Unnamed Paeonia hybrid - single cream with cherry pink edge

This was given to me as a small bit of tuber about 30 years ago - I forget who from - and it has been with me ever since. 

I know nothing more about its origins but it's been a wonderful strong grower wherever I've had it, forming a dense, rounded clump. Unless someone can come up with a better suggestion I'm going to call it Cherry Pannacotta.

Many single rounded creamy flowers, edged in pink. The foliage is very glaucous grey green (a bit like mlokosewitschii - a possible parent - but the leaflets are narrower), and strongly tinted purple in spring. Does not set seeds.

Substantial newly potted roots, probably big enough to flower, in 3l pots.
£25

Chelone glabra linifolia

An upright perennial with narrow leaves and slightly green-tinged white flowers – very fresh and elegant in the autumn border. 

Any retentive soil in sun or part shade. 
£8

Berberis calliantha

The spiny edged foliage is glossy green above and white underneath and the flowers are lemon yellow – nothing unusual about any of that - except that the leaves and flowers are bigger than any similar species – the leaves up to 2ins long and the flowers an inch across, and all this on a low compact shrub not more than 3ft tall. At the same time this is as hardy and adaptable as any of the more familiar types. 

Many people dismiss Berberis as just a lot of dull scruffy spikey shrubs, too often planted around carparks (and full of litter) but there are quite a few good, interesting species for the more discerning gardener – and calliantha is one.  
£16

Weigela middendorffiana

An interesting alternative to the commoner Weigelas in cultivation, having soft yellow flowers in early summer developing orange markings inside. 

More compact than the others too at about 6ft x 6ft and may be pruned quite hard after flowering. Any situation except very dry, very wet or very shady.
Specimen size plants - £30 - collection only

Silene regia

An amazing tall upright N.American species with big, intense red flowers over a long period. 

Hardy and long-lived
sold out for now

Salix magnifica

Originally mistaken (out of flower) for a Magnolia - this species has broad lustrous oval hairless leaves and thick stems - completely different to what we normally think of as a willow.

This is the female form and the catkins are long and slender. A remarkable shrub for a retentive soil.
£16

Rostrinucula dependens

My sources tell me this might actually be R. sinensis, but either way, this is definitely turning out to be one of my favourite plants. The arching habit, elegant 6in blackish sea green foliage and pale bloomy stems and leaf undersides are a feature all summer. 

Exquisitely sculpted 3-4 inch pearly white 'catkins' sprout mauve/pink filaments in Autumn. The whole thing has a most unusual pale/dark effect - restrained but very classy and unlike anything else. To 4ft tall. Easy in any sunny well-drained site.
£8

Two Primulas

Primula veris x elatior  

A neat small Primula with short stems, tight foliage, and the yellow flowers have relatively narrow petals in umbels on short stems. 

Easy and floriferous. From Kevin Hughes.
£6

Primula Lady Greer

A really very cute old cultivar with neat rounded leaves and umbels of pale yellow flowers. 

Gradually makes a colony but hasn't seeded about. Easy and long-lived in moist shade.
£6

Alangium platanifolium

Another collector's item perhaps. This rare small deciduous tree or large shrub is grown both for its striking foliage (something between a plane tree and a tulip tree) and the flowers, which are individually quite small but numerous and very nicely made. They have been described as resembling little white martagon lilies. 

Hardy but growing and flowering best in a warm spot on any decent soil. 
£20

Euphorbia corollata

A white flowered Euphorbia - who knew? In this case fairly normal looking bushy spurge plants produce increasingly wide branching sprays of small pure white flowers in summer – more like a Gypsophila or a Linum perhaps. 

This species originates in Eastern North America so should be completely cold hardy. So far it has been easy and vigorous in a sunny spot. Not invasive.
£8

Metaplexis japonica

Similar to Watakaka (or Dregea) sinensis with similar foliage and flowers, but in this case with pinkish mauve flowers. A hardy herbaceous climber, flowering periodically through the summer. 
£8

Various Irises

Iris barbatula

An exquisite alpine species with neat flowers at the base of narrow upright leaves. The flowers are a rich violet with a white zone toward the centre and a smart orange line along the middle. Very easy to grow here, and perhaps unusually for a Chinese mountain plant, untroubled by the relatively dry conditions or indeed by molluscs.

£8

Iris x fulvala

A very vigorous and adaptable but low-growing species that will thrive in ordinary soil or wetland situations in full sun. The large flowers are rich purple marked with a yellow toward the centre. 

£8

Iris prismatica

A dellightful small American species, with very fine delicate mauve flowers, marked with darker lines. Best in moist conditions in sun or semi shade but will grow in ordinary soils if not too dry

£8

Iris unguicularis Peloponnese Snow

A deservedly popular form - still in short supply. Smaller than normal unguicularis, the flowers are pure white touched with blue toward the centre. Perfect for dry sunny sites sheltered from the rain

£12

Iris sintenisii

A rarely seen Eastern European species with finely crafted inky violet and white flowers among tussocks of narrow grey upright leaves. Easy and adaptable in sun.

£8

Iris graminea

Related to sintenisii - another small European species with nicely shaped violet flowers among narrow grassy leaves. The flowers are plum-scented.

£6

Indigofera kirilowii

A very lovely low-growing shub with fresh green foliage and relatively large clear pink flowers in summer.

Easy and adaptable
£12