A expert grower friend in Scotland gave us seed of "proper" 'Lingholm' after he could no longer bear seeing the dark blue verging tinged purple flowers of the US 'Lingholm'.  We told him that gardeners here are near brought to tears by our domestic blue poppy and he said just wait.  Large flowers of the most piercing, unsullied sky blue.

Oyster Leaf. The leaves are edible and taste - and feel - exactly like raw oysters. This likes ample nutrition and can be used in containers where the stems will drape down the sides. Perennial and dormant in winter.

Our collection of this distinctive vining Monkshood from the wooded slopes of Longshou in Sichuan.   We think this is quite superior to other color forms of this rare species and have given it the name 'Monk Gone Wild' because it is a pretty crazy color for a Monkshood plus this monk managed to remain technically celibate yet still have lots of children via stem bulbils.

Pink flowered version of the typically blue-flowered European species. Thanks to our friend and Hepatica guru John Massey of Ashwood Nurseries for sharing seed. We have flowered these plants and they are indeed pink! Perfect in the woodland garden, very hardy and with impeccable provenance.

Very intriguing perennial with intricate light brown flower buds that appear to be spun glass art depicting the skeletal structure of some microscopic sea creature.  From the center extends the feathered pinkish petals.  While not spectacular compared to a Dahlia, we think it spectacularly interesting but then we are certifiable plant loons.

Pure class.  A perennial of the first rank and a true aristocrat which is seldom available especially in this size.  Expensive?  You bet and worth it.  One of the true pains to produce commercially.  This has broad pleated leaves and a tall flower stalk with lots of black maroon flowers.  Deer proof.

A close relative to Gentiana acaulis and regarded as being in the acaulis group. This is one of the forms found in the nursery trade here in the PNW which means it is a good grower.  Maybe a little mongrel vigor from G. acaulis to pump up the volume on those big blue trumpet flowers above an evergreen spreading mat.

We love seeing this False Hellebore when we are hiking up to Marmot Pass or Mt Townsend in the Olympics.  Always growing in dappled light or partly sunny spts where there is ample moisture, the big wide pleated leaves are perfect with the drooping plume-like green flowers.  Deer proof.

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.

We love the Asiatic Gentians and want them all as they are easy, hardy and put on such a show in late summer/early fall.  We were thrilled toget this one from our friend Urs of Edelweiss Nursery who brought this in from a German gentian specialist.  Not your typical blue, this has white flowers with pale yellowish stripes.  Moist and sun.

This is indeed the king. This beauty can reach 12' tall with subtle hooks on the leaf tips to help it hang onto neighboring plants.  The best thing is the ORANGE flowers in abundance in the leaf axils.  Swoon City.

This collection is from nearly 6000' in San Miguel Co., New Mexico and hardy down to Zone 5.  This yucca relative makes dense clumps of thin grassy leaves to 3' tall and holds the dense plumes of creamy flowers nestled in the uppermost leaves.  The brown seed heads evoke fat cigars.

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.

This is the Japanese version of our native False Hellebore. Wonderful broad pleated leaves and when old enough, nice spikes of white starry flowers to 3' or more. This likes a rich moist soil, emerges early in spring and goes dormant by mid to late summer. Deer resistant and very hardy.  Young plants.

A robust selection of this good garden species.  Large white flowers with a prominent broad and full upside down horseshoe of green on the inners.  The bold gray-green leaves of the species and this is a good increaser on its own without you having to learn how to do bulb chipping.

One of the larger flowered varieties of Wood Anemone, this has excellent white flowers which are more than enough to stand alone or perfect in a supporting understory role to larger shrubs and perennials.

Pretty cool False Solomon's Seal whose terminal display of small, narrow-tubed yellowish to green flowers carries more interest than might be implied.  This is genetically distinct from the white flowered M. henryi from Yunnan and has a pure, sweeter fragrance than the more cloying white form.  We love them both.  Sometimes seen as the invalid species ginfushanica.

