Pale lilac, delicately pencilled flowers with a yellow centre, one to three per stem, open as soon as the snow melts at high elevations in its home in Syria, Lebanon and Israel. The upright growth and delicate, diminutive flowers are two of the distinctive features of this rare gem. It will do best in a pot in the alpine house or maybe a well-drained scree outside. Few seeds collected. ... Learn More

Gorgeous flowers, 18 to 25 mm wide, of deep rosy-pink or dark old-rose with small purplish blue or greyish blue blotches, are held on short wiry stems above very narrow wiry leaves. These rare plants, with the desirable habit of self-seeding, resemble the more common and perpetually popular crocus, with which they are apparently in convergent evolution. ... Learn More

Strong, vigorous plants open thick-petalled, deep purple flowers early in the year on thin, wiry stems which erupt from compact tufts of thin leaves. Looking remarkably like a crocus, these fabulously coloured plants have a strong constitution, and are ideal in a sunny spot with fertile soil and good drainage, or in a container where they will bulk up reliably. ... Learn More

These lovely South African plants come in an amazing range of colours, and do best and multiply well in situations where they have good drainage and sun in the same way as crocuses do. Sandy, loamy soils at the front of a raised bed or border are perfect. And of course they make superb specimens for pot cultivation when they can be divided up every few years as the clump expands. ... Learn More

This really beautiful flower opens its violet-rose to lilac, or rarely salmon-pink flowers, with a violet or greenish yellow cup and a violet blotch or band in the throat. In the wild it is found in clay soils in dry areas of the winter rainfall Cape and blooms in late winter to early spring. ... Learn More

This dwarf species bears pale to intense pink flowers that flare widely open at the mouth, giving a starry appearance, with a pale yellow and white throat, above clumps of narrow, grassy leaves. It will do well in any rich, well drained soil in a sunny spot, but requires a good winter protection. It may succeed best grown in pots as in the wild it grows in high places ranging across a huge swathe of Africa, stretching from the Drakensberg Mountains in South Africa to Kenya, the Sudan, southern Ethiopia, and Cameroon. ... Learn More

This exceptionally pretty plant, which appears in late winter and into spring, has almost goblet-shaped, scented yellow flowers, usually with black marks or blotches in the throat, and usually the leaves are spirally twisted, hence its name. It grows in the wild in South Africa, in sandstone and clay soils, from distinctive corms that are flattened with a wide fan-like basal ridge. ... Learn More

These reliable, clove-scented, purple crocus-like flowers have yellow centres with bronze-gold feathering on the backs of their petals, and erupt from compact tufts of thin leaves. Flowering from Feb-Apr, they ultimately make strong, vigorous plants. They are long-lived with a strong constitution, and are ideal in a sunny spot with fertile soil and good drainage, or in a container where they will bulk up reliably. ... Learn More

This gorgeous plant has sweetly-fragrant flowers opening over a long period until mid autumn. This unusually dwarf compact form form was discovered growing on the sea cliffs near to Newcastle in the UK. The flowers open much larger the usual form and have correspondingly increased levels of perfume. The bright red autumn heps, hips, or seed pods, are also larger than normal. Seedlings may vary but expect some lovely forms. ... Learn More

Seemingly not in cultivation. We can find no references. Masses of medium sized pink flowers on a dense shrub. Vladimir, our botanist guide, asserts that this is the best rose for grafting purposes, but not apparently discovered in the West. ... Learn More

The lovely "Dog Rose" is native to Europe, North West Africa and western Asia. It makes a perfect addition to a wild garden and is often used for hedging. The gorgeous flowers can vary from deep pink to almost white, maturing into attractive, oval 1.5–2 cm red-orange fruit, or hip or hep! The flesh of the fruit is noted for its high vitamin C level, and is used to make syrup, tea and marmalade, and indeed it has been grown or encouraged in the wild for the production of vitamin C from its fruit (often as rose-hip syrup), especially during conditions of scarcity or during wartime. ... Learn More

These incredible, compact, disease-resistant plants will flower surprisingly quickly from seed, even in four months! We did not believe it until we trialled them! Yes, all this from seed! Sweetly-scented blooms, in a range of shades through pink to white, appear on this beautiful miniature rose, which is perfect for growing in pots, although if grown in the ground it will become a low growing, hardy perennial shrub. The rarely-seen and unique Fairy Rose is a Polyantha, with many clusters of blooms, and they are valued for their profuse clumps of ever-blooming double and single flowers, which a ... Learn More

Native to Europe and southwest Asia, this lovely rose bears fragrant, paler-centred pink flowers throughout spring and early summer. A vigorous plant, it is ideal in the wild garden or covering an unsightly wall! ... Learn More

A healthy, tough and extremely vigorous rose with spreading growth, bearing masses of pure white flowers, with a strong sweet fragrance, which are held in beautiful, flat-topped, cascading clusters. These can sometimes be made up of hundreds of individual flowers each facing outwards, exposing a cluster of pretty yellow stamens. The heavy masses of perfumed flowers are most attractive to bees, making it a good choice for a wildlife garden, and also for growing through large trees, or to cover large unsightly buildings or walls. The Royal Horticultural Society has given it its prestigious Aw ... Learn More

Rosa gallica, commonly known as the Gallica Rose, is a historical and well-recognized species within the rose family, Rosaceae. Known for its significance in horticulture and cultural history, this species has a straightforward yet enduring presence. The Gallica Rose is characterized by its deciduous shrub habit, typically reaching a height of 3 to 4 feet (0.9 to 1.2 meters). The stems are armed with thorns, and the pinnate leaves consist of several small leaflets. The flowers of Rosa gallica are notable for their simple, five-petaled structure and appear in a range of colors, including shades ... Learn More