A remarkable arborescent species endemic to the Sierra de la Laguna of Baja California where this grew on a shaded ridge in mixed oak-pine forest at 5800'. This can get over 20' tall with a 10' inflorescence with yellowish to white flowers but that height might be for your child's child's child's child to enjoy - it will take a while!

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.

This blueberry relative was an exciting find from a small mostly deforested limestone ridge in Vietnam. It was a small compact 12"-18" shrub growing both in the rocks and epiphytically with orchids on the few trees left.  Evergreen with boss white tubular flowers and a red berry sheltered by 3 large red bracts.

Serious business here on the Ligularia front. This makes a dense ground cover of weed-suppressive, overlapping large leaves and tall spikes of yellow flowers. A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering.

F2 plants from the original wild collection of this rare species. This is a very handsome thing with superb glossy textured leaves and showy displays of red fruit. Just looking at it, we thought - bummer, can't possibly be hardy but heard from one of the collectors that it handled zero Fahrenheit so woohoo!  We later saw for ourselves the reason why as we climbed on Mt Fansipan, "The Roof of Indochina' and saw this growing near the summit.  A portion of the proceeds goes to support the mission of Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy.

Fern fans we are, fern experts we are not, but we continue to chip away at the imposing taxonomic massif of Pteridphyta. This is a creeping fern with long, thin rhizomes ideally suited for weaving through shallow moss on shaded rock faces with small orbicular-ovate evergreen leaves.

Asian Sour Gum or Tupelo. This deciduous tree does flower, not that you would notice, but it does produce small bluish fruits in Fall. Fast-growing with largish leaves often carrying bronzy-purple tones when young. Moist acidic soil and sheltered from hot or freezing winds.

A collection by Dr. Peter Zale of this recently described evergreen species.  A gorgeous plant with attractive new shoots and handsome foliage on arching stems.  Small yellowish flowers adorn the leaf axils and reddish fruit follows.  We haven't trialed this outside because our winters make us chicken out nearly every time.  Let's go frost-free for now and we'll find out more later.  Epiphytic, so a crumbly potting mix.

This from an unforgettable visit to Aberconwy Nursery in Wales, exceptional alpine plant growers.  A tender African violet relative, this makes dense rosettes of spirally arranged rugose leaves - the perfect backing for the white flowers!   A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Introduction.

The correctly named true species as what is generally seen in gardens are forms of Cardiocrinum giganteum.  The only deviation from the key of 3-5 flowers are some with up to 9 flowers which we attribute to easy living in our garden and variation within the species. This is most closely allied to C. cordatum

Our collection from Guangxi on a mountain area little explored by Westerners.  This Mondo Grass had leaves to 2' long and fairly lax.  Flower stems just 3" tall with surprisingly nice mauve flowers that give way to typical shiny Ophiopogon fruit in the fall.  Excellent textural evergreen for shade with a bonus of good flowers.

Evergreen shrub to small tree with gorgeous exfoliating cinnamon colored bark, white fragrant flowers and edible blue-black fruit. A selection we imported via Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy from the UK that was propagated from plants which survived the prolonged Big Freeze of December 2010.

Unflowered plants from our seed collection, although attributes and geography suggest a likelihood of this being the species edulis due to widespread cultivation from pre-Columbian times thanks to the edible tubers.  If this is edulis, expect 24 or more pink-tubed flowers with green-yellow throats in a fireworks umbel.  Showy orange seeds in fall.

A lovely shrubby epiphytic Indochina gesneriad in the same genus as lipstick vine.  That comparison made, this should be an excellent houseplant although we speculate that it ought to take a brief light frost.  A lot of the exposed limestone ridges radiate heat away at night making them colder.  Red tubular flowers.

A rare wild-origin offering of this hardy-for-us species.  This develops stout vertical stems which hold palm-like leaves consisting of 8 narrow green leaflets.  The late-season pink flowers ignite the pleasure centers which had been happily simmering all summer from the foliar architecture.  Nice to introduce some new genetics

Tender South American shrubby succulent making a 3'x4' mound of thin stems with small fleshy leaves  Flowers unknown and we are perfectly willing to accept that this might well be a different genus entirely!  Pairs well with cactus, bromeliads and xeric shrubs.  Let us know what it looks like when it flowers!

