This woody, perennial climbing vine, which is native to south-west Madagascar has attractive, quilled pinkish purple flowers. It is one of the fastest growing plants in the world, sometimes in the tropics extending by as much as five metres in a month. In the tropics, flowering usually occurs after the wet season ends, along with fruit set. Its sap, or latex, when treated contains commercial quality rubber. It is now naturalised in the Caribbean, East Africa, Mauritius, India, south east Asia, Indonesia, Latin America, the southern United States, Fiji and New Caledonia. ... Learn More

This intriguing, rare and beautiful curiosity from the hills of Japan has creeping, straggling stems, which are covered with small pointed leaves and frilly greenish-white flowers, which in turn produce blackcurrant-like berries. Surprisingly, this mound-forming plant is a most unlikely member of the dianthus family. In woodland or a shady place it will gently romp along and mystify all who see it! ... Learn More

A great ornamental plant, with bright yellow ginger-like, sweetly scented flowers, and oblong, pleated leaves. It brings an oriental influence to the garden, from its native Southeast Asia, where it is more commonly used as food wrapping, and the hair like fibres are used to make fishing nets, ropes and even false hair! This plant provides nectar and pollen for bees and a wide range of other pollinating insects which are always a welcome addition to any garden. It can also be cultivated as a houseplant. ... Learn More

Popularly sought by collectors but not common in cultivation, this recently described, elegant, slender species cycad is suited to tropical gardens which have a seasonally dry climate, although it also makes an impressive pot plant. With an attractive, smooth, yellowish trunk with a nicely rounded base, and green leaves, it is easy to grow, tolerating dry periods, and thrives best in full sun in a well drained soil. In the wild it grows on limestone cliffs from southeast Thailand to southern Vietnam. ... Learn More

One of the most attractive and easy-to-grow of all tropical plants, this gorgeous evergreen cycad produces branched stems, each one being topped by a crown of 30 - 40 leaves that can each be up to a meter long after several years. It is often a feature of hotel gardens in warmer countries where it produces a brown, furry, football-sized heart, from which, when it is mature, appears a cluster of attractive, egg-like, bright red seeds. Although it can grow larger in hot countries outside, in cooler countries it makes an imposing, very long-lived specimen in a large pot, and is perfect in a sun l ... Learn More

This attractive plant is short-stemmed, with a swollen trunk , forming a uniquely 'pot-bellied' base, and an attractive crown in cultivation. In cooler climates it is one of the few deciduous cycads, losing its leaves every winter, although fresh ones sprout reliably at the end of every winter. It is similar in character to Cycas circinalis in some respects, but darker in colour, with leaves more upright in growth, and it also appears to be a more rapid grower! ... Learn More

Rosettes of heart shaped, mid-green leaves with pale green marbling bear pink flowers with 5 reflexed petals and dark pink bases to each petal, which appear prior to the leaves from August until October. Tubers produce roots from the top, sides, and bottom, unlike Cyclamen hederifolium, which produces roots from the top and sides, but not the bottom. Being native to northern Algeria and Tunisia it needs a leafy, well-drained soil in light shade and bulbs should be kept dry during their dormancy. ... Learn More

Pale to rose pink flowers with a magenta blotch at the nose, and smelling noticeably of honey, bloom in autumn above rosettes of deep green oval leaves with silvery markings. If frosted, the leaves generally recover with a second flush. As it grows in coniferous woodlands at 700–2,000 m elevation in the Taurus Mountains of southern Turkey, it enjoys decayed pine needle litter incorporated in the compost if this is obtainable. ... Learn More

In late autumn and winter, above rosettes of grey-green leaves with deep purple reverse, bloom heads of extremely fragrant white or pale pink flowers with a magenta blotch near the nose and petals twisted into small propellers. These gems are native to woodland at 300–1,200 m elevation in the mountains of Cyprus. ... Learn More

Rosettes of superbly marked and marbled leaves surround bunches of rose-petalled flowers, blotched at the base and veined in red. Autumn flowering Cyclamen graecum is a very variable species with a wild distribution which includes the southern parts of the mainland of Greece and the south coast of Turkey, and part of the north of Cyprus. In cultivation, some forms of the plant will stand significant frost particularly if the tuber is deeply planted. There is also evidence that flowering is encouraged if the plant receives a degree of baking in the summer, as long as there is a little moistur ... Learn More

Plants produce handsome silver-marked foliage with red, pink or ivory white flowers in August and September. They are completely hardy and relatively easy, naturalising by self-seeding. Cyclamen hederifolium has a wide distribution stretching from south eastern France, through Italy, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, (including Crete and many of the Aegean Islands). It is very tolerant of dry shade being summer deciduous, coming back to life with the late summer rains. ... Learn More

This is the lovely pure white form of this hardy species. It blooms and sprouts leaves in autumn, grows through the winter, and flowers from August to October with brilliant white blooms, ranging from 3 to 5 inches tall. Leaf color varies from all-green to all-silver, but the most common is a Christmas tree or hastate pattern in silver or pewter and various shades of green. It is native to woodland, shrubland, and also rocky areas in the Mediterranean region from southern France to western Turkey as well as on the Mediterranean islands, and naturalized farther north into Europe and in the P ... Learn More

This valuable mixture contains many different variants of this lovely hardy plant. Colours will range from deepest pink to pure white with all variations in between. ... Learn More

This delightful dwarf, which is similar to Cyclamen cilicium but smaller, has beautiful flowers, which are white with grey veins or pale pink, and appear from August until November, emerging either before or along with the leaves which are almost round, and either plain green or attractively marbled in the centre. Although this diminutive gem is quite hardy, due to its small stature, it is usually grown in pots or in an alpine garden. In the wild it is found in oak woodland in scattered spots at 100–1000 metres in western Turkey. ... Learn More

Early in the year white or pale pink flowers open which gradually deepen in colour to a clear brilliant white. Possibly hardy in the warmer parts of the UK, it is best grown in an alpine house. It has in recent years proved to be quite hardy, tolerating temperatures as low as -12ºC in a sheltered, well-drained spot, but it will not tolerate both low temperatures and wet conditions. ... Learn More