A remarkable arborescent species endemic to the Sierra de la Laguna of Baja California where this grew on a shaded ridge in mixed oak-pine forest at 5800'. This can get over 20' tall with a 10' inflorescence with yellowish to white flowers but that height might be for your child's child's child's child to enjoy - it will take a while!

A recent collection of this Zingiberaceae which we have not yet identified.  A graceful species with relatively narrow leaves and very pleasing melon colored flowers.  This is from fairly low elevation and growing both as a terrestrial and as an epiphyte.  In zone 8 gardens, we would mulch well to keep frost from reaching the rhizomes.

This gesneriad (African Violet family) is from our collection just miles from the China-Vietnam border. Small narrow-necked yellow flowers over evergreen rosettes of leaves. We have seen this species in numerous sites including southern China growing on mossy rocks, fallen logs or epiphytically.

A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering.  Collected as Tupistra in 1997 in the Cangshan above Dali at 10,000'. Narrow evergreen keeled leaves create a dense clump. Flowers a basal persistent cudgel of green buds which open to small strange green flowers turning to amber drops with age which delight the botanically inclined.

Glossy green evergreen leaves on a small 4'-5' shrub in the wild, growing on a bright, mostly shaded slope in close company with its understory compatriots Mahonia, Metapanax, Lilium, Disporum, Lysionotus, and a host of ferns.  Single red fruit resting 1/3 of the way up on the leaf midrib.  Flowers small but curious.

Evergreen shrub to small tree with gorgeous exfoliating cinnamon colored bark, white fragrant flowers and edible blue-black fruit. A selection we imported via Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy from the UK that was propagated from plants which survived the prolonged Big Freeze of December 2010. A portion of the proceeds goes to support the mission of Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy.

This from an unforgettable visit to Aberconwy Nursery in Wales, exceptional alpine plant growers.  A tender African violet relative, this makes dense rosettes of spirally arranged rugose leaves - the perfect backing for the white flowers!   A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Introduction.

Our collection from Guangxi on a mountain area little explored by Westerners.  This Mondo Grass had leaves to 2' long and fairly lax.  Flower stems just 3" tall with surprisingly nice mauve flowers that give way to typical shiny Ophiopogon fruit in the fall.  Excellent textural evergreen for shade with a bonus of good flowers.

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.

An Asian Sour Gum or Tupelo related to our own eastern Nyssa sylvatica. This deciduous tree does flower but not that you would notice although it does produce small bluish fruits in Fall. Fast-growing with largish leaves often carrying bronzy-purple tones when young.

The correctly named true species as what is generally seen in gardens are forms of Cardiocrinum giganteum.  The only deviation from the key of 3-5 flowers are some with up to 9 flowers which we attribute to easy living in our garden and variation within the species. This is most closely allied to C. cordatum

Serious business here on the Ligularia front. This makes a dense ground cover of weed-suppressive, overlapping large leaves and tall spikes of yellow flowers. A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering.

Young plants of a rare offering of this graceful woodland species from the borderlands of China and Vietnam. Upright plants to 10' that rarely branch with expected Schefflera - we mean Heptapleurum - green leaves. Umbels of black fruit in a raceme. Hardiness unknown but let's start with not very. A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering

A rare wild-origin offering of this hardy-for-us species.  This develops stout vertical stems which hold palm-like leaves consisting of 8 narrow green leaflets.  The late-season pink flowers ignite the pleasure centers which had been happily simmering all summer from the foliar architecture.  Nice to introduce some new genetics

A rare introduction of this small alpine Allium that is scarcely represented in cultivation.  Small flattened leaves arch close to the ground and the short-stemmed blue flowers are quite pleasing.  The leaves distinguish it from the similar but with rounded leaves, Allium cyaneum, which it shares habitat.

This is a hardier and somewhat smaller-leaved form of the Chilean Guava that was recently introduced by Paul Barney from Pucon, Chile and which Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy brought into the US from the UK.  An excellent evergreen ornamental small shrub to 5' or 6' with scented white flowers and deep burnished red fruit in the fall which were said to be Queen Victoria's favorite fruit.  We expect this to handle at least a half zone colder.

