Chinese Bleeding Heart.  This is a departure from the ferny foliaged Dicentras we are used to by sporting broad leaflets looking more Astilbe than Dicentra.  Another departure is the cream to soft yellow flowers.  Vigorous in moist rich soil, this makes an impressive patch quickly.

These grow beautifully in the UBC Asian Garden in Vancouver where it grows up to 15'.  Typically we would expect 6' or so in in the garden with the pale waxy evergreen leaves providing nice backing for the creamy multi-petaled flowers.  Best in a mild garden like Seattle or PT.

An exciting tender perennial Impatiens from Vietnam we brought in via the UK. Deep green leaves with magenta undersides on a stout 3'-4' upright plant are quite enough but add the late orange-yellow flowers with red lips and be ready for involuntary expletives and religious exhortations.  We saw this in the wild and were blown away.

An awesome - and I don't use this word lightly - hardy Impatiens from Africa.  John Grimshaw in the UK speaks highly of this species.  To 6' tall in morning sun or light shade with awesome (there i go again) 3" wide flat-faced white flowers with a red throat.  Gorgeous.  Perennial big tuberous roots.  Not a seeding thug.

Japanese Blood Grass.  One of the finest of all ornamental grasses.  This selection is slow growing and doesn't seed about unlike the straight species.  Fabulous red foliage win sun slowly making dense clumps.  Goes dormant in winter and just a few simple snips and fall cleanup is done.

Every spring I say 'O-mi-gawd!  How does that little thing do that?"  Flowers completely over the top and a celebration of extravagant copious excess which would lead one to think this is the All-American plant but in reality is from the Kunming-Gothenburg Expedition NW Yunnan China 1993.

Grown from seed given to us by xeric, steppe and rock garden guru, Panayoti Kelaidis of Denver Botanic Garden.  Brilliant plantsman who, if you gave him an hour lead time, would be conversant in aquatic plants native to Lake Malawi and the nearby Great Rift Valley.  This Central Asian species grows natively on rocky, sandy slopes and in the garden, is quite drought tolerant.  Thrives in Denver, this will get 3'-4'+ with pink flowers in summer.

Fabulous Award of Garden Merit shrub that has lovely pinnate Pea-like foliage and scads of luscious pink Pea flowers for several weeks from early to mid-summer.  Quite pest free and wanting only good sun and drainage.  A little light pruning for shape once a year and you are set to enjoy.

These are second generation plants from our original seed collection in Yunnan in 1997.  Beautiful open airy deciduous shrubs with fabulous hanging racemes of lavender pea flowers like a miniature wisteria blossom.  Good drainage and let it get dry late summer to promote hardiness.

First introduced to cultivation by Joseph Hooker, one of the preeminent botanists of the 19th century and buddies with Charles Darwin. Our fern and rhododendron greenhouse is named for him. This is a strong growing, fine-petaled yellow daisy whose flowers emerge from fuzzy buds so intricate they might befit some beautiful undersea reef creature.

Among our thousands of plant accessions, tall bearded iris are represented by just a single plant - Iris 'Kent Pride'.  This outlier in our collections strategy is sited in one of the choicest spots in the dry garden because it is a stunner.  Rich chestnut-red standards with the same overlaid on yellow around a white blaze on the falls - so good!

We are pleased to be the first to introduce this excellent Sibirica Iris to North America. We were visiting John Grimshaw, plantsman extraordinaire and Director of the Yorkshire Arboretum, and walking about his home garden when he asked if we would like a bit of an Iris he had named with lovely scrambled egg flowers of yellow and cream. We said yes, of course because while we might be comparatively brutish colonists, we ain't without a certain native wit. Very floriferous on a shorter plant with flowers well-displayed.

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.

One of the darkest of the cristata selections, the violet-blue petals are made to appear even darker by the little thumbprint of yellow and white at their bases.  A small but mighty little woodland creeper which would revel in bright shade or morning sun.  The thin rhizomes trundle along on the surface and are plenty hardy so don't bury them in mulch!

We have long affection for all the forms of the dwarf Iris cristata which is an east coast native and with Powder Blue Giant our affections sometimes manifest themselves in PDA's such as stroking the large medium blue flowers and oohing.  Deciduous carpeter.  A real sweety.

