an exceptional seedling from a Vietnam collection. Typically green-leafed, this one has lustrous red new growth looking pretty amazing spring through fall and darned good in winter too since it is evergreen. We haven't flowered it yet but expect creamy yellow flowers in summer.  Young plants, cutting propagated.

Originally from Maurice Foster who is one of the UK's great plantsmen who would not gladly brook an inferior form.   This can hit 10' in height with a narrow aspect and generally deciduous willowish or bamboo-like leaves.  Small purplish flowers and outrageous jester's cap fruit with dangling orange arils.

2011 collection of this very attractive species from Dragon's Tooth in Lao Cai, Vietnam at 1700 meters. This rare Mondo Grass makes good evergreen clumps with narrow arching leaves up to 20" long with showy lavender flowers with darker flecks. Any plant from a place called Dragon's Tooth should be pretty tough as well as bringing a bit of magic to your garden.

This Beauty Berry is from the extensive Callicarpa collection at Stephen F. Austin Arboretum in Texas which they graciously shared with us.  Softly hairy leaves somewhat dark tinged and the usual flamboyant display of purplish fruit in late summer and fall.  Good heat tolerant species.

This species was only recently described by botanist Julian Shaw in 2012 from a collection in Hoang Lien Son range on the second summit trail of Phansi Pu in Vietnam. These are second-generation seed-grown plants from a 2011 recollection by Floden-Mitchell & Wynn-Jones.

This is a remarkable species in the Theaceae or Camellia family,  Native to Yunnan, Myanmar and Vietnam with this collection hailing from the latter.  Evergreen trees rarely reaching 50' or more but doubt if you will have to contend with that eventuality!  Large white flowers with yellow anthers occur in late winter and early spring.  Suitable only for very mild gardens and worth trying on a wall.

This is exciting even as a young seedling with new growth colored in reddish tones and besides, what is not to like about any Stewartia?  The leaf petioles on this species have an upper slight wing to them hence the species name.  A small tree which can get to 35' in the wild.  Small white flowers in late spring show its relation to Camellias.  A sheltered spot is best.

Extraordinary yellow-flowered evergreen species from northern Vietnam on this collection. The trees in the wild were all small second-growth trees with mature examples nowhere in evidence. That night we slept in a nearby farmer's house with our sleeping bags on wide flooring planks of magnolia wood - mystery solved where the big trees went. Best in a sheltered spot from freezing winds.

Our collection of what we presume to be this species although given the distribution from Nepal into China and Vietnam, we wouldn't be shocked to see this species broken into varieties or subspecies. If it is this species, give it some room as it can hit 40' tall as a venerable old-growth specimen but expect much less in the garden. Upright evergreen with pale butter-white flowers and blue-black fruit.