Euonymus

A real favourite genus of mine. For those who only know the rather characterless hedges of E.japonica and fortunei there are so many very different and much more interesting species to look out for, especially for their autumn colour, but the new growth, flowers and overall habit are worth checking out too.
Euonymus are especially good for chalky gardens.

Euonymus nanus turkestanicus

A creeping evergreen species, quite different to the others with small narrow dark green leaves along wide-spreading stems. The leaves turn rich red brown shades in winter.

The flowers, though small, are plentiful and well worth looking out for. Small red spindle berries may follow.

Excellent in dry shade but very adaptable.
£12

Euonymus cornutus quinquecornutus 

in flower

in fruit

What a mouthful. An Asiatic relative of our native spindle tree. The names mean 'horned' and 'five-horned' respectively, referring to the fruit which is typical Euonymus, having colourful seeds (orange in this case) emerging from a decorative casing, but in this species the casing has five long appendages (the horns) like a green propellor.

Although greenish brown, the flowers are also very pretty, carried on thread-like stems and worth looking out for in early summer. Semi-evergreen, this is a nice small willowy shrub for shade. Young plants – slow-growing.
sold out 


Euonymus spraguei

Similar to E.fortunei - this is a spreading evergreen suitable for dry shade. It has green spiky fruits that split to reveal orange fruits
£12

Californian Mahonia

Mahonia ex nevini

Most of the Mahonias we grow in the UK are forest dwellers, preferring moist shady conditions, but there are quite a number of species from the drier parts of the USA that are rarely seen but well worth having - especially if your garden is well-drained and without much shade.

Mahonia ex fremontii

I have two seed strains on the nursery, one collected from M.nevinii, the other from M.fremontii (both collected from cultivated plants in California by Dennis Carvalho). Neither have flowered much yet but the foliage has a marvellous colour and form - the pale veined coppery red new growth turning to sea green, and has an unusual thin scratchy texture. Overall they look most like nevinii.
Ultimately they will make quite a dense shrub eventually up to 4 or 5 feet high. Fully hardy and very drought tolerant.
These species are now included in a genus separate to Mahonia - Alloberberis
1L pots ~ £12

Hypericum kalmianum

Hypericums can seem a bit ho-hum to most keen gardeners I admit but there are some interesting ones. In this case I think the appeal is in the distinctive low rounded habit and the contrast of the fresh yellow rounded flowers with the neat elliptical sea-green leaves.

Like other shrubby Hypericums though, it's easy to please and flowers over a long period in summer. Not at all weedy, and completely hardy.
2L pots ~ £8

Calycanthus occidentalis

A lovely lush medium sized shrub from California with fresh green aromatic leaves and good sized rich pink flowers over a long period.

I have no real idea why, with the popularity of C.sinensis and its hybrids, this one isn't a lot better known

Easy and hardy in the garden.
5L pots ~ £16

Jaborosa integrifolia

A peculiar creeping relative of the Petunias and Nicotianas. I got down on my knees yesterday evening and discovered that it has a rather nice fresh scent. The down side is that this has a colonising habit, running around underground over quite a wide area so not something you'd want to grow among small delicate plants. An excellent ground cover though among shrubs and trees and larger herbaceous perennials. The stock plant is growing under Myrtles against a south-facing wall in a very dry soil but it will also grow in heavier soils and is surprisingly cold hardy.
1L pots ~ £7

Anemopsis californica

Not to be confused with Anemonopsis – this is a relative of Houttuynia with very striking flowers, somewhat reminiscent of a Magnolia (though actually made up of lots of small flowers, rather than one big one).

A colonising plant for shallow water or wet mud and one of the few garden plants that should be happy in a salt marsh. Fully hardy, but grow as warm as possible in full sun for best results.
fresh lifted plants ~ £8

Anemone multifida

Anemone multifida

A lovely small species with rounded creamy flowers (some with a purplish shading on the outside) through spring and summer. For a sunny or semi-shady site on any reasonably well-drained soil. This species is often offered as A.palmata, but that is a completely different species.
1L pots ~ £4