A striking new double form with a compact, lax habit, and an exceptionally long flowering period. The golden, daisy-like, double blooms smother the ferny foliage from early summer onwards. Brighten up your hanging baskets and containers, or let their trailing stems spread through gravel gardens and the front of borders. Likes a sunny position. ... Learn More

In early summer dense sprays of bright yellow trumpet flowers erupt from amidst bright green glossy leaves on a slowly spreading woody vine. Bizarre cat's-claw-like tentacles are used by the plant to fix itself to almost any vertical surface. ... Learn More

A choice Tasmanian climber grown outside for twenty years here. Thin twining stems produce creamy-yellow purple-tipped waxy flowers in spring. In autumn, outstandingly lovely clusters of deepest violet grape-sized berries appear. ... Learn More

A nursery friend in Tasmania sent us a pod of the rare pure white form of this lovely climber. These plants make a perfect contrast when grown with the blue-berried form. ... Learn More

A serious contender for the world's most attractive palm, the impressive blue-silver fan-shaped leaves can reach up to 2m in width and are divided into 20 segments each. When mature it produces strong, star-shaped stems carrying just a small number of enormous seeds. A staggeringly attractive plant, when I first encountered one in the Canary Islands I simply stood in awe for two or three minutes. A monotypic palm (ie the only one of its genus) it was named for the first chancellor of the German Empire, Prince Otto von Bismarck. The plant is as statuesque and impressive as the man was himself, with a slender trunk capable of reaching over 30cm diameter in the right conditions. Any suitable garden in need of a living architectural statement could do a lot worse than grow this mighty plant. Very few seeds ever available. ... Learn More

This lovely tropical and sub-tropical shrub or bushy tree has glossy, ovate, evergreen leaves on twigs which are covered with rust-coloured scales when young and are bare when older. Sprays of attractive pink and white flowers open, producing striking, bright red, two-valved fruits, covered with dense soft bristles. When ripe, they split open revealing masses of small, inedible, fleshy seeds, covered with red-orange pulp. The inedible fruit is harvested for its seeds which produce the reddish orange dye annatto, which is one of the most important food grade natural colourants widely used in the dairy industry, and also for confectionery and bakery products, as well as non-edible purposes such as cosmetics and dying leather. ... Learn More

This wonderful, robust, strong evergreen fern from Chile is by far the most distinctive of our few reliably hardy evergreen ferns. Growing to 3 ft or more, it has thick, leathery dark green pinnatifid fronds. It spreads quite easily, in time developing into a colony, and will form a dramatic impact to your garden. ... Learn More

This relatively easy-to-grow orchid produces broad, pleated, aspidistra-like leaves. In late spring, arching stems of superb pink orchid flowers appear, with the very occasional white form appearing. Once established, this plant is a valuable garden treasure as it is quite hardy, but it may be grown in a pot to overwinter inside where winters are extremely cold. It prefers a cool, organic soil if possible in a shaded or woodland situation where the rhizomes can slowly spread over the years. ... Learn More

Drifts of fragrant, nodding "Common Blue Bells" are one of the most enduring sights of spring in English woods. These seeds were collected from the wild plants on Devon banks surrounding our gardens. These are Scilla non-scripta seeds. ... Learn More

From China and Korea comes this giant feature plant, which makes a clump of tall stems with dangling panicles of tan flowers, loved by butterflies and other pollinating insects. Although it is in the same family as the horrid stinging nettles, it has no stinging abilities whatsoever, just 'stunning' abilities. With its intricately-veined, shiny, green leaves, it makes a great bold feature in any garden, living happily in sun or shade as long as the soil is evenly moist but well-drained. This venom-less pussycat can even gently self seeds if happy. ... Learn More

Gorgeous, closely-packed trusses of tubular flowers open in early summer, each flower being of a deepest burgundy, clasped at the base with a violet calyx and stem! What a fantastic colour combination on this form of this rare plant from Colombia and Venezuela! Like most bomareas, (which are basically "climbing alstroemerias") it will prefer a warm sunny spot in deep, well-drained soil, when it will scramble up any available support or shrub before festooning itself with flower buds. Alternatively, it will also make an impressive specimen in a sizeable deep pot or a greenhouse border. ... Learn More

Bunches of magnificent, delicately marked, flared, dark pink trumpets hang from twining vines decked with fleshy green leaves. Fabulous either climbing another shrub or on a support and it weaves through a conifer here. Plant out when still small. ... Learn More

This exceptionally dainty rock plant has thin, dark-coloured stems, bearing clouds of gypsophila-like, red-eyed white stars, possessing an unusual peppery perfume. Very rare in the wild in the USA this unusual plant makes a choice specimen for a moist shady bed in the garden. ... Learn More

From the Rocky Mountains, this high alpine Boykinia relative has heads of five-petalled, cherry-red flowers, held just above a cushion of leathery, scalloped leaves in early spring. It is long-lived when happy in the rockery or alpine trough, where it prefers lean, gritty soil or scree, in full sun with a cool root run. ... Learn More

This is the rare white form, from the Rocky Mountains, this high alpine Boykinia relative has heads of five-petalled, pure white flowers, held just above a cushion of leathery, scalloped leaves in early spring. It is long-lived when happy in the rockery or alpine trough, where it prefers lean, gritty soil or scree, in full sun with a cool root run. ... Learn More