Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Crithmum maritimum

Family: (Apiaceae)

(P) to 12″.  Rock Samphire.  Southern Europe.  A British native known for precariously hanging from rock crevices on the white cliffs of Dover, this fascinating plant has happily established itself in the gravel at the feet of our alpine troughs.  A tangle of succulent, flattened, blue-green leaves and stems support sizeable umbels of yellow-green flowerheads.  Rock Samphire has a long history as a foraged edible plant and has recently gained in popularity among epicureans for its aromatic and flavourful leaves.  Well-drained soil.  Sun.  3 & T1

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Salvia coccinea 'Brenthurst'

Family: Lamiaceae

(A/TP) to 2.5′.  A cool-coloured cousin of the red bedding Salvia with numerous spikes of bicoloured,  lipped blooms.  The pale whitish pink upper hoods and three lobed, deeper pink lower lips contrast nicely against the dark tinted calyces and stems.  Blooms late summer and lasts until frost.  Sun. 4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Francoa sonchifolia

Family: Melianthaceae

(TP) to 2-½’.  Wedding Flower.  Chile.  In mid-summer, graceful, long-lasting, unbranched stems bear compact racemes of dark pink buds.  The buds open into soft pink flowers with darker pink markings.  Deeply lobed, spoon-shaped leaves form attractive, evergreen rosettes.  Best grown in pots for outdoor display and overwintered in a cool greenhouse.  Moist, well-drained soil.  Sun/partial shade.  4 & T1

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Eucomis zambesiaca

Family: Asparagaceae

Tender bulb to 12″.  South Africa.  Narrow racemes of open, creamy white flowers.  The first Eucomis to bloom, producing flower spikes as early as late spring.  Easy to grow.  Sun.  3 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Xanthorhiza simplicissima

Family: (Ranunculaceae)

Hardy shrub to 18″.  Yellowroot.  Appalachians.  A much underused native plant that makes a striking groundcover for the woodland.  In early summer, sprays of peculiar, starry, brownish purple flowers emerge atop stems of rich green, irregularly toothed, pinnate leaflets.  Over time the plants form dense, lush green colonies with the foliage turning a burnished coppery-gold in the autumn.  Partial shade/shade.  PC – 4 wks, 3 & T1

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Semiaquilegia ecalcarata

Family: (Ranunculaceae)

(P) to 16″.  False Columbine.  A native of eastern Asia with exquisite mauve-purple, bell-shaped, nodding flowers resembling spurless Columbines.  A delicate addition to the woodland.  We have ours self-sowing nicely around the troughs near the Gardeners’ Bothy.  Blooms in late spring.  Sun/partial shade.   4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Pulsatilla patens

Family: (Ranunculaceae)

(P) to 12″.  Eastern Pasque Flower.  Native to Europe, Russian, China, Canada and US.  Blooming in April at 4″ high, before the leaves develop, the ethereal, open, bell-shaped, flowers command attention.  The solitary, two-inch flower has six blue-violet, petal-like sepals and a ring of many yellow staminodes that surround a light green central boss of stamens. The sepals are pointed at the tip and lined with many parallel veins.  Flowers, stems and foliage are all covered in fine, silky, whitish hairs.  The flowers are followed by plume-like seed heads (reminiscent of some Clematis and Geum) that have good ornamental interest.  Deeply divided basal foliage grows to 12 inches tall after the flowers have faded.  A great rock garden plant and the state flower of South Dakota.  Grows best in drier, sandier soil.  Sun.  3 & T2 & ∆

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Clematis integrifolia pink-flowered

Family: (Ranunculaceae)

(P) to 3′.  Solitary Clematis.  Central Europe and Asia.  An upright, non-climbing Clematis with 2-inch, bell-shaped flowers that are a bright clear to pale mauve pink with heavily ribbed, spreading tepals and a central cluster of deep yellow stamens. Attractive, feathery seedheads follow.  Mid-to-late summer.  Sun.  3 & 7 for 8 weeks, then T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Tricyrtis formosana

Family: (Liliaceae)

(P) to 3.5′.  Toad Lily.  Taiwan.  Shining, deeply veined, dark leaves on stiff, erect stems that branch into loose clusters of orchid-like buds and flowers.  Flowers are white to light purple with intense reddish-purple spotting and yellowish throats.  Stamens and stigma protrude far above the six splayed petals.  August to September.  Beautiful.  Moist soil.  Sun/partial shade.  3 & 6

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Limonium minutum

Family: (Plumbaginaceae)

(TP) to 6″.  Miniature Statice.  Southeastern France.  A small, tufted, woody species from the Mediterranean regions.  The red-tinged, slender leaves are obovate to spathulate, with recurved margins and form a dull green, cushion-like mass of rosettes.  Sprays of small, lavender, five-lobed, trumpet-shaped, “everlasting” flowers are held in bunches on wiry branched stems.  Endearing.  June.  This mini-gem turns a bright plum-purple in fall.  Sun.  3 & T2, cover and keep dark.