• Primula auricula

 

Very few if any of the plants on this page are currently offered by us. These are plants that we used to offer some years ago. The information here is a reference source for history of this nursery.
   The plants we have specialized have changed over the years. In the past, this nursery had a very large collecion of Kniphofia, and also good numbers of Dianthus, Pelargonium x domesticum, English bedding Violas, and rock garden plants. Today our specialities are auricula Primula, Iris x pacifica, Viola odorata, Sempervivum and Jovibarba.

 

Kniphofias

 

Horticulture magazine, in 2009.

   Our nursery has changed from what it was when it first began. Originally one of our main crops of plants was Kniphofia, also known as red-hot pokers or torch lilies. Our list included ones that flowered in each of the four seasons, believe it or not, as indicted by our brochure from 2014.

Ad for Horticulture magazine, in 2010.

Ad for Pacific Horticulture magazine, in 2011.

The variety of torch lily in this ad is the species K. rooperi.

Advertisement in Fine Gardening magazine, in 2010.

The varieties from left to right are: Springtime, Ice Queen, Bee's Sunset and Toffee Nosed.

Ad for Pacific Horticulture magazine, in 2012.

Following is our double-fold Kniphofia brochure from 2014.

 

Kniphofias shown on the left side.

winter to early spring:
Christmas Cheer - very bright red with a bit of yellow
sarmentosa - coral turning yellow with age, slowing creeps rather than clump forming

(Established plants of 'Christmas Cheer' and sarmentosa have survived our western Washington State winters in the ground without any special protection, however the flower buds are usually destroyed by frost unless they are opening during a mild spell of winter's weather - so they are best in California or grown in a container.)

late spring to early summer:
Candlelight - the earliest of these yellows to flower, from Blooms of Bressingham
Corallina - low red and white
Lemon Queen - very vigorous creamy yellow
pauciflora - dwarf yellow with widely spaced florets
Sunningdale Yellow - pure yellow
Yellow Hammer - pure yellow

Kniphofias shown on the right side.

Juy and August:
Apricot Soufflé - apricot orange turning yellow with age
Bee's Sunset - coppery golden orange
Bressingham Sunbeam - short tannish yellow
Gladness - tannish orange turning yellow with age
Goldmine - tannish yellow
Glow - low red
Lightning Bug - creamy yellow
Little Elf - dwarf orange-red
Parmentier - long head of red florets turning cream
Royal Standard - yellow and red bicolor
Safrangvogel - pastel blend of cream and pink
Shining Sceptre (aka Bee's Sunset) - coppery golden orange
Springtime (a misnomer) - pinky red above and creamy white below
Susan Wray - burnished gold
thomsonii ssp.thomsonii - tall with widely spaced florets
Toffee Nosed - very long blooming cream and tan
Torchlight - yellow florets are upright rather than drooping
Yellow Fire - vigorous and low growing
Pfitzeri - orange with a coppery cast

late summer to fall:
caulescens - glaucous leaves, low branching growth
Nancy's Red - dwarf red
Percy's Pride - extremely vigorous light yellow to cream
Primrose Beauty- solid lemon yellow
rooperi - round, globular flowers
Tower of Gold - large, globular head of gold with a bit of reddish orange at the top
typhoides - fragrant, brownish flowers
Yellow Cheer - a light pumpkin color

 

Additional red-hot pokers we used to offer off-and-on:

 

albescens
Apricot
Bleached Blonde
Bressingham Comet
Brimstone
Cobra
Cool Knip
Coral
David
Earliest of All

galpinii
Gold Else
Goldfinch
Green Jade
Ice Queen
linearifolia
Little Maid
Lye End
Maid of Orleans

multiflora
northiae
Peaches and Cream
Percy's Pride
Primrose Mascotte
Robin Hood
Rosea Superba
Safranvogel

Saint Gallen
Strawberries and Cream
Sun Kissed
The Rocket
Timothy
Vanilla
Wayside Flame
Yellow Fire

 

 

Pelargonium x domesticum, Martha Washington geraniums

 

These are a joy to grow, they bloom for such a long time from early summer well into autumn. At seasons end, if brought into a well lit, cool porch or garage over winter many of them can be carried over from year to year.

 

 

Dianthuses, garden pinks

 

 

 

Hybrids of Viola cornuta, a hardy perennial that looks similar to a pansy.

 

 

 

Choice plants for rock gardens and stone walls

 

 

 

Advertisements for Succulents, Primroses and Erodiums (cranesbills)

 

We grow about 30 different Sempervivums and about the same number of Jovibarbas.

Advertisement in Fine Gardening magazine

Once upon a time we grew eight to ten different Erodiums.