Kniphofia - Liriope

Kniphofia
The Pokers, red hot or otherwise, suit a sunny position in soil which stays moist in summer (although excessive winter wet can be a problem for some).
Species:
Kniphofia buchananii £4.50
Slender, short spikes of little cream flowers on 75cm stems, grassy leaves. For interest, not garden clout. Rare.
Kniphofia typhoides £5
Unlike anything else here with narrow reedmace-like spikes of hundreds of tiny brown flowers in October-November. Smart upright, rather twisted glaucous foliage. 1.5m. I really look forward to it flowering each autumn.

Cultivars:
Assume these are around 1m in height, unless we say otherwise.
Kniphofia 'Bees' Sunset' AGM £5
Hard to describe the colour, more buff than orange. Vigorous and nice. 75cm.
Kniphofia 'Christmas Cheer' £5
An exotic winter flowering hybrid, quite tall with long, nicely shaped pokers. The colour is a rather drab pale orange, but in November or December (yes, some years it's coming out on Christmas Day) you can forgive it that. Hardy? Certainly shrugged off the winter of 09-10, left outside in pots, with 'tough' varieties suffering all around, although the flowers weren't much that year.
Kniphofia 'Star of Baden Baden' £5
A fine old greeny yellow bogbrush. Again, unhurt by the viscious 09-10 winter despite GST's hardiness query.
Kniphofia 'Sunningdale Yellow' AGM £5
Slender, pale yellow pokers; much admired. One of the most reliable repeat flowerers; and one of the earliest on the first flush.
Kniphofia 'Toffee Nosed' £5
Tan buds open cream. 1m. A good flowerer.

Lachenalia orchioides var. glaucina £3.75
Winter grower, with spikes of flowers in a lovely, if hard to describe, shade, somewhere between turquoise and light purple, in winter. It's water, not cold, that is the real enemy of these dry-climate Western Cape bulbs. They are easy in a cool greenhouse or airy conservatory, given full  light and a very gritty compost, watered modestly in winter and given a very dry summer bake. We grow loads of species, just for enjoyment, and bring them into the house at the peak of flowering for winter interest, although they etiolate and go over too fast if kept indoors for long.
Lachenalia orthopetala £4
White, and one of the last to flower, in April. Narrow leaves and tough as they come - we left the pots outdoors all winter one year and they did just fine.
Lamprothyrsus hieronymi RCB RA K2-2 £4
Reports of novel grasses picked up as seed in South America fill me with foreboding. Too many end up tenderish and dull, not a great combination. This one, found by Bob Brown at high altitude in Argentina, has confounded my expectations. It's a stout clumper with open but fluffy, rather silvery inflorescences to 1m, lasting quite well and sometimes repeating. It seems drought tolerant, and at least as hardy as we can discover in South Devon. A smart plant, to which Bob's botanically correct 'dwarf pampas grass' really does not do justice. And you wouldn't want that Simon Armitage hacking at it with his CBE while your back was turned…
Lathyrus cirrhosus £5
Narrow, blue grey foliage forms a dense, bushy mound to 50cm or more, sort of half climbing by tendrils if given the chance. Pink flowers over a long season. Easy in sun, given reasonable drainage.
Lathyrus laxiflorus £5
A pretty mat-former, rooted at the centre, with violet-blue flowers in summer. Can be trimmed back to tidy up and encourage repeat flowering. Sun. Evergreenish. Thanks to Miss Sylvia Norton, National Collection holder.
Lathyrus vernus f. roseus £4.50
The classic non-climbing, spring flowering, compactly clumping pea, pink flowers (not bicolor) in this form…
Lathyrus vernus var. albus £4.50
…and white in this, the rarest colour. By division, of course, a labour of love.
Lathyrus vernus 'Indigo Eyes' £5
A great novelty, combining the blue flowers of 'Caeruleus' with the narrow leaflets of 'Flaccidus'. Very beautiful. A single clone, by division again. Thanks to Chris Brown.
Ledebouria cooperi £3.50
This tiny Scilla-like bulb has arresting purple and green pinstripe leaves and heads of deep purple flowers like tiny bunches of grapes in summer. Spreads to fill a pan or make a bold patch in the rock garden. Perfectly hardy here, maybe not in the Midlands. It's winter dormant and not succulent, quite unlike L. socialis and its kin.
Leucanthemum x superbum 'Eisstern' £4.50
An interesting double Shasta daisy, with a single ring of full length icy white rays, then a big step down in length to the neat 'anemone' centre. Can reach 1m, usually less.
Leucojum autumnale AGM £4
Another rampant little bulb we'd never be without. Ultra fine leaves, with nodding ivory bells on 10cm stems over a long season in summer and early autumn.
Libertia 'Amazing Grace' £5
A hybrid with much of the refined character of L. elegans. Arching stems with many small cream flowers in summer. 75cm. Sun and drainage.
Libertia 'Ballyrogan Blue' £4.50
A hybrid of caerulescens with more branched and substantial inflorescence. Hardy here.
Libertia breunioides £4.50
A dubious name for an interesting and different plant. Short (30cm) with large upward facing white flowers and fat orangey fruits. Rather broad green leaves tend to age orange. Thanks again to Janice Greening.
Libertia procera £5
Yet another dodgy name. Essentially, this is the biggest, butchest formosa you'll see, reaching 1.5m. Good white flowers.
Lilium 'Ariadne' £4.50 FROM SPRING 2011
Everyone wants North Lilies these days, bred in Scotland by the late Dr. North. I don't blame them. This is one of his earlier ones, reaching 1m with fragrant dusky pink Turk's Caps. Woodsy conditions.
Lilium canadense £5.50 FROM SPRING 2011
Nodding red flowers, yellowish and spotted inside; not a Turk's Cap type, but with flared tepals, like some sort of a lamp shade. Tall and lovely, needing moister soil than some. Don't let the scaly rhizomes - and they really can't meaningfully be called bulbs - dry out during dormany. I'm no expert on this variable species, and one so seldom sees it in this country, but from its appearance and origin it seems to be the Appalachian var. editorum. Proper rare, this.
Lilium duchartrei £5
Pendulous fragrant white turk's cap flowers spotted with purple. 60cm.
Lilium philippinense £4
Large fragrant white flowers at the tops of 50cm stems. Best given frost protection when dormant.
Lilium 'Rosemary North' £5 FROM SPRING 2011
Dark purple spots on  a peachy ground. One of Dr North's later selections.
Lilium xanthellum var. luteum £5 FROM SPRING 2011
From China: yellow, spotted flowers with recurved tepals on a stout plant. Rather recently described, and rare.
Liriope muscari  gold variegated £5
Unusually, the variegation becomes more striking as the leaves age in summer. Spikes of purple flowers provide a nice contrast in late summer. 30cm. For sun (yes, it really does look best in full sun!)