A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering.  Our collection from Asia of what is likely the first introduction of this exceptional form of this equally exceptionally rare variety. Attractive leaves that are terminally cleft into bilateral lobes. The white flowers are the finest in the genus holding their own among the best of flowering trees.

A rare grand foliage plant from lower elevation in the eastern Sino-Himalaya.  Allied to Schefflera, this differs in its armor of spiny prickles and whose terminal inflorescense produces black fruit.  We offer this with some trepidation in fear of sparking a feeding frenzy among the Araliaceae collectors who are a particular subset of plant nerds that walk the knife edge of obsession that separates reason from Poe's " A Descent into a Maelstrom".  Before you knee-jerk and click add to cart, take your meds and wait an hour.  Of course this may well be sold out by then..........  A portion of the proceeds goes to support the mission of Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy.

A newly described (2013) species found in..............wait for it.............Tennessee in just three locations.  Incredibly rare and a very exciting find.  These are newly-potted divisions from our plants of the type specimens used to describe the species and do not impact the wild population.  Small yellow flowers with a maroon base.  A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering.

Distinctive Asian conifer forming impressively large trees up to 100' and we've been very fortunate to see large specimens in Guangxi Province.  The dense branchlets are flattened much like a Thuja and extremely handsome.  Ours is thriving in full sun/wind exposure.  Recently moved to Chamaecyparis and then back.

Our collection of this hardy evergreen, Asian Witch Hazel relative.  This will become a small tree in time to 20'-30' and can be very useful as screening or a dark backdrop.  Here, the Feb-March flowers forego any petal modesty and celebrate their sexual parts on full display.  That brings back sadly distant memories. Undamaged by our winters in full exposure.

A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering.  Collected as Tupistra in 1997 in the Cangshan above Dali at 10,000'. Narrow evergreen keeled leaves create a dense clump. Flowers a basal persistent cudgel of green buds which open to small strange green flowers turning to amber drops with age which delight the botanically inclined.

A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering.  This is an interesting fern of which we have just a few nice divisions.  This grows as an epiphyte on tree trunks which is typical for the genus and was found at the high point in the mountain range so should have some hardiness. The distinctive large rounded paired sori on the backs of the leaves also fit the genus.

A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering.  One of the tall verticillate species in China, this was growing among the branches of a striking shrubby Symplocos just below the mountain summit.  The leaves on this species are arranged in whorls like the spokes of a tire.  At the leaf base are clustered white and green flowers which turn into red fruit.  We like it.

A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering.  Keying Ophiopogon requires a keener taxonomic mind than we possess plus a bottle of sippin' whiskey within easy reach as it is a frustrating endeavor.  This is a little gem forming loose open tussocks of fine bladed grassy green leaves which provides excellent viewing of the comparatively large brilliant blue fruit.

A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering.  Unidentified species of a seriously good Asian Pittosporum.  This was an attention-grabber being essentially a small 15' tree with large - for a Pittosporum - evergreen leaves.  What really stopped us was the large green seed capsules like small figs.  These split open when mature to reveal showy orange seeds.  Young seed-grown plants.

Sweet little gesneriad from our collection in Asia in an area not botanized by westerners.  This was common in soil pockets on rock faces where it formed rosettes of evergreen leaves with flower stems to 10" tall.  Up to 9 tubular  light purple flowers on each reddish stem.

First introduction to cultivation! Our collection of this rare species in a genus of excellent foliage perennials. Sue spotted this on an evening plant reccy while Kelly took to bed nursing a rib fracture incurred earlier while collecting fruit on a Photinia. A Photinia of all things! A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering.

This smaller Schefflera is a very ornamental species from our collection northern Vietnam from a mountain previously unexplored by westerners.  Loose panicles of presumed creamy flowers and black fruit.  Similar but different to Schefflera sp. NV 023.  Pretty cool!

A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering. A bold plant of 12' forming part of the species-dense broad-leaf forest margins on the incredibly steep slopes of a mountain previously not visited by westerners to our knowledge. Broad leaves with up to 14 leaflets held on petioles touched in red. Cream flowers and black fruit on dendritic panicles.