This breathtakingly beautiful species bears nodding blooms which open as pure white cups with rosy-purple or crimson stamens, later opening fully like bone-china saucers. Introduced from China nearly a century ago, it is also fortunately lime-tolerant. ... Learn More

Yellow-brown fragrant flowers form on racemes up to 6cm long, with male and female flowers growing on separate trees. Forming a bush to a small or medium sized tree, it has a trunk which is fluted and irregular at the base and grey bark which is smooth, or with occasional wrinkles or corky bumps. It has long been in use as a traditional medicinal tree in India and is also a source of Kamala dye which is used in colouring silk and wool, and finally is used as an anti-oxidant for ghee and vegetable oils. Its home is south east Asia, Afghanistan and Australia. ... Learn More

The tree produces white-pink, non-hairy (glabrous) flowers in spring along glabrous branches. With a pleasing, rounded crown, abundant flowers and small, edible fruits, forming dense clusters and resembling cherries from a distance, this crabapple has been introduced widely as an ornamental tree. It can also be used for bonsai. ... Learn More

Unlike the common garden stocks, the white form of the fragrant tree stock is rarely encountered. Slowly, with age, it develops a trunk supporting several radiating rosettes of grey lanceolate leaves, each rosette producing spikes of sweetly perfumed white flowers. It is hardy and long lived in a sheltered well-drained spot. ... Learn More

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

An exceptionally choice and rare dwarf plant with pink buds opening to deepest violet-blue flowers. Stems bear oblong-lance-shaped, linear leaves which are dark blue-green above and white beneath. One of the best-ever alpine house and show plants, this fabulous miniature semi-evergreen sub-shrub originates from the mountains of Yugoslavia, Albania and Greece. ... Learn More

This fast-growing, drought-resistant tree, native to the southern foothills of the Himalayas in north western India is widely cultivated in tropical and sub-tropical areas. Hanging clusters of fragrant, orchid-like flowers later become hanging fruits which are three-sided brown capsules holding dark brown, globular seeds which have three whitish, papery wings and are dispersed by wind and water and are sometimes eaten like peas or roasted like nuts. The whitish-grey bark is surrounded by thick cork, and in cultivation the trunk is often cut back annually to 1–2 metres and allowed to regrow, an ... 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 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