Plants for Sale at the Asiatica Open House

Today I drove up to Pennsylvania to take advantage of one the special open house days for Asiatica Nursery near York, Pennsylvania.  Asiatica specializes in rare plants, especially, as the name implies, those from Asia.  They have an extensive catalog and you can order online but I often find that you have to actually look at these plants, even the small ones, to get personal feel for how you feel about the foliage and flower.  It was close to a deluge today but I was not the only one who persevered through the rain for a chance to see the offerings.  I also wanted to take a look around the place to see what else there was up there.  I was struck by the rampant growth around the house and grounds.  Many of the plants I did not recognize.  Probably the most striking was a Magnolia hybrid, Magnolia x wieseneri.

Magnolia x wieseneri

The flower on this small tree goes through several interesting intermediate stages before it gets fully open.  And it all looked very lush today…

Magnolia x wieseneri in bud

Another small tree that I had never seen before was a Chinese Allspice.

Chinese Allspice (Sinocalycanthus chinensis)

Looking at it I thought immediately of some kind of Apple or Quince but the flowers are much bigger.  

I also noticed a Larix hanging over one of the walls.  The effect was quite nice and not what you expect from a tree.

A weeping Larch overhanging the wall

Of course what I actually came for were the little plants  :).  I saw the shade house where many of the treasured beauties are housed.  

Asiatica Shade House

I came away with 3 different Tricyrtis, 2 Iris gracilipes, 2 Hepatica yamatutai, 2 Orchis graminifolia hybrids, a double flowered Anemone nemerosa , a pink flowered Anemonella  thalictroides, and a Trillium veride ‘KC Silver’.  I was particularly surprised to end up with 3 Toad Lillies.  Last year I was disparaging these small orchid/lily take-offs but now I realize that they flower when many other plants are done, and like Epimediums they reward the detailed inspection of their flowers — Tuna, you were right!  The three I got were Tricyrtis ‘Amanogawa’, Tricyrtis formosana ‘Autumn Glow’ (nice foliage!), and Tricyrtis macropoda.  

As Beth has noted, I’ve probably exceeded my budget for EPL’s (expensive little plants) for this year, and I’m now behind on my planting again :).