Aechmea recurvata recurvata

 

Another near-hardy bromeliad – definitely hardy to a few degrees below zero, planted in a very free-drained bed as you would Fascicularia, or mounted on a branch or wall as an epiphyte. 

The small rosettes are green and produce dense stemless inflorescences of vivid pink and purple, surrounded by red tinted leaves. 

£10

Iris versicolor x pseudacorus Regal Surprise

This is a perfect combination of the two parents, with the striking violet and white bicolor of one and the ease adaptability of the latter - though without it's rampant tendencies. It doesn't set seed either so won't take over other parts of the garden.

Suitable for any wet site - from the pond's edge to damp soil in sun or part shade. I don't know why it's so rarely seen.
Fresh lifted rhizomes £8 each

Asclepias exaltata

To my mind one of the best new things I've come across, and I have no idea why I so rarely sell any. Although the flowers are not vividly showy they are exquisitely crafted in jade and ivory and dangle elegantly on long filaments from the tips of the 2ft stems. 

Completely frost hardy and easy to please on any fertile retentive soil in sun or part shade.
sold out for now

Ribes laurifolium

Another winter flowering shrub and one of my favourites. Nothing like the blackcurrants to which it is related, this is a low, gnarly, rather picturesque evergreen, producing dangling trails of pale greenish yellow flowers from red bracts in earliest spring. 

Easy-going but probably best with some shade from deciduous trees and shrubs. Grow Cyclamen and Scillas through it. 

Male and female plants are available.

The common male form is known, confusingly, as Amy Doncaster and has more rounded open flowers

£14

The female form has denser clusters of flowers with conspicuous bracts. Black berries are occasionally produced

£14

Deutzia hookeriana

I used to think Deutzias were a rather boring group of shrubs but the cognoscenti know different. It's a surprisingly varied genus and many of them are exquisite in flower. 

Hookeriana is one of the best with almost unbelievably finely crafted sugar pink flowers in neat rounded heads in late spring. The overall shape and foliage are also good. Like most Deutzia, and easy adaptable plant. 

£15

Desmodium (Ototropis) callianthum

A seldom-seen scrambling shrub with subtly variegated clover-like foliage (2 or 3 shades of green) and rich pink pea flowers. 

Either grow it among other shrubs so it can scramble about among them, or, if you feel motivated, train it against a wall. Either way it makes a very welcome splash of colour in late summer and autumn

£15

Fuchsia magellanica Arauco

An absolutely exquisite, possibly naturally occurring, form of this popular shrub - always attracts attention with it's finely crafted purple white and pink flowers and neat dark green foliage. It can make a large shrub in time but, like most Fuchsias, responds well to pruning.

This is less drought tolerant than other Fuchsia - not good in small containers and definitely most at home in cool moist conditions.

nb. the variety Lady Bacon (left) is very similar and they can be hard to tell apart, but seen together, Arauco is definitely the more refined plant with better colours, and smaller leaves and flowers. I grow both but I would always recommend Arauco. It just has that certain something that even people who don't generally go for Fuchsias can appreciate.
£10

Akebia longeracemosa

An excellent smaller species - vigorous but not overwhelming - almost evergreen and with remarkable flowers. These, as is usual for the family, consist of smaller male flowers below and larger female flowers above, but in this case the male flowers are in  a long dangling raceme (hence the name) and the whole inflorescence is a dusky maroon.

Very hardy and easy in a wide variety of situations
£16

Colocasia gaoligongensis

The Southeast Asian taros (Colocasia species) are very popular right now for subtropical plantings, with their huge tropical looking aroid leaves - often dark and beautifully textured. In this case the leaves are up to about 2ft across, a soft matt green and heavily marked black toward the centre. Yellow arum flowers appear in summer.

Like many subtropicals (Canna, Dahlia etc), some of them are surviving the winters outdoors in the UK these days but very few are reliably hardy. This is where gaoligongensis comes in. Under good conditions (damp and warm in the summer) it's a vigorous big exotic herbaceous perennial. It will grow in drier conditions but the leaves will be smaller. It also does well in my shallow pond.

Here at least, it seems remarkably easy - running around on stolons and potentially filling a large area. Grow it with other big vigorous perennials - nothing too small and delicate, in sun or part shade.

Plants are lifted from the ground for despatch
£15

Ornithogalum reverchonii

A choice species from Spain and Morocco with pure white flowers and long grey leaves. More demanding than most European species – needing excellent drainage and some protection from the worst of the weather, but not at all weedy.
£8

Ranunculus alpestris

A true alpine with rounded deep green leaves and good white flowers. Much easier than many alpine Ranunculus – even here in Sussex where most suffer from the relatively hot dry climate.

An easy hardy plant for raised beds among rocks.
£6

Iris albicans

The true Middle-Eastern species – a bearded Iris with fragrant clear white flowers, touched with lemon toward the centre.

Grows and flowers freely in a sunny raised bed here under a Ceanothus papillosus.
£8

Titanotrichum oldhamii

Classic gesneriaceae - sturdy basal rosette of fleshy crinkly leaves and stems of foxglove like flowers emerging from the centre. The flowers are a very striking bright yellow, deep red inside, and the leaves are purple on the reverse. Not well tried outdoors in the UK, but the main problem overwintering temperate gesneriads usually is not the cold so much as keeping them dry in winter, This doesn't seem to be a problem in this case.

Titanotrichum is best in a moist woodsy soil, and it is imperative that it does not dry out in summer, or else the flower buds will turn to tiny tubers (gemmae). A solid and vigorous woodland perennial as long as it has enough water

£10

Pycnanthemum muticum

Another North American that certainly deserves to be better known. Forms colonies of upright stems with fresh green rounded leaves ultimately developing an almost Euphorbia-like inflorescence of tiny white flowers subtended by silvery white bracts. At this stage the whole plant has a pale silvery sheen.

Not invasive. Has a lovely fresh peppermint fragrance too, and can be used in the same way. Any soil.

sold out

Chrysogonum virginianum australe

A terrific small sunflower type making a compact clump of deep green leaves and bright golden flowers over a long period. Very adaptable to a variety of conditions.

This is the southern form of the species and to my mind, definitely the nicer plant – more compact and better colours.
£6

Boehmeria

Boehmeria is a genus of remarkably ornamental non-stinging nettles, mostly from Eastern Asia. 

Mostly they're grown for the lush foliage and vigorous (but not invasive) growth habit, but the catkin-like flowers are also attractive. All prefer a moist rich soil in sun or semi shade, but they are adaptable.

Boehmeria sieboldiana

Shiny fresh green attractively veined and serrated nettle leaves on a lush bushy plant to over 6ft tall. Whitish flowers. 

Moist woodland ideally but adaptable
£8

Boehmeria tricuspis

A shorter species with, as the name suggests, three-cusped leaves. 

Lush translucent green leaves on reddish stems with pinkish flowers

£8