A lovely shrubby epiphytic Indochina gesneriad in the same genus as lipstick vine.  That comparison made, this should be an excellent houseplant although we speculate that it ought to take a brief light frost.  A lot of the exposed limestone ridges radiate heat away at night making them colder.  Red tubular flowers.

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. Broad leaves with up to 14 leaflets held on petioles touched in red. Cream flowers and black fruit on dendritic panicles.

Tender South American shrubby succulent making a 3'x4' mound of thin stems with small fleshy leaves  Flowers unknown and we are perfectly willing to accept that this might well be a different genus entirely!  Pairs well with cactus, bromeliads and xeric shrubs.  Let us know what it looks like when it flowers!

Fern fans we are, fern experts we are not, but we continue to chip away at the imposing taxonomic massif of Pteridphyta in hopes of becoming somewhat conversational in Fern. Currently, we can ask the equivalent of where the restroom is and order beer when talking Asian ferns. This is a creeping fern with long, thin rhizomes ideally suited for weaving through shallow moss on shaded rock faces with small orbicular-ovate evergreen leaves.

Unflowered plants from our seed collection, although attributes and geography suggest a likelihood of this being the species edulis due to widespread cultivation from pre-Columbian times thanks to the edible tubers.  If this is edulis, expect 24 or more pink-tubed flowers with green-yellow throats in a fireworks umbel.  Showy orange seeds in fall.

Seed collected in AZ by FRBC botanist Dr. Cody Hinchliff, this is known as Owl's Claws, thanks to the long curved and drooping narrow flower petals.  Great for late summer color provided you like yellow to orange flowers because this ain't fooling around with its pigmentation.  30" give or take in a moderately moist sunny spot.

A rare grand foliage plant from lower elevation in the eastern Sino-Himalaya.  Allied to Schefflera, this differs in its armor of spiny prickles and whose terminal inflorescense produces black fruit.  We offer this with some trepidation in fear of sparking a feeding frenzy among the Araliaceae collectors who are a particular subset of plant nerds that walk the knife edge of obsession that separates reason from Poe's " A Descent into a Maelstrom".  Before you knee-jerk and click add to cart, take your meds and wait an hour.  Of course this may well be sold out by then..........  A portion of the proceeds goes to support the mission of Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy.

Our collection of this smaller species from an area little visited by westerners.  This is an ideal species for todays urban gardens as it has a narrower and shorter habit than some tree types. Adaptable to sun or light shade. Terminal slightly descending panicles of whitish flowers followed by showy balls of black fruit.

If the nursery catches on fire or there is an EF5 tornado bearing down or skies darken from a locust plague of biblical proportions, this is in the first armload we grab. A gesneriad from our collection in Asia where this grew on shaded, mossy rock faces enjoying Acer griseum and Emmenopterys henryi as neighbors. Gloriously large, totally tubular lavender-pink flowers awaken urges long forgotten. Hardy here at FRF in the maritime PNW.

Wheel Tree. Our collection from Taiwan of this indispensable broadleaf evergreen that usually is a small tree in gardens. Very clean and attractive, always the first criteria to be considered whether shopping for plants or romance, the Taiwan forms are regarded as better garden plants with better foliage. Surprisingly nice green flowers

Likely the first introduction of this gorgeous evergreen broadleaf tree from Vietnam.  The small yellowish flowers are held in terminal panicles, and not a big show.  What is astounding every single day is the exfoliating bark which reveals sensuously smooth mocha skin, soft as the supple inner thigh of your vacation Island lover.

A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering.  Our collection from Asia of what is likely the first introduction of this exceptional form of this equally exceptionally rare variety. Attractive leaves that are terminally cleft into bilateral lobes. The white flowers are the finest in the genus holding their own among the best of flowering trees.

Our collection from Taiwan of this species which was formerly ascribed to T. stolonifera but is now merged into the variable T. formosana. Good clumper via - you guessed it - stolons with mottled leaves especially on new growth. Upright stems with light purple flowers heavily spotted with darker purple.

Our collection from an area little visited by Westerners and part of our ongoing effort to collect and grow comparative specimens from across its range in Vietnam and China.  Same genus as Lipstick Vine, this shrubby gesneriad has proven hardy in mild gardens here in western Washington.  Tubular red-orange flowers.