Focus on Hellebores
We invite you to browse Focus on Hellebores, for image galleries and information on breeding, propagating and cultivation. We specialize in breeding Helleborus. We grow virtually every Hellebore species within the genus and maintain more than 50,000 flowering size stock plants for seed production. Our Helleborus x hybridus 'Sunshine Selections' are produced using a labor-intensive process of emasculation and hand-pollination to produce the only commercially available line of true F1 hybrids. And... you can even meet the King of Helleborus.

Plant Evaluation Program
Continuing with my grand ambition to grow every plant in the world, we have implemented a scientific plant evaluation program that is resulting in some very cool discoveries. For the curious, we offer this list of plants under evaluation. -- Barry

Hardy Cyclamen
There's virtually not a garden in England that doesn't have a beautiful drift of Cyclamen hederifolium and Cyclamen coum growing in it. Yet here in the US, we tend to overlook these winter-blooming perennials that will grow in every state of this country. [Learn more about Cyclamen]

Fantastic Sampler Offer
Try our 100-plant Home Garden Sampler for home gardeners and collectors. With a sampler consisting of five each of 20 different plants, we make it easy for you to get started with plants which, although rare and unusual, are still virtually idiotproof for the average home gardener. Also available: The Trade Sampler for garden centers, nurseries, professional landscapers, etc.

15 Minutes of Fame

Well, Barry just got his 15 minutes of fame, read the article now before his ego gets so big that there won't be enough broadband on the Internet to carry it. Just click on the magazine cover to be whisked away to the story.

Hellebore Naming Challenge
The Hellebores from our new 'Sunshine Spectaculars' series need names! If your name is chosen, you will win a 4" pot of your plant once it becomes available for sale. [More...]

Hellebore Breeding Gardens
Many gardeners who would love to visit during peak bloom season, mid March, and are unable to, have asked me for photos of the 6-acre section of the hillside gardens that are home to the more than 68,000 mature, blooming Hellebores, so here's a gallery for you to walk through.

Plants Up Close
Over the last several years, world-famous garden photographer Mark Turner of Turner Photographics has been a regular visitor to Sunshine Farm and Gardens. His beautiful photographs of our display gardens and exquisite plant close-ups make up several self-guided garden tours which have become one of the most popular sections of our site.

Current Special

Golden will be the first word to enter your mind when you see the roots, rhizomes and dormant buds of Hydrastis canadensis. You'll understand immediately why the common name is "Goldenseal".  This very useful native woodland plant will not only charm and entertain you Spring, Summer and Autumn, it can even heal you. [More...]

Previous Specials

And a partridge in a pear tree...

Forgive me for borrowing a line from that little ditty that some wily Jesuit priests penned in the 16th century, but I couldn't think of a more clever way to introduce you to Mitchella repens, aka "Partridge Berry". Yes, it's only the middle of November, not even Thanksgiving yet, but already my local Walmart has rolled out the Christmas decorations. [More...]

Crocosmia 'Elizabethan Gardens'

Crocosmia is a small genus of perennial species in Iridaceae, the Iris family. They're primarily native to grasslands of the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa. The name Crocosmia is derived from the Greek words krokos (saffron) and osme (smell), referring to the saffron-like scent when dried flowers are dipped in water. [More...]

Osmunda claytoniana

My Very Favorite Fern. I love all ferns, but pressed to come up with a favorite, I'd have to say that it's Osmunda claytoniana, the "Interrupted Fern". This extremely easy to grow native fern makes up one third of the US Osmunda family. Osmunda claytoniana is easily grown in medium to moist, even wet soils in part shade to full shade. In its native habitats, it usually is found in moist, rich, humusy, acidic soils, but happily adapts to much lesser conditions. [More...]

Phlox paniculata 'Jeana'

I guess you could say that I have a Love/Hate relationship with Phlox paniculata . That was until my friend, Jeana Pruitt emerged from a colony of over 100,000 Phlox paniculata near her home in Nashville TN with one plant that she deemed to be radically different than all the rest. And... after growing her Phlox for over 10 years, this skeptical, yet optimistic gardener is unequivocally convinced that this is the best selection of Phlox paniculata EVER!!! [More...]

Sanguinaria canadensis

The common name for our beloved Sanguinaria canadensis is "Bloodroot". This makes perfect sense as a break in the surface of the plant, especially the roots, reveals a reddish, bloodlike sap. The plant was once used as a dye and for an herbal remedy by early Native Americans.

Sanguinaria canadensis is native to every state in the US and to every province of Canada east of the Rockies. Consequently, it's considered hardy down to Zone 3. [More...]

Iris verna

Iris verna is one of my very favorite spring wildflowers. I so look forward to the bright, bold yet delicate three dimensional blooms held tightly against the plant. The vivid colors stand out from a great distance and draw you ever closer. Being a very vigorous clump forming, long lived perennial, you never have to fret about it becoming a nuisance in the garden. [More...]

Dentaria laciniata

That's only two of the complimentary adjectives that spontaneously pop into my mind and best describe our beloved, native Dentaria laciniata, one of the earliest plants to flower in the Spring. Known to legions of wildflower lovers worldwide as "Cutleaf Toothwort", the bloom can be so prolific that the ground seems carpeted by snowfall when the long lasting white flowers open. [More...]

Lilium superbum

The specific epithet for Lilium superbum is one of the most appropriate I've encountered - SUPERB, as the images below will speak for themselves without any embellishment from me.

Just about the entire eastern half of the US is home to natural populations of this plant but there isn't a garden anywhere in the world where this beauty wouldn't find itself happy to grow.

