Lychnis - Omphalodes

Lychnis 'Hill Grounds' £3 / £3.50
A chance find in a Midland garden, this appears to be a hybrid between the two flannel leaved species coronaria and flos-jovis. The deep, loud magenta flowers continue for a very long season (it's sterile, also meaning that it doesn't seed around), and the plants have a good branching mutistemmed habit. A sound perennial which may well become one of the classics.

Lysimachia nemorum 'Pale Star' £3 / £3.50
Pale moonlit yellow to the usual sunshine of our native yellow pimpernel, a delicately textured but vigorously growing low woodland groundcover. Thanks to Rosie 'Alternative' Castle, collector of odd forms of native plants.

Lysimachia paridiformis ssp. stenophylla DJHC 704 £3 / £4
Short stems with crowded, juicy looking olive green leaves and bright yellow flowers. For shade.

Lysimachia yunnanensis £2.50 / £3.50
Rosettes of white-veined, grey-green leaves are very effective. Spikes of white flowers. Short-lived, but self-seeding benignly.

Lysionotus pauciflorus £3.50 / £4.50
This is a woody based, bushy, somewhat suckering evergreen perennial gesneriad for a sunny, well drained spot, covered in beautiful lavender flowers in autumn. It is hardy with us in Devon, and very slow-growing. Epiphytic in nature, it's fine in soil, but someone bought one to try in a tree fern trunk.

Maianthemum bifolium £3 / £3.50
A favourite woodland groundcover, related to lily-of the-valley. A forest of little bright green leaves spiking up from the dense rhizomes early in the year epitomizes spring. Small white flowers on 10cm stems in May. Ideal on heavy ground. Generous open-ground chunks for immediate planting if sent out in autumn, otherwise potted.

Marshallia grandiflora £3 / £4.50
Having grown this little-known North American composite for a couple of years, we're quite impressed by its purple-pink, rather scabious-like heads, over apple green leaves. Mound to 40cm; sun.

Matteuccia struthiopteris AGM £3.50 / £4.50
The Ostrich Plume fern is unmistakeble as the unfurling fronds make narrow, vertical plumes. Clumps up freely in moister soil.

Matthiola fruticulosa 'Alba' £3 / £3.50
White stock flowers with a heavenly scent, and rosettes of grey leaves. Perennial, given full sun and very good drainage.

Meehanis fargesii £3 / £3.50
A larger flowered wanderer - flowers a much bluer lilac than fargesii. Maybe not hardy in colder areas.

Meehania urticifolia 'Wandering Minstrel' £3 / £3.50
This form has excellent cream variegation, lightening up a dark corner. New and unusual. Flowers a shade lighter.

Melianthus major AGM £3 / £4.50
Classic bold, glaucous foliage plant. In its native South Africa it is quite a large shrub, but in all but the mildest gardens it's cut to the base by frosts late in the winter. Fresh shoots come up from below ground soon after. Under this regime it reaches 1m or a little more, and always looks its best, but doesn't produce its strange brown flowers which would spoil the effect anyway. Leaves and roots smell of peanut butter…

Miscanthus oligostachyus 'Nanus Variegatus' £3 / £3.75
A very distinguished small (30cm) yellow / green variegated grass with the habit of a big Miscanthus on a micro scale.

Miscanthus sinensis varieties (all £3 / £4 unless marked)
Great plants, but since nobody orders them, we'll shrink down to a list of names this year. 'Cabaret', 'China', 'Cosmopolitan', 'Flamingo', 'Giraffe' (£4.50), 'Hinjo', 'Little Kitten', 'Malepartus', 'Nippon'. And there's transmorrisonensis too, although it's not a sinensis. Incidentally, we wholeheartedly recommend Rick Darke's new book, The Encyclopedia of Grasses for Liveable Landscapes', full of accurate, pertinent information, interesting opinion and inspiring photography. It is American, but he has talked to plenty of Europeans.

Moraea aristata £3.25 / £3.75
Unlike the more familiar spathulata and huttonii from the summer rainfall area, this is a winter growing corm from the Cape Town area. The spring flowers are large and white with very conspicuous blue eyes.

Mukdenia acanthifolia £3.25 / £3.75
Does the same thing as the familiar rossii, but with different leaves. To me, it's the best.

