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.

This hybrid Oregano works what it got to da max. This is made to order for heat waves, drought conditions, and hungry bees.  Lean soil with great drainage? Check. Dry summers? Check. Ravening hoards of deer and rabbit? Check. Loads of amethyst-pink flowers from light green bracts in summer.

An extraordinary variant from Linda Cochran's (of course) old garden which she allowed us to salvage when moving.  Distinctly mocha foliage in early spring, with various plant parts retaining dark tones.  Notably, the flower stem is very dark as are the bracts enclosing the flower bud.  The flowers are lovely, white and richly colored in dark maroon.  These are bulbs from isolated, hand-pollinated seed.

An extraordinary variant from Linda Cochran's (of course) old garden which she allowed us to salvage when moving.  Distinctly mocha foliage in early spring, with various plant parts retaining dark tones.  Notably, the flower stem is very dark as are the bracts enclosing the flower bud.  The flowers are lovely, white and richly colored in dark maroon.  These are bulbs from isolated, hand-pollinated seed.

A choice woodland creeper for the shade or partly shaded garden where it behaves like Anemone nemorosa - making a mat of ferny foliage but in this case, it has vibrant yellow flowers.  A patch of this is to be coveted.  Very hardy and goes mid to late summer dormant.

White Asphodel.  From Spain to North Africa and over to the Balkans, this has done very well for us in our garden.  Narrow leaves in small clumps with flower stems 2'-3' tall and perhaps with greater maturity, to 4', and which bear showy starry white flowers.  We also enjoy the darker round seed capsules which extends the interest.  This will go summer dormant

Fantastic Roscoea only discovered in the 1980's  in Nepal and still scarce as hen's teeth in the nursery trade and always commanding very high prices.  Why is this so good?  It represents a color break in Roscoea with large red flowers which resemble some exotic orchid except this is easier to grow!  It's a show-off plant for sure.

Fabulous hybrid ornamental Oregano (O. rotundifolium x O. scabrum) which is both heat and drought tolerant and a perfect choice for the sunny rock garden or top edge of rockery wall.  This really does need sharp drainage to perform its best.  In the Midwest, it is used as an annual in window boxes.  Light pink flowers all summer long.

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.

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.

An intriguing curiosity that combines beauty with novelty.  In this selection, the flower petals have become lacy green petaloid structures that are perfectly arranged to create amusing and intricate green flowers.  A fun addition to the shade garden.

Presumed hybrid between Rhodohypoxis and Hypoxis from a collection on the Hebron Farm property in South Africa. Great little rock garden plant provided it doesn't get too dry.

Choice little bulb for the rock garden, this increases quickly to make a dense grassy tuffet of leaves with lots of pink flowers in summer.  Likes moisture when it is growing and good drainage in the winter when it is dormant.  You would make some points with it by mulching if quite cold.

Flower power is the smallest of packages, this little but mighty rhizomatous yet bulbous Iris family member from South Africa brings a degree of satisfaction far beyond it's size when its short grassy foliage becomes completely obscured for weeks in late spring by rose red flowers literally cheek to cheek.  Good increaser, hardy in zones 7-8.

European Wild Ginger. Rounded, heart-shaped most excellent evergreen leaves (evergreen in mild winters or our Z8 garden) hug the ground close and dense, hiding the small flowers and their lack of ornament We have a slightly paler leaf clone that is most apparently pale when planted next to this clone.

Red Birds in a Tree.  Sometimes we like common names and this is one of those time.  New Mexico native where it grows in moist canyons.  Small white-lipped red tubular flowers in clustered congeniality throughout the summer to the delight of the nectar feeders.  Likes to lean on other plants.

A floriferous hybrid with good-sized pink flowers that makes a definite statement en masse - you have to like pink a lot or this is not for you.  Subtly pale stripe on the midrib or keel of the petals is just a sweet bit of sugar frosting on this eye candy.  Quickly makes a dense little clump with lots of late spring-early summer flowers.  Similar and may be the same as 'New Look'.

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!

Grassy little clumping rhizomatous bulb from South Africa which is easily grown here provided it has good drainage and moisture while in growth and a bit of mulch in winter. Dawn is a broad-petaled fairly large flowered selection in which the white flowers are just touched with pink.

A collection from Tibet by Daniel Winkler.  This is one of the Asian rhizomatous onions making a nice clump of broadly grassy foliage with leaves 12"-15" long.  The flowers are in shades of pink and are open rounded umbels whose drooping florets look a bit like some of the fireworks seen in a Fourth of July evening sky. Hardy to at least zone 6 and likely lower.

Redwood ivy.  Vigorous carpeter in optimal conditions with evergreen foliage  which bronzes up in winter.  The tiny white flower motes benefit from profusion and the fact that they are the smallest in the genus is offset by this species having the best foliage which is what you have 95% of the year.  Our collection from California

Pinecone Thistle.  Pretty cool 6"-12" tall plant from dry pine woods and wastelands in southern Europe and northern Africa.  The spineless gray-green, thistle-like leaves, are felted gray-white underneath and are a perfect accompaniment to the art project flowers.  Tufts of filamentous purplish flowers erupt from hefty cones of overlapping, feathered brown scales.

We've seen this wee gem in both Bhutan and Sichuan at high elevations at 12000' where it mingles in alpine meadows.  Open-faced lavender pink flowers at ground level followed closely by foliage just a few inches high.  Easy in the garden.  Who would suspect it's a Solomon's Seal?

One of the better selections of Aucuba and very rare in the nursery trade. This was brought to the US by the now defunct Asiatica Nursery and shared with us by Lance Reiners. Narrow leaves consistently freckled in gold presents as major pizzazz with unmistakable elegance.  A tough evergreen tolerant of dry shade once established.  Zones 7-9.

Hardy species in the Gesneriaceae or African Violet family from Greece and Bulgaria where it favors shaded rocky outcrops.  Our old mama plants fill a 3 gallon pot with a packed dome of evergreen leafy rosettes that give rise to 4"-5" stems with flowers of pale lavender faces and dark corolla base.

Very good selection that does it up right with well-displayed apricot-yellow flowers.  The flowers arise from calyces that are more deeply colored and the individual tepals or petals have rounded tips giving it a pleasantly full appearance.  If you haven't discovered Columbus yet, this might be just the right time.

Choice species (as seen in our shade garden) collected by NW Plant Wunderkind Riz Reyes on Mt Emei in Sichuan.  This species is often confused with Corydalis elata in the trade.  This selection is quite vigorous with red highlighted new growth and spires of icy blue flowers.  Moist.

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

Staggeringly impressive recent introduction of this Solomon Seal species from - wait for it -  Vietnam. Large red flowers snug the whorled leaves on stems which reached 15' tall this year in the garden, and which remain green for us until temps drop below 20F.

One can collect hundreds of named cultivars of this Japanese primrose and not have two that are identical. This is an ideal plant for the OCD plant collector who wants to take a long deep dive - just make sure when trying to have them all that money remains to buy groceries and keep the lights on. White flowers flushed fuchsia with a reverse that is solidly soft fuchsia.  This will bring felicity to your garden.