Fraser’s Thimble Farm 175 Arbutus Rd. Salt Spring Island, B.C. V8K 1A3 Canada Ph/ Fax(250) 537-5788 Specializing in Native, Rare and Unusual Plants at www.thimblefarms.com Hours of Operation: February Through December: Open 9am-4:30pm daily July through August: we will be open but how much will depend on staffing- please phone before coming to the nursery. Welcome to our 2010 catalogue. From February 19th-21st , we will host our first (hopefully, of many) Hellebore Extravaganza Weekend or ‘Helleborganza’ at the Nursery. So it won’t be surprising that at the top of the list of new plants for 2010 is Hellebores. We have many new introductions from many noted breeders and we are particularly excited about the selections from Marietta and Ernie O’byrne of Northwest Garden Nursery in Oregon and those from Judith and Dick at Pine Knot Farms in Virginia. These plants are absolutely incredible in the diversity of both blooms and foliage and will be certain to add colour and interest to the winter garden. You can have a look at photos of some of these treasures on our Hellebore page on our website. Many of the plants will be hand selected in bloom and shipped to us just prior to the Helleborganza, so you can be sure we will have the choicest selections available for you. It is important to understand the fabulous and incredible range of these Hellebores so, please go to the website and look at the photographs. We will also have a good selection of other Hellebores at the weekend event, some of which we will list on the Collectors list on our website just prior to the day. At Helleborganza we will be showcasing other winter or early Spring bloomers as well, including Adonis, Trilliums, Corydalis, Hepaticas, Shortia, Eranthis and more. This year we are introducing a great number of new Asian perennials which we’ve been working on for years. We also travelled to Japan and brought back many fabulous selections for the woodland garden. This year also sees the introduction of a number of Native perennials for the native plant enthusiast. We would like to thank our staff and our customers for making 2009 such a good year. We would also like to thank our suppliers and breeders for sharing their photographic images so we could share them with you. Native and North American Native (N.A. Native) plants are indicated as such. Native means plants that are indigenous to the Pacific Northwest; which for our purposes is defined as Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and Northern California. In most cases; however, the plants are native to British Columbia. Plant height (Ht.) or occasionally flower height (Fl.Ht.) is given next in our descriptions, followed by hardiness zone (Z). Most of coastal B.C. is zone 8; the Gulf Islands and most of Victoria are zone 9. To determine what zone you are in, refer to the table on page 2 and remember that the temperatures listed are the twenty year, annual low temperature range in Celsius or Fahrenheit. They are not the absolute low for the zone. As all plants are container grown, we usually state pot size along with plant prices to give an indication of the size of the plant, which will vary depending on species. Pot sizes are standard nursery pots; 1gal = 1gallon pot etc. Prices listed are F.O.B. our farm. Shipping and mail order information is at the back of the catalogue. Collector's & Bulb Lists We are now putting out a fall bulb list and a collector's list each year. The bulb list will have over four hundred varieties of bulbs, from the common to the extremely rare. We try to put out two collector's lists a year. The first comes out between November and April and will list new plants, plants available in small quantities and bulbous plants that should be moved at that time of the year, while dormant. This list will be posted on the web site, not mailed. We also put out our main collectors list in July with our bulb list to list all the new plants we have ready then, so some of you don't have to wait a whole year for our next catalogue. These lists are posted on our Website www.thimblefarms.comonly, no hard copies will be printed. An easy to print PDF version will be posted as well. 1 Fraser’s Thimble Farm 175 Arbutus Rd. Salt Spring Island, B.C. V8K 1A3 Canada Ph/ Fax(250) 537-5788 Specializing in Native, Rare and Unusual Plants at www.thimblefarms.com Trades We are always on the look out for new plants and are constantly searching for new sources of supply around the world. Whether you are a private gardener with surplus plants or a wholesale commercial nursery, we would be interested in hearing from you. We are interested in all sorts of plant material, in small or large quantities, often to add to our current stocks. If you have a species or variety that you think we may be interested in, please contact us. If at all possible please suggest your price or trade requirements. We will try to respond quickly and try to make each offer reasonable and fair. Of course, there is no obligation on your part. We also consider trades for seeds. We would like to thank all those that traded with us in the last year. Many of the new plants we now offer come to us first via our customers. Thank you, Richard and Nancy Fraser Coming to the Nursery? The fastest way is a ferry from Table of Contents Hardy Orchids ............................................................................ 