Old cottage garden and flower arrangers have known of this curious plant for ages but it is not often seen or available! The stems, holding umbels of greenish-gold flowers, grow straight through the middles of the shiny leaves, kebab-style. Rarely seen because of its unusual germination technique: It germinates and then dies down to a baby tuber until the following year!! Superb for naturalising to give surprises year after year!! ... Learn More

This startling plant is also called "Purple Devil", "Malevolence", and the "Five Minute Plant", the latter on account of how long a newcomer will stare at this amazing plant. Purple-black stems carry black thorns, attractive purplish, crinkled thorny leaves and yellow flowers turning to inedible creamy-yellow fruits. ... Learn More

This lovely British native is a semi-woody scrambling plant bearing pretty violet flowers which have a pronounced yellow 'beak'. In autumn, just like fruit hanging from a line, which is the dried out vine.... extremely ornamental red berries appear, hanging in grape-like clumps, which are happily eaten by birds but are certainly not edible for humans. ... Learn More

A truly amazing-looking plant producing positively inedible, ornamental fruits which resemble a cow's udder at one end and human breast at the other, and with lots of rather rude common names too! Although it is perennial it can be grown as an annual, and is related to the naranjilla and tomato with large velvety leaves with purple veins and furry hair, along with prominent spikes. The branches and stems are also dotted with firm thorns. The pink-purple flowers develop during spring and are followed by the waxy, yellow colored fruit ripening a few months later. It has been used in traditional ... Learn More

The gorgeous round fruits of the Melon pear are cream skinned with purple streaks and have deliciously sweet and juicy flesh which is a succulent mixture of honeydew melon and cucumber. It is grown in a manner similar to its relatives such as the tomato, although it grows naturally upright by habit, and can thus be grown as a free-standing bush. Supports are sometimes used to keep the heavy crop of fruit from pulling the plant down. It has a fast growth rate, bearing fruit within 4 to 6 months after planting, and seeds are rarely produced in the UK. Although it is strictly a perennial, making ... Learn More

These attractive orange fruits have a refreshing citrus flavour, sometimes described as a combination of rhubarb and lime, and the bright green juice is often used as a drink. Naranjilla are quite delicate plants and need protection from strong winds and direct sunlight, in hot countries growing best in partial shade. The attractive, felted, large green leaves have a warm purply hue, but are covered in sharp prickles, the biggest ones hidden beneath the leaves. Solanum quitoense is native to South America where it is often found at quite high altitudes, but in cultivation, in cooler climes, it ... Learn More

This famous plant is perhaps THE classic alpine plant, epitomising spring, as the delicately fringed purple bells push up through the snow with leathery dark green rounded leaves. This choice, very hardy and perennial plant improves yearly if grown in loose gritty soil, but produces very few seeds indeed. ... Learn More

Sparganium erectum, commonly known as Branched Bur-reed or Upright Bur-reed, is a robust aquatic or marginal perennial found in wetlands, ponds, and along water edges. This striking plant produces tall, upright stems with strap-like green leaves that create architectural interest in aquatic landscapes. From early to late summer, it forms spherical green flowers and seed heads, which turn brown as they mature, adding texture and seasonal appeal. Ideal for naturalizing in wet areas, Sparganium erectum thrives in moist to wet soils and can be grown submerged in shallow water or along pond marg ... Learn More

Impressively-large whorls of rosy-mauve hooded flowers adorn erect stems, which stand above clumps of attractively wrinkled scallop-edged leaves in a rich dark green; a very elegant contrast of colour displayed in June and July. This lovely plant will enjoy light well-drained soil in sun or part shade and the clump will slowly increase in size over time, but never become invasive. ... Learn More

Highly prized in South America, this astonishing plant has been grown there for centuries for its incredibly sweet-tasting leaves. It is now used widely in the food and drinks industry as an organic and harmless sugar supplement or substitute. This attractive, white-flowered cultivar is known for its branching habit, which creates a naturally bushy plant, and it will happily over-winter on a bright windowsill in a cool room where it will make an attractive evergreen shrub. Very few fertile seeds are ever produced. This cultivar is larger than the original species, but has the same taste. ... Learn More

Baffle friends with this late summer treasure. A sturdy dome of stems carries salvia-like leaves, then from July until October white buds inflate into masses of spectacular deep violet ramshorn-like flowers. This is an unlikely relative of acanthus ("Bear's Breeches")! ... Learn More

NEW! Discovered by Proprietor Ray as a seedling at Plant World, this unusual form of Strobilanthes atropurpurea produces a late summer and autumn display of striking two-tone flowers. The normally completely blue, curved trumpet flowers now appear in white with attractive blue lips. ... Learn More

A welcome newcomer is this dwarf relative of Strobilanthes atropurpurea. The curved, tubular violet flowers are produced over a long and valuable flowering season - usually until October or even later. ... Learn More

A rare new plant which is totally different from all other strobilanthes. Unlike the common sprawling blue ones, this compact one resembles a green igloo of leaves, decorated in summer and even into late autumn with pendulous tassels of white flowers rather resembling the "Shrimp Plant". ... Learn More

From a basal rosette of radiating, long, thin, prostrate pointed leaves arises a strong stem holding attractive pink flowers. "Trigger plants" are so called because of these unique flowers which are triggered by pollinating insects. The trigger stays cocked until an insect probes the flower, but it then springs upwards and deposits pollen onto the head or back of the insect, which then flies off to pollinate another flower! ... Learn More