A very good evergreen fern native to Taiwan, China and Japan which we imported from a specialist in the UK.  Tidy and attractive species reaching 30" wide with fronds to 20" tall, this requires shade to part shade.  And brace yourself - it is tolerant of dry shade!  Happier of course with some water,  Spore-grown by us.

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.

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

Our collection from an end-of-day hunch-driven venture up a nondescript dirt track into forested hills which remains one of the best two hours we have ever spent in the field. A deciduous species with upright fronds 20"-30" tall on plum-colored stems (stipes and rachis).  Texturally, graceful and light.  Spore-grown by us.

Beautiful clumping species that may well be the queen of the genus.  Or are we granting royalty because it is new on the scene?  Maybe, but it is awfully good. This makes a stout small clump of evergreen fern-like leaves from which emerge in spring the peculiarly Coptis greenish-yellow flowers.  From China.

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.

A superb smaller evergreen Solomon Seal from China which we have grown for many years and have come to regard as an indispensable part of the collection - one of the first plants we would grab when the greenhouse catches on fire, perish the thought!  Milder gardens, glossy leaves, clustered white flowers and bright ted fruit.  Often an epiphyte.

One of the great evergreen hardy fern species from our collection in Hubei in this wondrous narrow valley cleaved by a stream.  Wondrous because of the flora which included Acer griseum among a host of choice species.  Tough fern which looks good pretty much all the time with very few exceptions.

If you are into variegation, like woodland plants, want to make a statement, are a botanical Sinophile, a discerning or even indiscriminate plant collector or just plain driven by beauty in the garden then this is a must have.  White variegated leaves on stems to 4' with whitish flowers followed by black fruit.  Evergreen if mild.

These are plants from a special deep purple form of this Candelabra Primrose from friends in Scotland who are enviable growers with an equally enviable discerning eye.  We have not flowered these yet so we will be surprised and delighted together.  This requires a moist to wet soil and can take full sun in cool sun areas.

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.

This is a seedling from one of the best clones of Darrell Probst's Spiny Leaf forms. The mama plant has luscious large bronzed new foliage with nice teeth on the margins and large creamy yellow flowers on low arching stems. The seedlings vary in flower color from light yellow to purplish flowers but all have seriously good foliage.

Crazy fern that takes away the need to fuss with growing this from spore as it makes a multitudinous panoply of ready-to-go plantlets on the leaves that will soon have you owning the corner in your 'hood dealing in fern babies.  Remember, if it's a kid, the first one is free.  Warmer gardens or indoors, mulch protect in zone 8 winters.

An excellent introduction if you are into the Araliaceae family and fortunately, there are lots of Araliaddicts out there!  This came from the high point in its range with occasional cold exposure and has proven hardy outside here in full sun and wind exposure.  Not ideal but that's what we got!

Our China collection of this most remarkable species. Favoring rich, moist areas which is required to pump up the nearly 6' in length frond volume. These fronds extend out laxly horizontally which assists in their asexual reproduction from plantlets developing from the little furry balls - careful! - at frond's end. Mulch crown in cold winters.

Pretty awesome evergreen fern because not only is it cool but it increases fast enough to make a statement in the garden before you are in your dotage and have forgotten why you bought this yet not in that rampaging acreage-eating Borg-assimilating manner that is sometimes described as "a good nursery plant".

The form matching best with the species description.  This is a low-growing evergreen Solomon Seal ally from China and has a more refined look than other forms of this species which we grow. Nice white flowers with a bit of caramel amber added and purplish fruit that follows.

This was one of those "Holy shit - lookit that fern!" moments when we first spotted this species growing at the base of soaring pinnacles of vertical peaks in Guizhou, China where it was not intimidated in the least and perfectly in scale.  Massive 4'-6' wide fronds 6'-8' tall in the wild and clumping.  Likely smaller in cultivation but still BIG!  Zone 7b-9.

A very uncommon plant in North America - we have not seen it listed elsewhere - and one we brought across the pond from the lamentably late Michael Wickenden of Cally Gardens in Scotland.  This is a much smaller version of this cold hardy species with dense low foliage of nicely deeply lobed leaves.  The leaves take on fall color before dormancy and the early spring white flowers are welcome indeed if they escape being frosted.

Grown from a seed collection in China by the brilliant plantsman Bjornar Olsen, this is an easy and very pleasing lily.  Turk's cap style flowers are predominately in shades of pink, varying in intensity.  The recurved tepals are pale white on the margins and speckled with deep carmine spots.  Spreads fairly fast, making a lovely patch.

Our collection from an area of extreme resource exploitation in Sichuan.  Normally we don't collect much in this group but this was huddled out of harm's way on a cliff face playing the sympathy card which coupled with unusually glossy leaves and showy red fruit, we relented.  Multi-stemmed to 8'-10' +.  Deciduous.

This was an interesting Mountain Ash with entire leaves which we found in the Dayaoshan in Guizhou. We knew it was not Sorbus meliosmifolia we had found elsewhere. This had a smoother surface to the leaves without impressed veins and a broader and more open habit. The fruit was green going to russet. Surely good to zone 6 at least.

Our collection from near the 100 Li Rhododendron Area in Guizhou Province in China.  This is a fantastic fern and quietly imposing in the garden lending some tropicalissimo punch.  Long lowrider fronds lean low over the ground and can exceed 6' long.  Usually evergreen, mulch well in zone 7 or arctic blasts,  Likes it moist.

We briefly offered this as Plectranthus but Cody, our taxonomist fixed that.  From a meadow area at 10,000' in Sichuan with companions of Reineckea, Paris, Roscoea, Aconitum and Salvia. This mysterious beguiler will have small rounded hairy leaves with many stems and myriad motes of lavender-white flowers.

An introduction to the US by Asiatica Nursery from Japan, this stands out for the foliage which have broad centers of lime green in shade to yellowish in brighter light.  Quite a good thing. We find this hard to distinguish from D. longistylum but are calling it bodinieri based on its shorter height and despite lacking a creeping rhizome.

Pretty cool and needless to say, rare rhizomatous evergreen perennial taxonomically wandering among genera from Tupistra to Campylandra to currently Rohdea which we have written in pencil. This has proven nicely hardy here in the PNW making a statement with elegant narrow green leaves with a muted amber central stripe. Flowers curiously interesting.

A floriferous and perhaps hardier selection with a bit larger flowers than usual by the late Don Jacobs of Eco-Gardens in Georgia.  Don was one of the first nurserymen to get into China in 1983 as the bamboo curtain was lifting.  It is hard not to like the soft lavender-blue flowers with darker spotting around the white band surrounding the yellow thumbprint.  Light shade.

Mountain Ash.  Our collection from Dragon's Elbow Mt in Sichuan from 4300 meters where this was a graceful small tree to 25' with pendulous clusters of small pink-flushed fruit.  The bipinnate leaves are dainty in appearance with each leaflet quite small and taking on good scarlet-red coloration in fall.  Clustered small white flowers in late spring.

A collection from Asia from an area rarely visited by westerners.  This rhizomatous species has leaves variably marked in pale patterns topside and varying shades of red beneath.  Upright stems to 10"-18" with pink flowers.  Hardiness unknown yet but the mantra of "grow until you can split it then try outside mulching like heck for winter" applies.