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Erythronium americanum

I still haven't figured out the origins of the four most popular "Common Names" for Erythronium americanum, "Dog Tooth Violet", "Fawn Lily", "Trout Lily" and "Adder's Tongue". Hell, I don't even know what an "Adder" is! However, I have an inkling that the name "Trout Lily" has something to do with the colorful marbling of the foliage resembling the markings on a trout. Or perhaps the way the pendulous flowers hang resembling a canine's uppers? In any case, here's a plant that everyone needs to have in their garden. One of the first flowers to bloom in a long series of native ephemeral wildflowers, Erythronium americanum lights up the garden with its curious, pendulous, bright yellow, long lasting flowers. 
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Mertensia virginica

America's favorite wildflower is sound asleep right now, tucked in under a lovely white blanket of snow, my favorite mulch. But before you know it, the snow will melt, the ground will warm and tight little purplish-green buds of Mertensia virginica will be pushing their way up towards the heavens. These buds gently unfold into 12" - 24" medium green stems over the following week or two and reveal clusters of pinkish-blue, pendulous flower buds that burst open into the softest, pastel blue flowers. As the flowers age, they ever so slowly and magically turn a subtle shade of light pink. [More...]

Claytonia virginica

I've really never been a big fan of "Common Names" for plants, but every once in a while, one really hits the nail on the head and "Spring Beauty" is a resoundingly perfect tribute to Claytonia virginica, the earliest of the early, ephemeral Spring wildflowers. Claytonia virginica is native to over half of the US and to several provinces in Canada - http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=CLVI3 . It's one of our most beloved harbingers of Spring with its dark green, supple, almost succulent foliage and five petaled white flowers with soft pink veining.

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Dodecatheon meadia

Meteoric!! Well, maybe that's a bit of a stretch, but "Shooting Stars" is the common name for Dodecatheon meadia and you really don't have to stretch your imagination too far to see how folks arrived at that moniker. Here's a very unusual, easy to grow early Spring ephemeral wildflower that's native to 27 states east of the Mississippi, yet will find itself happy and at home just about anywhere. Dodecatheon meadia is a member of the Primula family, closely related to Cyclamen and Primrose. [More...]

Snowstorm in September

That's what your shade garden will look like when you plant a drift of the very easy to grow, reliable native woodland Aster, Aster divaricatus. The glistening, pure white snowflake shaped flowers have bright yellow centers that fade to a deep rich burgundy as they slowly age over their long, long bloom period during late August through mid October. Here's one of my very favorite plants for interest at a time of year when there isn't much happening in the garden.
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Wild Patoonyas!

"Wild Petunia" is the common name for a genus of plants in the Acanthaceae family known as Ruellia. The charming plant pictured below is Ruellia humilis, a very easy to grow, native, flowering perennial. It can be found growing wild in exactly half of the states in the US - http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=RUHU The specific epithet "humilis" refers to the low growing habit of the plant. In that respect, I've used this colorful, long flowering plant as a ground cover. The deer pay no mind to it, and it can take full sun to full shade quite well. I grow Ruellia in average soil but have trialed it in various conditions and the only habitat this plant seems to object to is wet soil. [More...]

Solidago caesia

Solidago caesia happens to be one of my very favorite Autumn blooming perennials. The bright, Primrose yellow brilliance of its unusual zig-zag, axillary, long lasting flower heads never fail to garner praise from garden visitors. One of the most commonly asked questions, after I answer the "WOW...what is that?" question is "Doesn't it make you sneeze?" Poor, poor Goldenrod, taking the heat for Ambrosia artemisiifolia just because it coincidentally shares the same window of time in flowering. Ambrosia artemisiifolia is the dreaded allergen, "Ragweed!" Goldenrod pollen DOES NOT cause an allergic reaction.[More...]

Saruma henryi

Seems like the taxonomists that were assigned to name a rare plant discovery from China were either bored, suffered a lack of imagination, were just plain lazy or had a brilliant sense of humor. Whatever the case may be and "A rose by any other yada yada yada", what we have here is a superb garden plant. I've enjoyed Saruma henryi in my garden for about 12 years now and season after season, it never fails to impress all who behold it. [More...]

Hemerocallis thunbergii

Imagine a daylily 84" tall. That's 7 feet! And imagine one that has sturdy flower stems with brilliant yellow flowers and an intense sweet fragrance. Well, imagine no more, because it exists. I'm describing Hemerocallis thunbergii, a native of Japan, and an essential, worthwhile addition to any perennial garden. As with most Hemerocallis, this is quite the easy plant to grow. I grow it in full sun and it makes a 24" -36" wide clump in just a couple of years. [More...]

Euphorbia 'Jessie'

Euphorbia 'Jessie' is the first plant that I've felt was worthy of patenting. She's an interspecific Euphorbia hybrid, a cross between E. griffithii and E. polychroma and she brings the best qualities of both her parents into a dramatic 48" to 60" plant.

I'm zone 5 here and we know she's hardy here for the last 7 years. I'd venture a guess that she'll grow well in any state of the US. As far as heat tolerance, my friend Jimmy Turner at the Dallas Arboretum in Dallas TX reported that she didn't blink an eye in 100 degree sun with 100 % RH, now that's one tough plant. I grow her in full sun and the height is over 6 feet. In shade, you can expect 4 feet to 5 feet. A mature clump can be up to 3 feet in diameter. Bloom time is the entire month of June here and it's now August and the plants all still look great. [More...]