More art than flower and more flower than one's soul can bear.  Almost anyway, as each spring we gasp back to awareness from the horticultural fugue state that these flowers send us to and while we don't know where we've been or what we've done, we do know that it was amazing.  Narrow black-red petals evoke a dark and sinuous eroticism that tests your limits.

These are seed-grown from our plant of 'Hakure' which is often seen as 'Hakuree'.  The parent plant was bred and selected by Hiroshi Hayakama in Japan in the early 90's who chose this for its floriferous display of white flowers just touched with fleeting lavender and sporting twisted tepals.  Our seed-grown progeny will vary from deep purple to white but all will be good. 18"-30" tall.

A comparatively graceful species of Veratrum with broadly narrow leaves, if that makes any sense and sadly, it does to us.  The 4'-5' flower stem has numerous lateral branchlets clad in lots of red-maroon flowers. To compare to the better-known V. nigrum, narrower leaves, flower stems much more open with flowers more red than purple-black.  Excellent long-lived plant of outstanding hardiness best suited for the cool to cold zones.  Young plants.

One gold leafed seedling among thousands from seed sown of our Blue Poppies. Fortunately fertile, we are at last able to offer a few of this first gold-leafed form of this type of Meconopsis. The leaves are most intense in spring and the flowers are a lovely amethyst. Like most, some are perennial and some are not.  Save seed!

This is a dynamite cultivar also called 'Florida' but names aside, the flowers totally rock.  White and dark red fragrant flowers marry nicely with the rich purple-tinted foliage.  We keep ours trimmed to an informal shrub but it can be a vigorous vine.  Nice orange fruit.

From our seed collection from the alpine rock scree of our neighboring Olympic Mts of this exquisite Jacob's Ladder.   Compact caespitose plants with soft pinnate leaves and copious blue flowers that are just perfectly this side of too much.  This one plant made the long steep hike worthwhile!  Rock or crevice gardens.

Another gorgeous introduction from Hugh Nunn whose nursery is in the village of Harvington.  This has obvious Roscoea humeana in its parentage which contributes large flowers well-displayed on a stout plant.  A light cream is the flower color and ours were initially but these same plants have become more yellow.

To find fault with this bit of botanical jewelry would be to put on display character defects so profound that your friends would desert you in droves while making plans for your involuntary institutional incarceration.  Perfect marbled leaves subtend appleblossom pink-white flowers of larger size than typical.  Shade garden pizzazz.

Little creeping woodlander from the East Coast newly placed in the Colchicaceae which alters our world view.  Socially inept biochemists will soon lump all life into a single family derived from a virus, blue-green algae or a bacteria.  Bah!  Delicate creamy bells in spring.  Quite tough.

One of the finest of the species Peonies, this Mediterranean goody is among the first to bloom in spring.  Fabulous new growth and very showy single pink flowers.  If you want scent, get a hybrid.  If you want class, here you go.  This is a stunning and very good plant.  Good well drained soil.

One of the largest flowered selections of Gentiana acaulis, this is truly a showstopper with its big, deep blue trumpets in spring and lighter reblooms after.  It may owe its vigor to hybridity but whatever the reason, we are down with it!  Moist, rich soil in sun and stand back and enjoy. Gentiana acaulis 'Maxima Enzian' is likely the same as Enzian is German for Gentian.

A robust hybrid of E. tuolumense showing broad lightly mottled leaves and 12" flower stems bearing multiple sulphur yellow flowers with a light brown ring in the throat.  A vigorous increaser by offsets - not seed.  In just a few years you will have a truly impressive clump.

Lavender flowered version of the typically blue-flowered European species. Thanks to our friend and Hepatica guru John Massey of Ashwood Nurseries for sharing seed. We have flowered these plants and they are indeed lavender! Perfect in the woodland garden, very hardy and with impeccable provenance.