Seneca Hill Perennials

Ranunculus baurii

One of the Eastern Cape's many astonishing plants, R. baurii can develop huge round leaves, up to 30cm/1ft across, reminiscent of giant pale-veined nasturtium leaves. Our current crop is grown from seed collected at Tiffendell, South Africa's only ski resort, from large-leaved and well-marked plants. Tall branched flowering stems hold small yellow daisies, but the foliage is the real reason to grow this plant. We have had some success overwintering this in the garden, and are optimistic that it will adapt well to some fairly cold environments as long as it gets plenty of moisture in summer (we killed a couple by letting them dry out in the garden in summer).

Rhodohypoxis baurii, pink

A well-known high-altitude species from the Drakensberg, where it grows in summer-moist and winter-dry grasslands and rocky soils at up to 2900m/9425ft. Following the lead of Jim Kraus, who designs our catalog and grows a lot of the plants in it, we planted this out in the open garden and found that it overwintered with complete success and bloomed enthusiastically in summer. Each small flower opens a medium pink and fades as it ages, so that a grouping will show many shades of pink. Easy in pots, kept dry and cool in winter.

Rhodohypoxis baurii, white

The white-flowered version of this charming species, described in the preceding entry.

Roscoea capitata

Our favorite roscoea, stocky, showy and long-blooming. The hooded purple flowers, with their oversized drooping lower lips, emerge sequentially over several weeks from the erect stem; the broad foliage is a glossy deep green. We offer previously-bloomed plants from seed collected at 3000m/9750ft in Langtang, Nepal. These are late emergers, so most spring-shipped plants will still be dormant upon arrival.

Roscoea humeana

An elegant species from western China with large, lilac purple flowers (up to 7cm/3in across), up to 8, in succession, per scape. Here, it's the first of our roscoeas to bloom.