We ship to the West Coast all year. Everywhere else, our shipping season ends December 15 and resumes March 15. Click here for details and exceptions.
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Please observe a 3-of-a kind plant limit.
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Impatiens niamniamensis -- Congo Cockatoo -- This succulent-stemmed, balsamy shrublet from tropical east Africa looks pretty normal until the first bloom appears as a tiny, embryo-like bud, which then grows larger and larger until it's clear you're looking the head of a scarlet, yellow, and green parrot. This dramatic and unusual houseplant can grow to 3' tall, covered periodically with those gaudy birds. Although not constantly in bloom, it typicaly produces its long-lasting flowers several times a year. Fast and easy to grow, but tricky to ship in hot or cold weather, so we limit shipping to April - October, and won't ship during a heat wave or when there's frost danger at either end or en route. One to a customer, please. People seem to get distracted by the photo and fail to read the description, so we'll say this again: Shipping April-October only. One (1) to a customer (that's you). |
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Impatiens
omeiana --
Mt. Omei Impatiens -- Although not as showy in flower as Congo Cockatoo,
this Impatiens is even rarer, much hardier to cold, , and no slouch
in the appearance department, but in this case it's the foliage that's
the main attraction. Apparently endemic to Mt. Omei in Szechuan Province,
China, it has lush, velvety, very dark green, finger-like leaves with
broad white midribs. An excellent foliage plant for a shady, moist area,
it has yellow flowers in autumn that are variously described as looking
like helmets and goldfish, or possibly goldfish wearing helmets. Grows
to about a foot tall on red stems and speads slowly via stolons to create
a dense patch. Hardy to zone 6. Very sensitive to dry conditions, it
will wilt and die back if it gets dry or cold, but will regrow when
its favored conditions return.
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Imperata cylindrica 'Rubra' -- Japanese Blood Grass -- Showy perennial grass with loose, slowly-spreading clumps of 15" upright blades that turn blood-red as they mature. Takes full sun or dappled shade. |
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Ipheion uniflorum -- Spring Starflower -- British plantsman Paul Christian has a funny account of why he chooses to continue calling this genus Ipheion, rather than acceding to yet another name change. We'll follow his lead. This is a small South American bulb , hardy to at least zone 6, that is easy, robust, and trouble-free. It reliably produces 1-inch silver-blue, lavender, or purple star-shaped flowers in spring and sporadically throughout the growing season. Narrow straplilke leaves may reach 10" long, but droop, so that the plant never exceeds 6" tall, functioning as a groundcover. Evergreen. Zones 5-9. |
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Ipheion uniflorum 'Alberto Castillo' is a large, robust, pure white-flowered form discovered in Argentina by...wait for it... Alberto Castillo! Zones 6-9, maybe 5.
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Ipheion 'Charlotte Bishop' is a pink version with a light fragrance. Zones 6-9, maybe 5.
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Ipheion 'Rolf Fiedler' -- Long-lasting azure blue flowers. Zones 5-9.
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Iris lazica -- Winter-flowering Iris -- The flower is very similar in appearance to I. unguicularis below. It's much larger than that of I. reticulata, but somewhat smaller than I. unguicularis. The plant seems more vigorous than the latter, though. A rhizomatous, beardless Iris that tends to form a rhizome mass above soil level.
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Iris unguicularis is also called Winter-flowering Iris. It's a middle-eastern species with 2' leaves and large, fragrant flowers on short stems. Flowers are pale lavender to deep violet, with contrasting veins and yellow on the falls. May flower in late autumn, winter, or early spring. Zone 7. |
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