Heavy trusses of small, pillar-box red flowers delicately edged with golden yellow arise on strong stems in early spring. These originally appeared here as chance seedlings more than 20 years ago and have since travelled around the world. An attractive variation on these rare old plants ... Learn More

Unlike the normal cowslip, each blossom of these ancient and extremely rare plants has a second blossom growing from within the normal one, producing an intriguing doubling effect. These can vary both in size and form, but all are attractive. These exquisite flowers were first produced in the 18th century, but sadly were effectively lost to cultivation. This is possibly the first offering in recent times of seeds of these exceptionally rare and beautiful flowers. You may inevitably flower different or even reverted forms but divide up the best ones. ... Learn More

This is a significantly more robust and vigorous form of the common "cowslip", with strong stems of fragrant, deep yellow flowers in April to May, which are perfect for naturalising in rough, damp grassland, or on a sunny bank. The larger-than-normal flowers have attractive orange markings at the base of each petal, and protrude further out of the larger-than-normal green calyx. ... Learn More

Beautiful, jagged-edged grey leaves are thickly dusted with farina, which also coats the flower stems, each carrying whorls of bright yellow flowers. This spectacular and rarely-encountered beauty can be grown in a dry, protected spot outdoors, but it truly does make an amazing spectacle indoors or in an alpine house, where it can stand considerable heat and drying, even on a hot window sill as in the illustration here. It can be very thirsty, but it rewards constant drinks, and occasional feeding with an endless display of fragrant flowers as it blooms on and off for much of the year apart fr ... Learn More

The "Red-Hot-Poker Primula" or "Chinese Pagoda primula" has long crinkly leaves, from which erupt dense spikes of violet blue flowers topped by a blood red cone of unopened buds. When in flower in the garden this is our best selling alpine primula and surely one of the most desirable. ... Learn More

The true "Devon Primrose" collected from a bank on our nursery. Sheets of delicately perfumed, pale lemon yellow blossoms appear in sheets of colour in earliest spring (sometimes at Christmas in Devon!). ... Learn More

Fresh seed of these old-fashioned curiosities is rarely offered. Each 'Jack-in-Green' flower has a tiny radiating ruff of leaves replacing the calyx, producing a beautiful posy effect. Flowers in many shades from yellow to deepest maroon. ... Learn More

The very rare original pure yellow form of these old Victorian curiosities. Each flower has a small ruff of leaves replacing the calyx giving an intriguing posy effect. ... Learn More

We have cross-bred many varieties of these popular, old-fashioned primroses, to offer a wide selection of vigorous plants bearing strong stems displaying umbels of flowers in all colours from browns and buffs to deepest crimson, and with all of them being attractively edged in either silver or gold. ... Learn More

High in the Himalayan mountains, up to 19,000 feet in fact, this incredibly tough, hardy, and exceptionally beautiful plant, opens its sweetly-perfumed pink-to-wine-coloured, flared, funnel-shaped flowers in early spring. These are borne in umbels on long slender stalks, above low clumps of shiny, bluish-green leaves. It does perfectly well at sea level though given some shade and moisture! ... Learn More

This beautiful and very rare plant makes a tiny, prostrate rosette of rounded very hairy leaves with short stems bearing heads of flared, tubular, deep indigo-purple flowers. In the muscarioides section (along with the more commonly grown Primula viallii)and probably not in general cultivation, it comes from snow fields and rocky meadows in very high places (up to 4,600 m) in SW Sichuan, SE Tibet and Yunnan. Sorry, no picture until next year, we forgot to take some when it was in flower, so just the rosette at the moment! ... Learn More

Created in the early 1900's at Kew gardens, this quite incredible hybrid between Primula verticillata and Primula floribunda is fertile and comes true from seed. It bears heads of brightest lemon yellow on strong stems above rosettes of deeply-crinkled leaves, all of which are heavily covered withv attractive white farina. However it cannot breed with either of its parents and is a most beautiful stable cross which unfortunately produces only a small number of good viable seeds here. ... Learn More

Up to seven creamy white flowers, partly hidden by the foliage, emerge in early spring at the end of each branch, on thin wiry stems, which emerge from the ground and branch in lovely layered patterns. Bright green leaves mature to a rich dark green, then later in summer large, conspicuous, bright orange-red berries dangle from the tips, making this a beautiful and interesting easy-to-grow perennial. This species is native to western North America from Vancouver Island in British Columbia south, to Monterey County in California, where It grows in shady forest and woodland including redwood for ... Learn More

Classed as very rare in the UK, this small, slowly-spreading, semi-evergreen plant has flared, snapdragon-like, tubular flowers which are usually white to cream, but sometimes rarely pink or purple-flushed. It is similar to Prunella vulgaris, but instead the upper stem leaves are cut into narrow lobes. In the wild it also frequents calcareous grassland in Europe, north to Belgium and east to Poland and North Africa. ... Learn More

This species is most popular as a spring flowering bulb, Brian Mathew describing it as "a delightful plant", to be used in rock gardens or under shrubs. It is completely frost-hardy and prefers to be in full sun. ... Learn More