3 Tsawwassen ( Near Vancouver) to Ferns ........................................................................................... 8 Swartz Bay( Near Victoria) then Perennial Plants ......................................................................... 15 Grasses and grass like plants and Bamboo ................................ 70 another from Swartz Bay to Fulford Shrubs........................................................................................ 72 Harbour ( Salt Spring). This is not Vines.......................................................................................... 80 your only option as there are three Helleborganza & all things Hellebore . ………………………...40 Deciduous and Evergreen Trees................................................ 81 ferry routes to SaltSpring Island so Mail Order Information ........................................................85-88 for Ferry information phone Where is Thimble Farms? ....................................................... 1&2 Spring Sale................................................................................. 80 1-888-223-3779 What to do when my order arrives ............................................. 84 Or go to www.bcferries.com Table I. Hardiness Zones used in this catalogue. Temperatures are average winter lows. Fahrenheit Zone Celsius ___________________________________ below -50 1 below -45 -50 to -40 2 -45 to -40 -40 to -30 3 -40 to -34 -30 to -20 4 -34 to -29 -20 to -10 5 -29 to -23 -10 to 0 6 -23 to -17 0 to 10 7 -17 to -12 10 to 20 8 -12 to -7 20 to 30 9 -7 to -1 30 to 40 10 -1 to 5 2 Hardy Orchids Hardy Orchids Bletilla `Penway Princess’ (formosana x yunnanensis) $15.99ea Z 5-6. Light rose pink sepals and petals, darker on the reverse. Lip This includes a diverse group of ground orchids from around the spotted red and yellow with purple red margin. world. Some of these groups are relatively easy to grow like the Bletilla and Pleiones and some are more challenging like the Bletilla `Sunset’ (szetschuanica x ochracea)....................... $19.00ea Cypripediums. The cultural requirements for most of these orchids Z 5-6. Light yellow petals and sepals, sometimes with pink on are similar. They require well drained but moist soil when in active reverse. Lip yellow with light purple front margin. Tip of column growth and excellent (almost dry) drainage in the winter when also light purple. dormant. Light shade or partial sun works well. Bletilla are more tolerant of varying soil conditions and require more sun than other Bletilla `Yokohama’ (striata x formosana) ......................... $12.99ea species. Z 5-6. Pale lilac petals and sepals, throat yellow with lilac Bletilla markings. Makes a nice clump in only a few years. This is a wonderful group of easy to grow hardy ground Orchids. Calanthe These are best planted 5cm deep in light shade to full sun in a well This is a large group of hardy and semi-hardy ground orchids from drained humus-rich soil. In colder areas (Zone 5-6) they need to be Asia.Most can be grown in the Garden but the frost tender species planted 10-15cm deep and in yet colder areas they can easily be should be brought indoors. They prefer a lightly shaded woodland grown in pots indoors or in an alpine house. setting with humus rich soil. Most spread quite rapidly, and are extremely showy and rare in North America. Great companion Bletilla striata ....................................................................... $6.00ea plants for Ferns, Hostas, and Bleeding Hearts. These like to be fed a Ht. 20-40cm. Z5-6. This hardy ground orchid has long, arching lot with a weak solution of liquid fertilizer while in active growth. ribbed leaves and soft rose to magenta erect inflorescence of up to 10 flowers. Calanthe alismaefolia ......................................................... $33.00ea Ht. 30cm. Z9. A gorgeous Asian species with white flowers. The Bletilla striata ‘Aurea’.........................................................$12.00ea lip is elongated and split. The narrow elongated side lobes have a Ht. 20-40cm. Z5-6. A soft yellow form which we have not yet seen blotch of golden yellow at the top and a hood formed by the bloom. We offer near bloom sized plants remaining petals and sepals. The overall effect is like a small yellow faced man with skinny arms and baggy pants wearing a hat. Bletilla striata `Murasaki Shikibu’.................. $35.00ea Probably not frost hardy A very rare variety with the strongest blue flowers of any hardy bletilla.