Pickford Design 29 views ♡

Connoisseurs' bulb.The Chocolate Lily is a showy bulb with sturdy stems clothed in lance-shaped, glossy deep-green leaves. They are campanulate, brown-blackish blooms. These are borne in multiples at the stem tips with as many as 20 flowers some say, opening in rapid succession until all are open. I...

Spring simplicity itself.The natural range of this species is Europe to West Caucasus and Lebanon. Not English meadows, but it has made itself at home there and looks lovely with snowdrops and winter leaves. Flowering as it does from mid winter to spring.A compact, semi-evergreen perennial bearing m...

Compact cushions or small mats of bright green leaves, covered with masses of magenta/purple flowers in spring and summer. Sun and well-drained soil. A little lime appreciated. H10cm x W30cm. Ideal for walls, rockeries, troughs, rock garden, crevices and gravel, front of border and hanging baskets.T...

So early, so much pleasure in winter, June!Hoop petticoat daffodil to 20cm tall, easy to naturalise in rockeries troughs or in paving, hardy, sun to part shade, potash to help flowering.Several bulbs per pot.Photo from wiki commons

A miniature bi-color daffodilA dutch bred form featuring dainty white petals (perianth) and a lemon-yellow trumpet. Reaching a petite height of about 15 cm, it blooms very early in the season. This year the beginning of August in Canterbury.Several bulbs per pot.

A lovely shaped jonquil type. lovely shaped jonquil Introduced in 19193. It is compact and very pretty produces 2 to 4 sweetly scented, bright greenish-yellow flowers per stem with tiny, bowl-shaped, darker yellow cups. Named after the flute-playing fertility god, it grows 15-20 cm tall and blooms i...

Related to Aquilegia Pyrenaica, but distinctly taller, with deep purple-blue flowers in January and February, this gem is quite suitable for the border. In the wild it is found in stony grass, scree or boulders, on limestone. Will cross with ordinary Aquilegias. You can be ruthless and get rid of al...

Rare in the wild and to buy, a lovely native white forget-me-notEndemic to the North Island, this small perennial herb features grey-green rosette leaves and white flowers. It is classified as Nationally Critical and typically grows in high-altitude rocky or limestone areas. Native. Great in a pot o...

A special looking but easy plant.A fabulous easy perennial native to Chile and Argentina. It forms low, compact flat rosettes of hairy leaves, whose size depends on the conditions and features vibrant yellow inflated flowers resembling slippers. The plant thrives in moist but well-drained soil, part...

One of the very choicest of this unusual group of flowers, this variety has unusually tall stems, slightly bending at the top, holding truly exceptional, large, bright blue, spiky looking, powderpuff flowers. Even the foliage is attractive consisting of thick, leathery, spathulate leaves, deeply vei...

A rarely seen, delightful creeping phlox that looks most like a wood phlox, but could be for drier spots in the sun!Southeastern United States. Hairy phlox, easy going for sun to part sun to part shade. Flowers for ages from early spring to summer and even flowering gaily on the shortest day. 25cm c...

Wow I am happy to have bred this charmer.Woodland phlox is charming for light shade, or beside a rock microclimate. Carpets of large white white flowers appear in December and onwards..This photo was taken in mid June after a frost! Note that it is growing in one of my "pipe libraries", which is in...

Super classy! So much fun!Annual for a sunny spot. Beautiful Yellow Eastern Mediterranean annual. 20-45cm. Decorative seed pods. Great for a mediterranean or rock gardens. From the Eastern Mediterranean.No special treatment of seed required.15 seed.Gideon Pisanty (Gidip) גדעון פיזנטי, CC...

This easy, but surprisingly uncommon plant, is well worth having.has a basal rosette of blue-grey leaves, from which arise branching, leafy stems. At the end of each division open frilly, bright pink, small flowers, which are ideal for a rock garden, raised bed or container. 10-15cm, spread 20-30cm...

A newly released selection only available here or to those 'in the know'. A fund raiser for the NZAGS visiting speaker fund, The Steve Newall Memorial Travelling Speaker, as a tribute to Steve.A newly released, lovely and wonderful little endemic alpine plant of the South Island of New Zealand.Disco...

A creeping rhizomatous perennial, making a compact mat of small, rounded leaves with blue, bell-shaped flowers in summer. A selected, very compact form. 10cm x 30cm wide Excellent in rock gardens or troughs. Spreads, so to confine it if you feel the need to protect more feeble growers, plant within...

'Angelina' is a golden variety. Could be, but maybe I am just mean to it. Thrives in bright, direct sunlight and prefers moderate temperatures. It is drought-tolerant and should be watered sparingly. Grows on old slate rooves, rock gaps… fire resistant! Golden yellow especially in winter and droug...

Gorgeous. For me this is a bit tender, our big frosts knock them down. Mexican Sage. From there and Central America. it tolerates occasional light frosts and temperatures down to about -8°C, but above-ground growth will die back. It thrives in full sun and requires excellent drainage to survive the...

Architectural mounds, for an easy alpine or modern look.The Cushion Plant or Australian Astroturf is a hardy evergreen native to Australia and New Zealand. Though it looks like a bright green moss, it is actually a flowering perennial herb. It is prized in landscaping for its dense, lumpy cushion-li...

Bright and winter cheerful. A must have pot plant, forget it behind the shed in summer.A fall blooming (April to June in habitat) South African species with a leafy, often branching stem, and grey-green tri-foliolate leaves and salmon-orange flowers. It grows on flats and slopes in the north and sou...

Bright and winter cheerful. A must have pot plant, forget it behind the shed in summer.A fall blooming (April to June in habitat) South African species with a leafy, often branching stem, and grey-green tri-foliolate leaves and bright pink flowers. It grows on flats and slopes in the north and south...

Clusters of fairy-like, star-shaped white flowers.Littleleaf cotoneaster from Himalayas. It is low-growing, evergreen to semi-evergreen shrub, that typically grows to 60-90cm tall but spreads alot. From rocky and alpine areas. A great Bonsai or fairy garden specimen. Keep it trimmed to the form and...

Chile central. This is definitely the best Haploppaus you can buy with its silvery blue foliage and unusual buds. Peduncles are bare or with one to three small linear bracteoles. Flowering starts in spring and ends in Autumn with so many flowers, starting off orange and fading to deep red the two to...

A tiny treasure for spring, will seed about in your rock garden or trough. Only a few.Amethyst Meadow Squill This valuable plant is often grown for its star-shaped, amethyst-blue to violet, grape-hyacinth-like flowers, which open in late spring, much later than the more popular Siberian squill, and...