New and Restocked Plants

Rare and choice goody that Jim Fox brought to us from England.  Surprisingly hardy with screaming hot bright fuchsia pink daisies in summer.  Don't plant it with Dahlia 'Bishop of Llandaff' like we did - a memorable combo for its garish bad taste.  Winter dormant.

This hardy bush Fuchsia is quite a pleasing addition to the garden where it performs admirably in a sunny spot with lots of narrow hanging white flowers which are touched in faintest green on the tepal tips.  Recent winters have put a whupping on reliably hardy plants so if it is going to turn nasty, mulch the base and trunk well.  Easy and gratifying.

One of our favorite Roscoeas (we admittedly love the one we are with at the moment when it comes to these) which distinguishes itself by a haughty erectness (only achieved a great cost at expensive finishing schools) in apparent conflict with the "Do Me Now!" exotic yellow flowers.

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.

So notoriously promiscuous as to make a rabbit blush, these evergreen bulbous Iris family members are all about the summer of love. Embracing any bee that taps on its window bringing pollen from any nearby floozy flower, this exhibits a Bacchanalian moral turpitude that is either damned or extolled.  These are young seed-grown plants from one of our darkest Dierama so at worst, this will still be pretty good.

A Hinkley collection of this rhizomatous Begonia from 9500' in the far eastern Himalaya. Attractive foliage with red hues and veins underleaf and we presume, pink flowers. Hardiness is unknown but we would mulch it well in zone 8 gardens. Ideally, overwinter frost-free until large enough to divide off a piece for trial outside in your garden. This would be a trial lamb.

Large purple flowers with narrow petals in this selection. Like all of our Olsynium selections, this has been a long process of a decade or so to get this to a size where division is possible and we feel like we can safely release a few. Early flowering in Feb-Mar and fully dormant by summer. Myriad variants can be found in flower shape, color, size, time of bloom etc.

An especially good striped flower form in this selection. Like all of our Olsynium selections, this has been a long process of a decade or so to get this to a size where division is possible and we feel like we can safely release a few. Early flowering in Feb-Mar and fully dormant by summer. Myriad variants can be found in flower shape, color, size, time of bloom etc.

A floriferous form of of our native Grass Widow with rounded petals. Like all of our Olsynium selections, this has been a long process of a decade or so to get this to a size where division is possible and we feel like we can safely release a few. Early flowering in Feb-Mar and fully dormant by summer. Myriad variants can be found in flower shape, color, size, time of bloom etc.

A fine dark purple selection of of our native Grass Widow. Like all of our Olsynium selections, this has been a long process of a decade or so to get this to a size where division is possible and we feel like we can safely release a few. Early flowering in Feb-Mar and fully dormant by summer. Myriad variants can be found in flower shape, color, size, time of bloom etc.

A tough perennial from the southern Caucasus which has steadfastly refused to die despite some of our unintentional best efforts. This will, in time, make an impressive small clump of numerous upright stems to 12" or so which are tipped in late July to September with multiple blue flowers with pale whitish throats.  This is happy in limestone conditions and is happy here in neutral to moderately acid. It wants to please.

Nice Sedum from 10000' in Mexico that has more cojones than you might think handling 10F here just fine. This has yellow flowers in late winter-spring from gray-blue rosettes on lax stems evocative of Echeveria on a stick.  Some compulsives cut back after blooming to tighten up rosettes but we go with the flow.

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.

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.

A choice Snowdrop with very large single flowers and one of the earliest to bloom.  This was found in the garden of John Gray in England and is a hard one to come by.  Increases moderately well and seems to be a survivor with a good constitution as it is going strong here while more effete selections have dwindled.

This was a purchase by the Miller Botanic Garden in the late 90's from the RHS store at Wisley and to our knowledge, is not available in this country and very scarce elsewhere.  An early bloomer, in fact, it is flowering now this late December in its pots sitting outside unprotected as we have had a relatively mild winter so far. Huge flowers resembling an elwesii Whittall Group

Lovely species in the group formerly placed in the genus Dentaria referring to their crinkled molar-like rhizomes.  We do enjoy the the color of the purple-pink flowers in early spring but there is a quality of texture and sheen to the leaves that makes us consistently murmur  'I like that plant" whenever we pass by it.

This is a surprisingly hardy terrestrial Orchid that is quite easy to grow given a couple of rules.  Loose crumbly organic/gritty well-drained soil and fairly dry in the winter.  We've friends who grow these easily in Port Ludlow unprotected in rotting logs, stumps and deep moss on rocks.

A jolly plant indeed introduced by Heronswood from Sichuan.  This has evergreen foliage springing from new growth that looks to be a bamboo until it leafs out.  Small creamy white flowers in early summer and blue-black fruit held well into winter.  Cut back old stems in spring.  Feed me.  Water me.

A very lovely selection of this terrestrial and sometime lithophytic orchid.  These are hardy outside in mild winters or given protection.  They need great drainage like planted in moss on a rock or in a stump or rotting log and protected during severe cold snaps.  Traditionally grown in pots and brought in a cool spot for the winter, these are quite easy.

A tried and true selection that really puts out with classic orchid flowers with rich pink petals backing a white cup that is nicely fringed on the lip with some light spotting on the interior and touched in yellow in the throat.  An amalgamation of attributes in one flower.  Good increaser needing good drainage like a rotting log and overwinters here in Puget Sound.

An Ian Butterfield cross between P. pleionoides and P. humilis, this easy orchid has large flowers of pink-lavender with a fringed lip and interior well-spotted in red with a beckoning bee runway of yellow.  Typical Pleione culture - the internet is full of great advice fir growing in containers and also fantastic in mild gardens where it will thrive in mossy logs and stumps.  Great drainage first and foremost.

Beautiful flowers on this selection from the Versailles grex of the cross between P. limprichtii and P. formosana. Large rich pink-lavender flowers with an expressive fringed lip invites you to explore the voluptuous inner hollows colored sensuously in orange and yellow. Why silk pajamas, candles and Bolero just popped into mind is curious........and not a bad idea.

High elevation Bolivian evergreen pinnate-leaved tree in the Rose family whose gorgeous irregular shape and exceptional exfoliating bark gives us fever dreams. Flowers are apetalous nothings but given its abundance of attributes, expecting showy petals is akin to disappointment in the physical shortcomings of the Duke in The Bridgertons.

A rare species from shaded moist areas in coastal Mendocino and Sonoma Counties in CA. Pleated leaves and branched flower stems to nearly 2 feet bear beautifully fringed snowy white flowers. Regarded as tender, Veratrum expert Christoph Ruby of Hof Botanic Garden in Germany tells us zone 5 hardy!

One of those captivating Chinese species.  This has a neat stoloniferous habit sending out runners and making new bulbs so you soon have a grove of Lilies.  Flowers white with dark spots with recurved petals in the classic "Turk's Cap" style.  We love it.

No ignoring this Primrose in flower! Some Primula are wee subtle things with no greater effect than the sound of a distant flute teasing the edge of hearing. This Primula is a full triumphant symphony with you sitting in the orchestra pit. Big heads of many nodding orange/yellow fragrant flowers. Rich and moist.

A robust Eriogonum from shrub steppe habitat east of the Cascades from WA to CA and east to ID. An awesome plant for a larger spot in the rock garden, mounding to 18"x30". Arrow-shaped leaves are felty-green on top and wooly-white beneath while white to pale-yellow umbels of flowers appear late May to July.