High in the Himalayan mountains, up to 19,000 feet in fact, this incredibly tough, hardy, and exceptionally beautiful plant, opens its sweetly-perfumed pink-to-wine-coloured, flared, funnel-shaped flowers in early spring. These are borne in umbels on long slender stalks, above low clumps of shiny, bluish-green leaves. It does perfectly well at sea level though given some shade and moisture! ... Learn More

This beautiful and very rare plant makes a tiny, prostrate rosette of rounded very hairy leaves with short stems bearing heads of flared, tubular, deep indigo-purple flowers. In the muscarioides section (along with the more commonly grown Primula viallii)and probably not in general cultivation, it comes from snow fields and rocky meadows in very high places (up to 4,600 m) in SW Sichuan, SE Tibet and Yunnan. Sorry, no picture until next year, we forgot to take some when it was in flower, so just the rosette at the moment! ... Learn More

Created in the early 1900's at Kew gardens, this quite incredible hybrid between Primula verticillata and Primula floribunda is fertile and comes true from seed. It bears heads of brightest lemon yellow on strong stems above rosettes of deeply-crinkled leaves, all of which are heavily covered withv attractive white farina. However it cannot breed with either of its parents and is a most beautiful stable cross which unfortunately produces only a small number of good viable seeds here. ... Learn More

This exquisite, exotic-looking, slow-growing, diminutive palm, native to the Pacific Island of Vanuatu, grows large, beautifully pleated leaves on a dwarf trunk ridged with old leaf scars and traces of fibrous leaf sheaths, the crown rarely spreading more than 2 metres or so. It is perfect for the smaller exotic garden or even a large container in a conservatory. ... Learn More

Up to seven creamy white flowers, partly hidden by the foliage, emerge in early spring at the end of each branch, on thin wiry stems, which emerge from the ground and branch in lovely layered patterns. Bright green leaves mature to a rich dark green, then later in summer large, conspicuous, bright orange-red berries dangle from the tips, making this a beautiful and interesting easy-to-grow perennial. This species is native to western North America from Vancouver Island in British Columbia south, to Monterey County in California, where It grows in shady forest and woodland including redwood for ... Learn More

Delicate, fragrant, purple-spotted, pale lilac, orchid-like flowers adorn the "Christmas Bush" for six months. Do the flowers look like angels or does it flower at Christmas in Oz? A spectacular, scented foliage, evergreen shrub from Australia. ... Learn More

The most famous of all, the 'King Protea', has large distinctive leaves and huge flower heads which open throughout the year with white, pink and red bracts, depending on the variant. Flower heads persist for a long time, also making excellent cut flowers. Plants should be pruned if leaves suffer frost damage to encourage rapid new growth as soon as possible. Proteas require extremely well drained soil which is both acidic and very low in nutrients, fertiliser containing excess phosphates or nitrates may kill them! Proteas should not be fed with standard liquid feeds. Protea feed is availa ... Learn More

Classed as very rare in the UK, this small, slowly-spreading, semi-evergreen plant has flared, snapdragon-like, tubular flowers which are usually white to cream, but sometimes rarely pink or purple-flushed. It is similar to Prunella vulgaris, but instead the upper stem leaves are cut into narrow lobes. In the wild it also frequents calcareous grassland in Europe, north to Belgium and east to Poland and North Africa. ... Learn More

This extremely attractive tree is adorned with sprays of pastel pink flowers which later become clusters of yellow cherries that turns bright red as they ripen and can be eaten raw or cooked. Also prized for its attractive ringed bark, it is unusual in that it flowers in autumn and winter when little other colour is around. Finally, the fruits and the leaves give a dark green dye, seeds can be used in the manufacture of necklaces, the wood is hard, strong, durable and aromatic, and branches are used as walking sticks. ... Learn More

This species is most popular as a spring flowering bulb, Brian Mathew describing it as "a delightful plant", to be used in rock gardens or under shrubs. It is completely frost-hardy and prefers to be in full sun. ... Learn More

This is the even more lovely pure white form of the species that is most popular as a spring flowering bulb, Brian Mathew describing it as "a delightful plant", to be used in rock gardens or under shrubs. It is completely frost-hardy and prefers to be in full sun. ... Learn More

Rare and delicate, this plant is quite similar to Pseudomuscari azureum, but has a longer raceme of larger mid-blue flowers. In the wild, its few loci are in Northern Iran, where it survives on rock ledges and in light woodland. ... Learn More

An unusual "grape hyacinth" from the cold wastes of Russia with short stems holding massed flowerheads of an unusual and most attractive, pale milky blue which are looser and not as tightly-packed as in many species, resembling tiny hyacinths to which they are of course related. ... Learn More

The Crown Guava is a small shrub/bush found across the northern part of the Amazonian basin from Colombia, Guyana and into Venezuela. It is a cousin of the more common guava fruit (Psidium giajava) but has a taste all of its own. It tend sto have a sharper more acid taste so so is rarely eaten as the raw fruit but more often made into jams and delicious fizzy drinks - often being combined with honey or sugar. It is also grown as an ornamental. ... Learn More

Attractive, frilly flowers mature into guava fruits, which may be round, ovoid or pear-shaped, 2 to 4 inches long, and are commonly used in jams and juices. A series of tests on Indian fruits, including Himalayan apples and pomegranates, bananas from the south, and grapes from Maharashtra, found the guava, (exotic in Europe but a poor man's fruit in India), to be the ultimate super food with the highest concentration of antioxidants which protects against the cell damage that often ages skin. From seed, common guavas may bloom and set fruit in as little as 2 years. They are evergreen, faintly ... Learn More