These completely hardy members of the "African Violet" family make dark green rosettes of hairy succulent leaves from which arise round-faced, yellow-eyed, pure white flowers. They are very, very long-lived in walls where they will slowly get bigger year after year, and can stand an unbelievable amount of cold, heat and drought. ... Learn More

The beautiful sky blue flowers of this rare and lovely plant are similar to, but distinctly different from the more commonly seen flowers of R. myconi. It grows in Serbia and Macedonia, mainly in the east of both countries and is well known on the Nidze mountain near Bitola in Macedonia. It was named after the Serbian queen Natalija Obrenovic and is also known as the phoenix flower, referring to the resurrection of the Serbian state after the destruction during World War I. Please note, seeds are extremely small, take care when opening. ... Learn More

Palest moonlight buttermilk coloured blooms, like clouds of shimmering butterflies, produced all spring and summer. Admired greatly here where they naturalise gently along pathways. ... Learn More

This is one of the loveliest of the alpine buttercups with attractive grey-green, glaucous leaves, and short stems carrying open, golden-eyed, pure white flowers. These gems come from the Pyrenees, and the Cantabrian Mountains. ... Learn More

One of the very biggest, and most impressive of all buttercups, this easy-to-grow giant opens enormous, bright green, maple-like leaves beneath large heads of large bunches of huge, shiny yellow buttercups, each with a bright green eye! This display continues until autumn when it dies completely away into a tuber, re-emerging again in early spring. This unexpectedly hardy plant is native to all of the Canary islands and will do best in rich, rather moist soils. ... Learn More

One of our earliest spring flowers, just after the snowdrops, it can appear as early as the latter part of February where it makes carpets of golden stars on shiny green carpets of tightly-packed foliage. on the banks of streams and rivers, or else in the more shaded areas under hedgerows. A valuable addition to any garden, as the bright green shiny foliage is an astonishing annual weed suppressant. Annual seeds simply do not have light to survive until may or June, when the celandine's leaves promptly die completely away, leaving just tiny harmless tubers until the following February. Contra ... Learn More

Very rarely seen, this fabulous, dark-leaved variant of the celandine is also one of our earliest spring flowers, blooming just after the snowdrops as early as February. It makes solid carpets of superb, shiny, ebony-black, tightly-packed foliage, liberally studded with golden stars. This solid, glistening foliage is an astonishing annual weed suppressant, making a solid low carpet, stifling germinating annual seedlings which simply do not have light to survive until May or June. Then the celandine's leaves promptly die completely away, having achieved their "mulching/weed suppressing" duty. T ... Learn More

This lovely gem supplies valuable spring colour for the front of a border or rockery. Even experts are fooled by the long, sisyrinchium-like, glaucous leaves before the very long succession of butter-yellow saucers appears. It has no vices and is too seldom seen. ... Learn More

High in the alpine meadows of the European Alps lives this quite spectacular plant. Golden-eyed, ivory white saucers open in long succession on repeatedly dividing stems, giving a good season of bloom. Easy to grow in good, well-drained but moist soil, it will gently self-seed if you are fortunate! Very few fertile seeds available. ... Learn More

A rare, striking, tall and easy-to-grow plant for most gardens. Flowering all summer with profusions of showy, golden yellow flowers with a protruding brown central cone. Good for cut flowers and arranging. Perennial but best treated as an annual. ... Learn More

This famous Banana relative is not a palm at all, despite its common name, and is a popular ornamental in tropical regions. The leaf arrangement gives the entire plant the appearance of a huge fan. The Madagascan Travelers Palm derives its name from its capacity to hold water in the leafbases for long periods of time after a rainfall, allegedly providing water for weary travellers, even during a drought. Once germinated, the resulting plant is VERY fast growing. The waxy, blue seed cover should be removed just prior to sowing for better results. High daytime temperatures may help to trigger fa ... Learn More

Open racemes of very large, tubular, deep pink flowers with yellow throats, open in early summer on this rarely-seen plant, which bears rough, palmate leaves. It is perennial in a sheltered spot with good drainage, but is perhaps better enjoyed in a large container which is kept frost-free. ... Learn More

One of the most valuable cottage garden flowers, but sadly ignored and rarely seen, is this sweetly perfumed plant. Because it does not possess bright flowers it is often left to languish in some dark corner....The impressive spike-like inflorescence of this ancient ornamental cottage garden plant takes up most of the upper stem, and is densely packed with many deeply-fragrant yellow-eyed white flowers. The relatively insignificant leaves are divided deeply into many narrow lobes. Fill your garden with musky perfume! ... Learn More

A lovely architectural plant with waving, almost snake-like heads, of small, tufted yellow-cream flowers, the appealing rosettes of yellowish green leaves acquiring a reddish blush in cool weather. This species was the most widely used source of the natural dye known as weld, a bright yellow dye. If mixed with the blue from woad, (Isatis tinctoria), it produces greens such as Lincoln green. ... Learn More

Collected on our 1994 Chile expedition, (RB 941010,) this shrubby and spiny unlikely verbena relative, with small, shiny evergreen leaves, produces clusters of smallish mauve bell-flowers in spring followed by most attractive violet berries in autumn. ... Learn More