Mukdenia rossii £3 / £3.50
Mapley leaves in low mounds turn orange-red in autumn, white umbel-like inflorescences in late spring. Moist light shade.

Mukdenia rossii dwarf £3.25 / £3.75
The same, but significantly smaller. (As you might have expected.)

Muscari armeniacum 'Valerie Finnis' £2.75 / £3.25
Pale sky blue 'grape hyacinth'. No rarity, but such a lovely colour. Pots full, I mean FULL.

Narcissus cyclamineus AGM £3
A lovely little species. The corolla segments ('petals') are swept right back 'like the laid back ears of a kicking horse' as Mr. Bowles put it. Back on the list after a sabbatical - Cedric's away this year, but don't worry, he'll be back.

Narcissus romieuxii AGM £3
North African hoop-petticoat type, very short with big upfacing creamy white flowers, strongly fragrant, early in the New Year. Hardy, but best in a pot where you can keep it looking pristine and sniff it several times a day. The flower makes January worthwhile.

Neomarica caerulea £3.25 / £3.75
A fabuluous Brazilian irid with large, shockingly blue, beautifully marked flowers on 1.5m stems in summer. Fans of broad blue-green leaves. Needs to be just frost-free during the winter, but certainly not a tropical subject.

Nepeta yunnanensis £3 / £3.50
Large purple-blue flowers on stems to 1.5m. Runs freely.

Nerine bowdenii 'Mark Fenwick' £3.25 / £3.75
An intense magenta-pink, deciduous variety. Just like the familiar Nerines of the trade, but with the volume turned up high.

Nerine bowdenii very pale pink, striped darker £3 / £4.50
Just that. A very good plant, and as hardy as any other bowdenii. Clean looking and distinctive - they're sold within minutes of opening time at any autumn plant fair.

Nerine bowdenii 'Wellsii' £3 / £3.50
Differs from the usual hardyish, properly deciduous bowdenii forms we all know in the wavy margins of the mid-pink perianth segments, giving the flower a frilly look. If you're at the extreme edge of Nerine hardyness, this is the one to try.

Nerina flexuosa alba £3 / £4
Large frilly white flowers in autumn; dark green leaves. A winter grower: except in the hottest sites it is best given winter protection.

Nerine 'Fucine' £3.50 / £4
A strong, deep pink evergreen variety, hardy here in South Devon. A bowdenii / sarniensis hybrid. It clamours for attention, quite irresistible.

Nerine 'Kashmir' £3.50 / £4
Another borderline hardy hybrid, this time pale pink. Thanks to Marion Wood.

Nerine 'Rushmere Star' £3.25 / £3.75
Another good hybrid, with vivid purplish pink flowers in autumn. Middling hardy.

Nerine sarniensis very late dull red £3.75
Vigorous and free flowering, this has excellent deep, dull red flowers at the end of the season, never before the first week of November here, and raising the spirits wonderfully on a grey morning. We have to give it unheated winter protection. Dryish summer dormancy.

Nerine sarniensis 'Lady Havelock Allen' £3 / £4
The reddish pink flowers are much earlier than the previous, and have a somewhat sparkly look to them. Treat as above.
Earlier flowering.

Nerine Smee 275 £3 / £4.50
An older hybrid, summer dormant and again best treated like sarniensis. Vivid pink tepals with paler edges.

Nipponanthemum nipponicum £3 / £4
Large, crystalline white, single chrysanthemum flowers at the tips of long stems which tend to hang out. Glossy green leaves. The stems become woody, lose their leaves in winter, and carry new stems from dormant buds along their length next year. This Japanese seasider is one of the year's last flowers. In cold areas grow it in a sheltered site to protect the flowers from early frost.

Oenothera organensis £3 / £4
Large, butter yellow flowers over a long summer season. A compact bushy plant, to 75cm but often much less. Day flowering, and quite out of the ordinary.

Omphalodes cappadocica 'Starry Eyes' £3 / £3.50
Hearty, floriferous clumper, just like the species, but the white edge to the flower does make it stand out more in a shady place.

Omphalodes verna and Omphalodes verna alba £3 / £3.50
Blue and white flowered forms of the classic woodland groundcover. Bare rooted chunks, lifted to order. Do specify which you want!