This exotic-looking beautiful flower opens in a quite unusual shade of french mustard! The individual flowers open for just a day or so, and then another flower opens on the same stem, making a long display as long as buds are produced. These plants will perform well in dryish warm screes but excel themselves in a container when they can multiply up. In the wild they are found from S. Brazil to N.E. Argentina. Few seeds collected. ... Learn More

The "Umbrella Plant" makes an attractive feature in a bright window or sun lounge where it produces strong stems topped with striking umbrella-like spokes. On mature plants, sprays of white flowers appear. It may also be used as an impressive marginal plant in a pond or bog garden. If planted deeply it will survive the average winter although is best given winter protection. It is a native of the swamps of Madagascar and a relative of the famous Papyrus of the Nile river and is also sometimes called Umbrella Papyrus, Umbrella Sedge or Umbrella Palm. ... Learn More

This new and extremely lovely plant was discovered on the baking hot dry slopes surrounding Lake Chira, high on the island of Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands. Spreading stems sport numerous large spurred and spiked seedheads. Unlike many members of this family this plant obviously thrives in the dry! ... Learn More

A delightful new-on-the-scene grass, bearing attractive, one-and-a-half inch diameter heads of spiky green and brown sea-urchin-like inflorescences. Will grow bigger in damp soil, but does perfectly well in the dry. ... Learn More

Like its closely-related cousins the ordinary common tomatoes, the egg-size fruit makes good eating, and is typically made into jams or conserve, although it is recommended that the skin and seeds are removed before cooking. It is easily grown from seed and makes an attractive contrast to the more typical foliage of cannas, gingers and bananas. The roots of this plant are quite tough surviving moderate frosts, and in relatively mild areas usually re-grow from the base. It therefore makes either a fruiting shrub, or even a perennial tree, with a trunk, producing a crop of fruit yearly in warmer countries! Otherwise grow in a large container and overwinter frost free. ... Learn More

This superb, elegant, and and much-cherished slow-growing tropical palm has a thin, bright green trunk adorned with white rings and a long, glossy, crimson crownshaft, from which the shuttlecock crown of fronds with unusual bright scarlet stems and leaf ribs emerge. One of the world's most stunning palms, it also lends itself to making a magnificent parlour plant, all it asks is warmth with good light. ... Learn More

From neat rosettes of attractive purple-spotted, lance-shaped leaves, arise in late spring and early summer, long, densely-packed spikes, at first conical then cylindrical, of shell-pink flowers, each of which is intricately spotted and dotted with candy pink and purple. This is a very easy plant to grow in the garden, in a moist sunny soil, probably the best, and indeed the tallest, dactylorhiza to start with, and one which will, in time, make a splendid garden display which multiplies up very quickly. Seed MUST be sown by simply sprinkling it onto undisturbed garden soil. In a year or so, tiny spotted-leafed plants will appear as though by magic. Sowing in a pot of compost will not work! ... Learn More

This beautiful flower is widespread in the British Isles where it is found at up to 600 m above sea level. It is the more northerly equivalent of D. praetermissa with a delightful stocky dwarf habit with deep blue-tinged, green leaves and compact crowded flower spikes of deep rich violet-purple flowers. The individual blooms are deeply coloured and have a characteristic diamond shaped lip. It grows well and bulks up, doubling annually in ordinary garden soil, which is ideally damp but well drained. ... Learn More

With exceptionally beautiful bronze foliage, and large, single flowers in a flamboyant mix of rich colours - deep reds, orange, pinks and gold, this makes a wonderful cut flower. It can even be very easily grown as a half-hardy annual and will flower the first year from seed, and is related to the famous and expensive "Bishop Series. Alternatively, you can save the tubers, when formed, for ensuing years, simply leaving them in the ground in milder areas. Absolutely spectacular in bedding and containers. ... Learn More

New! Dahlia australis, the true species, is a magnificent plant, with demurely nodding pink to lilac flowers, (which are bigger than the similar D. merckii, which is less vigorous and of smaller stature.) Sadly, we have found that it can be difficult to keep year on year. But one day, we discovered that the busy bees at Plant World gardens had pollinated a Dahlia australis plant with pollen from other lovely dahlia cultivars in our gardens. And what an amazing surprise we received when this handful of seeds germinated and finally flowered! A completely new generation of tall but elegant dahlias with numerous branching spindly stems, offering months of a complete spectrum of vibrant colour with surprisingly little effort. These will flower their heads off in virtually any sunny spot, until the first frosts cut them down. Almost constant-flowering, these lovely single flower forms, with the occasional dark-leafed specimen, make solid, stately, almost shrubby plants, which are very easy to integrate into the average garden border, and appear to be quite hardy, having survived for ten years outside untouched by winter. Not prolific seed producers but worth any trouble to grow. ... Learn More

Cactus Dahlias make for an impressive display, bearing curvaceous, spiky blooms in a range bright colours. Their star-shaped flower form means they stand up well to inclement weather, because they’re less prone to being weighed down by heavy rain, or blown about by wind, than other Dahlia types. They are easy to grow from seed and make excellent cut flowers. For best results grow in full sun in moist but well-drained soil, and lift the tubers in November to overwinter for the following year. ... Learn More

Pendulous bell-shaped, golden-eyed, pale lavender flowers, up to 6 inches or 15 cm. across, hang from the enormous blooming panicle that can reach one metre across. Surely the rarest and grandest of all Dahlias, and seldom seen in gardens, it was only recently discovered in cool cloud forest at high elevations, (around 2000 m.) in Oaxaca, Mexico, where it is accustomed to cool days and not-too-cold nights. This gorgeous, statuesque, deciduous perennial tree dahlia, with towering height and bamboo-like stems can grow up to 3 m tall. It is late-flowering, from September onwards (in the northern hemisphere), bud formation being initiated by shorter day length. It will prefer a sheltered spot in cold areas, or alternatively it can make the most impressive greenhouse or conservatory plant you will ever see! After blooming, the plant may be cut down all the way to the ground as the stems die away. (Image courtesy of John McKenna) ... Learn More

Numerous brightest orange-red flowers open in late summer on plants which have quite finely dissected, bright green foliage. Originating from the mountainous regions of Mexico, they can grow extrely large in the right conditions, especially in good soil and with shelter of a wall. Although often reputed to be tender, the plants that produced these seeds have lived happily outside here with no protection for more than 15 years. ... Learn More

This improved dwarf strain of Dahlia is a superb mix of vibrant colours - yellows, oranges and red, to pink, white and purples. Producing double and semi-double blooms against a backdrop of lush, deep bronze foliage, they are ideal for larger pots and planters, in borders or dotted around to fill in gaps. Very easy to manage and will deliver a good performance come rain or shine in summer. ... Learn More

Reputedly the largest of all dahlias, this Mexican giant, in perfect sheltered conditions, can grow up to 5-8m tall, but not quite that tall in the UK! Enormous, dense clusters of large, golden-centred, pinkish-mauve flowers open on the strong, bamboo-like stems. These are thick and become woody at the base, and along with the dark green, divided, velvety leaves, often have a purplish tinge. Budding and flowering, usually in September, is initiated by a long warm autumn and days getting shorter. This magnificent beast is an unbeatable architectural plant for a warm exotic border or a large container in a greenhouse or tall conservatory. ... Learn More