I was browsing through our catalog, as I sometimes do when I can't think of anything else to write about. I just find a pretty plant and then talk about how pretty it is. I know it's boring, and I apologize, but they really are very pretty.

This time was different. It wasn't the picture that caught my attention, but the description. Epimedium Osigui was "named for Mikinori Ogisu, the famed Japanese plant hunter…In the native it is found among limestone deposits near waterfalls." It was discovered in the mountains of Sichuan, China.

Plant Hunter! Browsing the InterWebs, I found Mr. Mikinori was connected with the discoveries of many popular plants. One blogger called him the "most important man in Epimediums." He has trekked though thick forest, up high mountains, and deep into dense river gorges to find some of the rarest and most exciting new plant varieties. One of the most interesting articles was from the Historic Roses Group written by another famed botanist and plant hunter, Martyn Rix. He described Mr. Mikinori's discoveries of exotic Chinese Roses. He spent ten years combing the Chinese wilderness, and has provided us with cultivated varieties of plants that, before him, very few people had even seen.

I guess it was naive of me, but I just had never thought of botanists as adventurers. I guess somebody had to go out and discover all of these things. As gardeners, we often fill our gardens with exotic plants from all over the world, provided either by our local nursery or ordered from a catalog like Wayside Gardens. Rarely, if ever, do we think about how that plant came to be cultivated. Who took the first sample of seeds or the first cutting. Some of the species that Mikinori Ogisu discovered only grow natively at very high altitudes or in deep gorges where there are no trails. The man is a modern pioneer, forging paths for knowledge and future discovery.

It has, for the most part, been a pretty dry year for us here in Hodges.  The last couple of weeks have shown us a healthy dose of much-needed rain, though.  I had the urge the other day to go wandering outside for a bit in the rain.  A coworker and I strolled through the Trial Gardens and the Garden Center, and I was struck as we passed some stunning little plants with small, prolific blooms.  I’m a sucker for interesting and unique blooms, and Toad Lilies are always some of my very favorites.  This was the Japanese Toad Lily ‘Lightning Strike,’ and each plant had tons of perfect little flowers, each white with blue speckles.  Even in the dark gray, rainy day and light fog, these plants, with their prolific flowers and gold-laced leaves, kept my attention for several minutes.  These are definitely worth a spot in any garden, especially since they’re so easy to grow and produce so many flowers (as many as 300 per plant).

Yar, me hearties.  ‘Tis Talk Like A Pirate Day yet again.  I’m Cap’n Labuffarosa, and I’ve got me trusty parrot tulips on me shoulder (just not, you know, really.  That would be silly, and they’re not even in season), and I’m ready to give ye a fine tour of me Pirate Garden.

Of course, nothing goes with me Caribbean rum quite like some Coconut and Lime.  Except for maybe Oranges and Lemons, to keep away the scurvy.  Any citrus will do, so long as it keeps me healthy enough to be out hunting Winter Jewels, Blue Diamonds, and February Gold.  If we’re lucky, we’ll come across a boatload of Golden Ducats.  Maybe on my trip to Nice we’ll run across an Elegant Lady, or an Exotic Emperor and his Ivory Queen and Orange Princess (hey, cut me some slack, this is a pretty thin premise I’m working with here).  Just have care not to catch me in a Dangerous Mood, or ye’ll catch the Golden Edge of me cutlass.  If ye find me resting in a peaceful Blue Lagoon at Twilight, I might just Regale ye with tales of me time on the Silk Road, or of kidnapping the beautiful Stella de Oro under the Snowcaps of the Spanish Peaks.

The Pirate’s life, an Endless Summer for me.

(was this one too Over the Top?  It’s only 27, and I was shooting for 30.)

It seems strange to look outside in the green heat of summer and picture the barren coming winter.  However, your garden will soon be dieing back in the face of coming winter yet again (it really does sneak up on me every year).  However, your winter garden doesn’t have to be devoid of color and life.  There are a variety of plants that are just as, sometimes even more, beautiful in the winter.  Helleborus is one of my favorites of these, blooming in late winter to very early spring.

I’m especially excited about our new collection of Winter Jewels Helleborus. These have the most vivid, intense bloom colors I’ve ever seen on Helleborus, and they look absolutely amazing.  These American-bred Helleborus are vigorous and heavily budded, and the flowers stick around for as long as three months.  They really add something fantastic to the winter palette without losing any of the easy gardening of other Helleborus. 

Looking for some great foliage interest in your shade or filtered sun that isn't hostas or painted ferns?  How about Lamium 'Purple Dragon?'  It's a real survivor, thriving across six zones (3-8), and it produces big, beautiful clusters of purple flowers for many weeks.  The eye-catching silvery-white leaves shade quickly to dark green around the interesting toothed edges.  This groundcover perennial is drought-resistant and evergreen, too, so you'll have this beautiful foliage year-round.

For a different look, try Kolkwitzia amabilis Dream Catcher (yes, I spelled that right).  This Beauty Bush does well in filtered sun or part shade in zones 4-9 and is deer-resistant, so it's a great choice for many different gardens.  It's rich coppery color seasons to bright yellow in Spring and Summer, and by fall it turns a rich golden-orange with interesting dark tips.  It's amazing as a specimen, but even better in mass plantings for a really eye-drawing effect unlike any other.

Many gardens have them: wet, boggy areas that just don’t drain well enough.  Grass won’t grow, plants won’t grow, and the dog keeps coming in the house with wet feet.  OK, maybe just the plants are a problem for you.  Either way, you could, of course, set up a rain garden in that area (it’s beautiful and great for the local environment), but that can be much more effort than many gardeners are willing to put in.  You could give up and have a boggy, mulch-covered area in your garden, but I know that you, my readers, won’t give up that easily.  The best option is to try to find plants that thrive in those difficult conditions, and many of the best plants for that purpose are wonderful Irises.

Give Iris louisiana a try.    The do beautifully in damp soils, producing some of the most stunning blooms you can find.  They’re the perfect solution not only for those areas that refuse to drain, but also for embankments of water features or other water sources (they look amazing on the banks of a pond).  Best of all, they’re easy plants to keep, tolerating not only heat and humidity (as you can probably guess from the name), but also cold winters, some even hardy to zone 3.  Iris ‘Bold Pretender’ makes an impressively bright, cheery statement in red and yellow, and it looks great next to the Iris ‘Black Gamecock’s intensely rich velvety purple flowers.

For many years now Hydrangea has been one of the most popular perennials in American gardens.  The variety of these great shrubs that is available now is quite impressive, far from being just the one-colored puffballs that you remember from your grandmother’s garden.  There are 23 species of Hydrangea, but of these only five are widely available in the US.  The five that are available, though, represent a great variety of flowering perennials, with an option that is right for almost any American gardener.

This is one of my favorite images from our catalogs and websites.  It is Coreopsis ‘Snowberry,’ and it’s an amazing perennial that will tirelessly produce mounds of these arresting soft, creamy blooms, lending a real touch of elegance to your sunny garden throughout the entire summer.  Even better, the foliage is evergreen, so it is attractive even when it isn’t in bloom.  ‘Snowberry’ is a sterile sport of C. ‘Nana,’ so it won’t invest energy into seed production rather than making more flowers.  This allows it to rebloom more quickly than many other Coreopsis, especially if you deadhead it regularly.