Tulipa - Zephyranthes

Tulipa sprengeri AGM £3.50
An embarrassing mix-up (don't worry, none got sold) means we nurtured potsful of these for YEARS as seedlings clinging to my hopeless belief (against, I have to admit, all the evidence and Sarah's better judgement) that they might yet prove to be Erythronium revolutum. Then they flowered. But if you want splendid potsful of this easy, lovely, slender orange late flowering tulip species, which naturalises so well in grass, they're here waiting for you.
Typhonium kunmingense var. kunmingense £5
Little-known Chinese aroid with pedately lobed leaves on attractively blotched petioles to 30cm. Pale spathes below the leaves. But be warned, The Sun says 'WOT A STINKER'.
Verbascum 'Monster' £4.50
A great big scary yellow job, well perennial.
Vernonia crinita 'Mammuth' £4.50
The effect is somewhere between Aster and Eupatorium - rich violet-purple (the trouble we have naming colours in that red-blue area...) composite flowers on tall stems, 2m+ under the right conditions. An excellent plant for the border in autumn. Slow to propagate.
Veronica dabneyi £4
One of the very few pink veronicas, and certainly the most unusual. Upright spikes of clear pink flowers to 10cm tall; spreading stems with tiny, glossy leaves. A useful and long flowering cover for a sunny bank, as at Glasgow Botanics.
Veronicastrum brunonianum £3.75
Unlike the well known virginicum, this forms clumps only 60cm high, with yellow flowers from brown buds.
Veronicastrum latifolium £4
Different again, this is a traily / climby species, which can root to form fair sized clumps or ramble through shrubs. Small blue flowers in axilliary clusters. Interesting and pleasant, but not for tidier parts of the garden.
Veronicastrum  villulosum £4
A similar rambling habit, but with hairy pale green leaves and contrasting deep violet flower clusters. Rather nice.
Veronicastrum virginicum 'Lavendelturm' £4
The usual 2m stems with whorled leaves, with branched spikes of lavender flowers in this case. Self supporting. I picked it out in the garden at Beth Chatto's as being somehow more graceful in habit than other varieties, but I still can't put a finger on why.
Viola odorata 'Alba Plena' £3.25
White double sweet violet, with a strong fragrance.
Viola odorata rosea £3.25
Pink sweet violet. A strong, dusky colour, not at all washy or lilacy. Wonderfully fragrant.
Wachendorfia thyrsiflora £5
What an interesting plant! From dense clumps of dark green, corrugated leaves in fans, emerge furry 1.5m stems bearing yellow flowers in summer. South African, and hardiest on well drained soils in mild gardens, but still only borderline. Easy and drought tolerant in a large pot: this also allows you to break the ice at parties by showing your friends its vivid orange roots. Or maybe not...

Watsonia
One of the great genera of the Iridaceae from southern Africa, with Gladiolus-like corms and leaves, and spikes of showy flowers in spring or summer. Hardiness varies: all these should be hardy in mild coastal gardens experiencing just a few degrees of frost at night. Most can take much more and are good doers across the south and west of Britain. Grow them in full sun, avoiding poor, dry soils. All make good pot subjects, and can be overwintered under glass in cold districts. Well grown clumps become congested after 3-5 years, and flower better if lifted and split up. Always handle them in late summer, after flowering and before root growth has got under way. All these priced £5 for largest sizes, but of course smaller ones will be cheaper.
Watsonia aletroides £5
Unique tubular flowers in a 2-sided spike, a delicate soft red in colour. Ours reaches around 40cm, though it can be taller.
Watsonia angusta £5
An evergreen from wetter habitats with light orange flowers, reaching about 1m. Tough.
Watsonia borbonica ardernei £5
Tall (1m) and pretty hardy with large, open white flowers.Early season.
Watsonia borbonica borbonica £5
Similar, in a lovely clear pink, and seems slightly more tolerant of heavy, wet ground. Early season. It's great favourite of ours.
Watsonia humilis £5
White flowers delicately flushed pink is short (25cm), early and free flowering: best in a pot or very mild well drained bed.
Watsonia knysnana (silent k, y as in 'eye' - named for the town) £5
A large flowered mid-season pink in our form.
Watsonia laccata £5
Related to aletroides. Pink open faced flowers from smart 'varnished nails' bracts on slender 60cm stems: really lovely.
Watsonia brick red hybrid £5
A tough pillansii type, to 1.5m, a deeper, more sombre colour than 'Stanford Scarlet'.
Watsonia 'Peachy Pink Orphan' £5
Tall, semievergreen and hardy, with short, curved light peachy pink flowers. pillansii influence.
Watsonia pink hybrid £5
Fantastic, despite the prosaic name. Very long, branched inflorescences of big, screeching pink flowers make it a real traffic stopper. Cold, wet winters may be fatal, so look after it! Later season.
Watsonia 'Stanford Scarlet' £5
Another tough pillansii hybrid which reaches 1.5m high in our heavy soil, with loud orange-scarlet flowers. Close inspection is rewarded by the beautifully contrasting indigo anthers.
Watsonia 'Tresco Dwarf Pink' £5
A charming, very floriferous and hardy shell pink variety, more compact at around 60cm.

Wulfenia x schwarzii £4
Related to Veronica, with 30cm spikes of deep blue flowers in spring, over clumps of rounded glossy green leaves. Sun, ordinary soil. I've no idea why this fine, easy plant is so rarely seen.
Ypsilandra thibetica £4
Belonging to the Melanthiaceae, and close to Heloniopsis, this is a distinctive woodland perennial forming clumps of leafy rosettes. The flowers, in spring, are in tight bunches, white in bud and when first open, ageing pink in fruit. Eminently growable, it will probably become more widely planted than any Heloniopsis in time.
Zephyranthes flavissima £3.25
Samll, quickly clumping, fine leaved summer growing bulb with yellow flowers in spring.