Very rare collectible and delectable Iris from China introduced by Darrell Probst. This particular clone has slightly larger flowers that are white without any blue shading.  Makes an evergreen fine grassy mound.  Best in light shade or part sun.  Slow growing and totally rules when mature.

This clone of this fabulous Iris introduced by Darrell Probst is one of our favorite plants of all time.  Very fine grassy foliage making a large lax dense mound that is festooned with small white jewels of flowers.  It won't happen overnight, but give this a few years and you will have some serious bragging rights.  Not that we ever concern ourselves with things like that...

Blackberry Lily. Our collection of this extremely widespread Asian species which not only has attractive deep orange flowers that are overlaid in a plethora of red spots but also the seed is curiously attractive looking for all the world like a large blackberry. This has wide application in traditional Chinese medicine and our collection is likely an escapee from the local mountain village.

Primo little collector's Iris with charming white flowers - smaller than the more frequently encountered 'Alba' - over dense mounds of fine-bladed foliage. It's graceful appearance hides a tough core and an implacable perseverance that has kept it in our collection for over two decades.   A Japanese deciduous species preferring light shade or part sun.  This is a good one.

Found growing along coastal Maine and up the eastern Canadian seaboard, this was known as the dwarf form of I. setosa but is now regarded as a distinct species.  Favoring moist places but adapting very well to average garden conditions, this is best described in the most rigorous of botanical terms as "Cute".  Very hardy.

Selected from Darrell Probst's collection in South Korea, this puts on a show being especially free with flaunting its floral wares.  Yellow flowers in such quantity over the low grassy foliage in May that on a cool day it seems like you could warm your hands on them.  A rewarding semi-evergreen small patch in part sun to bright shade.

Seed-grown from a collection by Daniel Winkler near Chonye on the Tibetan Plateau.  Widely distributed in Asia and throughout the various 'stans, this remains oddly rare in commerce and is not often cultivated.  Thanks to Fran Hawk for flowering and identifying this collection before ours bloomed!  Narrow pale lavender tinted falls with soft blue-ish standards.

A lesser-known relative of Iris unguicularis. This Turkish species while it blooms a bit later than it's famed cousin, is still early enough to be immensely gratifying plus it has hands down far more attractive evergreen foliage than I. unguicularis.  Easy with drainage.

Young plants from seed collected in Mendocino County by botanist Alex Wright.  This species has the all the charms inherent to Pacific Coast Iris along with their legendary variability in color among populations.  This was not seen in flower but we can pin it down for you.  Blue, cream, white or yellow and shades between.

This is a choice little dwarf species from China of which we never have enough.  Perfect lavender-blue flowers just a few inches high over densly clumping short foliage.  This is one tough baby Iris as Sue brought this out from her garden in northern Vermont.  Deciduous.

Rich purple flowers of a color more suited to the dreams of the Pope than the Devil, unless of course the Devil is dreaming of someday wearing those rich purple robes of the Pope, in which case it is appropriately named.  Just speculation.  Great color anyway.

Seed collected at 3200 meters in Sichuan in an open grazed small meadow area adjoining low scrub. Tightly clumping, deciduous and allied to Iris japonica but is something totally new. Small blue flowers are laddered down the stems in the leaf axils.  This has baffled some of the top authorities on Chinese Iris both here in the US and in the UK

A very good selection of Winter Iris - the species can start flowering in February here for us and at that time of the year, even the worst selection looks mighty fine but this one is truly worthy.  Blue standards - the central upright petals - and blue falls - the large lower petals - that carry a broad white blotch with fine blue lines.

This is a fine form of the Algerian Iris that we got from our bud, Sean Hogan.  This has larger flowers than typical being 3-4 inches across and of a good blue-lavender with a narrow strip of yellow on the falls which is feathered on each side by white.  A winter bloomer which is critical here in the Northwest.

This Lamiaceae species comes from woodlands in Japan such as Fukushima Prefecture.  All summer you get to enjoy the subtly interesting leaf shape and texture, pondering what possessed you to grant this space in your overplanted garden.  Once the riot of summer color is gone, the lavender spikes of this uncommon species brings clarity.