Native to Australia and South East Asia, this attractive tree opens its clusters of purple and white flowers in early summer before forming the inedible, fleshy yellow fruits in autumn. Birds though can eat them and spread the seeds around in their droppings. It prefers open sun and can do well in partial shade too. It is hardy to most frosts and can withstand extended dry periods and can also adapt to a wide range of soil conditions. ... Learn More

Curious maroon-brown flowers, with chocolate bracts and green stamens, produce unusual inflated fruits above attractive, musky-perfumed deeply-fingered foliage on this very rare plant. In addition, this South African native provides many odd details in its life cycle. Compared with the more well known and widely available Melianthus major, this seldom-seen beauty is more reasonably sized for the smaller garden, and has lovely fuzzy apple green leaves as opposed to the glaucous grey-green of the major. The nectar-filled flowers are intricately veined bizarre beauties of green, brown, and de ... Learn More

"New Zealand Shrubby Violet". Yes, a member of the violet family! A dwarf evergreen shrub, with small oval leaves, resembling a box bush. Tiny clusters of perfumed yellow-green flowers slowly turn to white and purple berries. A slow growing treasure. ... Learn More

An evergreen tree native to the Himalayas, Myanmar, Tibet and Yunnan. Fragrant, milky white flowers emerge in the spring, which are about 6" in diameter when fully open. The bark is dark grey, which also holds fragrance, and the wood is well known for building homes and furniture in certain parts of the world. It prefers full sun to light shade, does not tolerate wind and must not dry out. ... Learn More

Sprays of sweetly-perfumed flowers open all spring and summer long above fronded fragrant leaves which are borne on a plant with an upright and open growth habit. The leaves have a nutty, pungent flavor and are a prized addition to South Indian foods and are often used in curries. They are generally called by the name "curry leaves", though they are also translated as "sweet neem leaves" in most Indian languages, (as opposed to ordinary neem leaves which are bitter). This plant makes a wonderful potted plant for a culinary collection of aromatic herbs. ... Learn More

This upright, evergreen, bushy shrub bears profuse fragrant white flowers followed by purple-black berries and is perfect for growing in a shaded warm area. The excellent, dense, evergreen foliage consists of small lanceolate leaves which are strongly scented when crushed. ... Learn More

Also known as the Chilean Guava, the fruits of Myrtus ugni have a uniquely delicious taste that is beyond compare, rather like a combination of strawberry, pineapple and apple. As a rule, the berries are the main reason for growing this plant, indeed, in Chile they are made into pies and jellies, whilst in the UK, it was apparently Queen Victoria’s favourite fruit, and growers in Cornwall attempted to grow them commercially, using her love of them as one of their selling points. In New Zealand it is being sold as the ‘NZ Cranberry’. It can grow up to 2 metres tall and the small shiny leave ... Learn More

This delightful evergreen shrub has an uncanny 'bamboo-like' form, with purplish leaves in spring and winter, and white flowers in large panicles, later followed by red berries. It is native to eastern Asia from the Himalayas to Japan and is the only member of the monotypic genus Nandina. ... Learn More

Definitely an unusual tree with many names, for many reasons. Growing up to 18 metres tall, it is native to the Indian subcontinent where is it used for foodstuffs, medicines and dyes. The large leaves which grow up to a metre in length, are borne on leaf stalks which are up to 2 metres in length. As these leaf stalks wither, they fall off the tree and gather at the base of the trunk where they look like 'broken bones'. The tree is a night-bloomer and flowers are adapted to natural pollination by bats. Enormous seed pods are produced, with the fruits (up to 1.5m long) curving downwards like sw ... Learn More

This very long-lived plant makes hundreds of single, bowl-shaped, yellow-eyed flowers from red to deepest burgundy. In time this herbaceous shrub makes an imposing, many branched, deciduous tree, which is well worth waiting for. ... Learn More

The lovely yellow "Tree Peony" produces masses of golden yellow bowl-shaped flowers from late spring until mid summer. It is relatively slow-growing, producing masses of strong "trunks" which lengthen over the years, but it is a very long lived thing, becoming an heirloom after ten years or so. ... Learn More

This truly desirable plant has divided blue-green leaves and superb, large, bowl-shaped flowers of stunning bright pink as opposed to the normal red. It is a rare and highly esteemed early-flowering plant, for well-drained fertile soil in half shade. ... Learn More

An adventure into the unknown with this mix of several unidentified or hybrid tree peony forms supplied by keen growers and customers. All of these will slowly produce trunks and grow bigger by the year, and are ideal for the curious gardener who will enjoy the anticipation as the plants mature and reveal their glory by opening their first flowers. ... Learn More

This spiny shrub or small tree opens fragrant flowers which are a bright yellow-orange, with the fifth petal elongated, with a warmer yellow, and purple spotted at the base. These grow from a long slender stalk in groups of eight to ten and are most popular with bees and butterflies. The long, unusually thin leaves make the showy flowers even more visible. It is ideal for a small garden or large container. ... Learn More

This truly spectacular tree is another of the Paulownia group, and is the fastest-growing of them all. More exotic than the more common Paulownia tomentosa, it opens its darker, cherry-tree pink "foxglove" flowers on naked branches in early spring with the large, dinner-plate-sized, soft furry leaves appearing later. If cut nearly to the ground in spring, enormous leaves develop on the shoots sprouting from the soil. It does especially well in poor, impoverished and quite dry soil! ... Learn More