Description
Bright pink to lilac purple flowers June-July atop red stems covered in willow-like leaves
Epilobium angustifolium syn. Chamaenerion angustifolium Fireweed Z 2-7
$12.25/barerootBright pink to lilac purple flowers June-July atop red stems covered in willow-like leaves
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Helleborus niger Christmas rose, Black hellebore Z 5-8 POISON
Outfacing, white, waxy cup-shaped flowers resembling single roses in late winter, evergreen leaves.
Outfacing, white, waxy cup-shaped flowers resembling single roses in late winter, evergreen leaves.
Size: 12-20” x 12”
Care: part shade in moist well-drained soil Native: rocky places in Europe
Awards: Received Royal Horticultural Society Award of Merit.The name Helleborus is Greek from hellein meaning “to kill” and bora meaning “food” referring to the plant’s poisonous qualities if placed in food. This species is ancient – known as long ago as 300 BC in Greece where it “purged and cured the mad or melancholicke daughters of Praetus with the roots thereof.” (Parkinson, 1629) Grown in the Eichstätt Garden, the garden of Johann Konrad von Gemmingen, prince bishop of Eichstätt in Bavaria, c. 1600. In Middle Ages petals thrown on floor to drive out evil and ward off power of witches. Gerard recommended it for curing poisoned animals. Sorcerers made themselves invisible by tossing the powdered plant in the air. The German name of Schneerose (snow rose) is perhaps more appropriate.
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Sempervivum tectorum Hens and chicks Z 3-10
Rosettes of succulent leaves
Rosettes of succulent leaves
Size: 4” x 4”
Care: sun in well-drained to moist well-drained soil
Native: Alps & Pyrenees MountainsGrown in gardens for thousands of years. Sempervivum means “live forever.” Romans planted Hens and chicks on their roofs to ward off lightning. As a succulent it holds water and is probably more difficult to catch fire. “This practice was preserved for historians when Charlemagne (720-814), first Holy Roman Emperor and unifier of a large part of northern Europe, ordered that all villagers within his crown lands plant houseleeks on their roofs, presumably as a safety measure. He decreed: Et ille hortulanus habeat super domum suam Iovis barbam. (And the gardener shall have house-leeks growing on his house. Capitulare de villis, about 795, LXX.)”
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Linaria purpurea Purple toadflax Z 5-9
Violet racemes all summer July to September
Violet racemes all summer July to September
Size: 36” x 12”
Care: Sun, well-drained soil
Native: Southern EuropeBoth the Latin and common names are related to flax. Linaria comes from “linum” which is Greek for “flax” and toadflax includes the word “flax.” The leaves of Linaria purpurea resemble flax leaves. According to 17th century English herbalist, John Parkinson, the plant “causes one to make water.” Grown by Tradescant the Elder, 1634. American garden cultivation since 1800’s.
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Epimedium grandiflorum Barrenwort, Bishop’s hat Z 5-8
White-lavender flowers in May atop wiry stems look like fantastical birds with too many wings, or a four-cornered bishop’s hat.
OUT OF STOCK
White-lavender flowers in May atop wiry stems look like fantastical birds with too many wings, or a four-cornered bishop’s hat. Ornamental heart-shaped leaves and red stems.
Size: 6-12” x 18” slow spreader
Care: shade to part shade in well-drained to moist well-drained soil. Once roots established, valuable in dry shade
Native: China, Japan & KoreaIts Chinese name is “Yin Yang Ho” meaning “Licentious goat herb, “ because allegedly an aphrodisiac for goats! In China & Japan thought to remedy impotence, liver ailments & all age related maladies. In Western gardens since 1834.
