Kniphofia - Lunaria

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 £3 / £3.50
Slender, short spikes of little cream flowers on 75cm stems, grassy leaves.
For interest, not garden clout. Rare.

Kniphofia ichopensis £3.50 / £4.50
Divisions of a selected seedling with red-brown flowers. One of the species with a
delicate inflorescence of well spaced, long, narrow, rather pendulous flowers. Worthy of, and requiring, a bit of care; a sunny, mild site, neither too dry nor too wet.

Kniphofia northiae £3 / £6
A monster among pokers, the evergreen rosettes become huge, with ultra-broad
U-section leaves and stubby pokers to 1.5m, greeny-yellow from red-pink buds. For a sunny, but not dry, position.

K. triangularis 'Light of the World' £3 / £3.50
Slender, well spaced pokers in a uniform glowing pale orange. Very slender leaves, 60cm, for a warm site. Delightful, both for its form and colour, even without the evocative name.

K. thomsonii £3.75 / £4.50
Tall (1-1.5m) stems with elegant pendulous, well spaced flowers in soft orange, over a long summer season, sometimes repeating. Terribly beautiful; more intolerant of soggy winter ground than many.

Cultivars: assume these are around 1m in height, unless we say otherwise.

K. 'Alcazar' £4.50
Glowing orange-red. 60cm.

K. 'Bees' Sunset' AGM £4
Hard to describe the colour, more buff than orange. Vigorous and nice. 75cm.

K. 'Candlelight' £3 / £3.50
Delicate little pokers, with good sized individual flowers, yellow from bright green buds. Floriferous and will repaet. Narrow leaves. 60cm.

K. 'Jane Henry' £5
Jane Henry chose this from a batch of unnamed Bressingham hybrid seedlings, at Bressingham many years ago and sold divisions without naming it. Long, upright, parallel sided, rather slender pokers. Red buds open pink and fade to cream. Still the loveliest hybrid poker we grow. Not a shadow of doubt.

K. 'Sunningdale Yellow' AGM £4.50
Slender, pale yellow pokers; much admired. One of the most reliable repeat flowerers; and one of the earliest on the first flush.

K. 'Tawny King' £4
Brownish apricot buds, opening cream, on bronzed stems. Nice. John May selection.

Lamium orvala 'Silva' £3 / £3.50
Classic early spring deadnettle which bursts out of the ground in bud, flowering as it
expands to form its leafy late spring clump. This form is red-pink flowered, with a light silver stripe to the leaf.

Lamium orvala 'Album' £3 / £3.50
This time in white, very faintly tinged pink

Lathyrus
All the following are tightly clump forming, hardy herbaceous perennials, mostly disappearing in winter, not sweetpea-ish climbers.

L. aureus £3 / £3.75
Heads of golden toffee-brown pea flowers on the tips of 40cm stems. Pale green leaves.

Lathyrus cirrhosus £3 / £3.50
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 £3 / £4
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 linifolius £3 / £3.50
This form of the variable bitter vetchling is a low clump former, with excellent, finely
divided leaves and purple flowers in spring.

Lathyrus neurolobus £2.75 / £3.50
Small and fine leaved with lots of solitary small purple-blue flowers. Quite spready and can seed about, so choose a site with care. From Cretan woods, by streams, but full sun seems good in the UK.

L. vernus var. albus £3.50 / £4
Uncommon white flowered form of a lovely spring-flowering plant for the front of a sunny border. 30cm. FROM SPRING 08.

L. vernus 'Rosenelfe' £3 / £3.50
Compact plant, pink flowers (not bicolor).

Ledebouria cooperi £3
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' £3.25 / £4.50
Shasta daisies aren't exactly our thing, but the combination of distinctive, desirable and dead scarce (had trouble making a 'd' out of that one, sorry) definitely is, and both this and the next fall into that category. This is an interesting double, 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. Introduced to UK by Brian 'Avondale' from Germany.

Leucanthemum x superbum 'Margaretchen' £3.25 / £4.50
Very short (30cm - really!) but vigorous single. Thanks again, Brian!

Leucojum autumnale AGM £3 / £3.50
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' £3 / £4
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' £3.25 / £4
A hybrid of caerulescens, more branched and substantial inflorescence. Hardy here.

Libertia breunioides £3 / £3.75
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 £3 / £4.50
Yet another dodgy name. Essentially, this is the biggest, butchest formosa you'll see, reaching 1.5m. Good white flowers.

Libertia sp. HCM98.089 £3 / £4
Distinctive, with rather glaucous leaves in dense clumps, and little heads of cream flowers to 75cm. Chilean.

Lilium 'Ariadne' £4
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. FROM SPRING 08.

Lilium canadense £5.50
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. 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. FROM SPRING 08.

Lilium duchartrei £5
Pendulous fragrant white turk's caps spotted with purple. 60cm. FROM SPRING 08.

Lilium lankongense £5.50
A larger counterpart, pink spotted purple, to 1.2m. FROM SPRING 08.

Lilium philippinense £3 / £3.75
Large fragrant white flowers at the tops of 50cm stems. Best given frost protection when dormant.

Lilium xanthellum var. luteum £5.50
From China: yellow, spotted flowers with recurved tepals on a stout plant. Rather recently described, and rare. FROM SPRING 08.

Liriope muscari  gold variegated £3.50 / £4
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!)

Liriope muscari white variegated £3 / £3.50
Slightly narrower in the leaf, and shorter, with creamy white inflorescences. Thanks to Paul Matthews.

Lunaria rediviva £3 / £4
A truly perennial Honesty, honestly. Lavender flowers in spring; clump forming, and with pods more elliptical than those of annua.