Raleigh, NC – Plant Delights Nursery (http://www.plantdelights.com), an international mail order nursery specializing in rare and unusual perennials, has publically released a newly identified toad lily species, Tricyrtis ravenii. Tricyrtis ravenii was discovered in the high mountains of Taiwan and published by Ching-I Peng, etal as a new species in 2006. The plant was named after the internationally renowned conservationist Dr. Peter Raven, the recently retired 39-year director of the Missouri Botanical Garden. Tony Avent of Plant Delights Nursery traveled to Taiwan in 2008 where he located the plant and took cuttings of outstanding forms. The plants were subsequently tested at Plant Delights and then propagated by seed for public release. Plant Delights has sent plants to Dr. Raven for his personal garden, and to the Missouri Botanic Garden for public display. Tricyrtis ravenii has proven to be a wonderful shade perennial that reaches 18” tall and is topped with purple-spotted flowers from midsummer through fall, making it the longest flowering of all toad lily species. It is estimated that it should be winter hardy from Zone 5-8, at least.
Plant Delights Nursery was recently named one of the Top 7 mail order nurseries in the country by Garden Design Magazine in their December 2010 issue. http://www.gardendesign.com/brown/best-mail-order-plant-sources?pnid=117161#gallery-content
Plant Delights was also named by Martha Stewart Living in their 2006 list of the best gardening sources. http://www.marthastewart.com/article/15-years-of-the-best-gardening-sources
About Plant Delights Nursery
Plant Delights Nursery is a mail-order and internet-based plant nursery that has been in business since 1988. They hold four open houses per year: winter, spring, summer, and fall. Plant Delights Nursery sells rare and unusual perennials from around the world. Many of their plants were discovered by co-owner, Tony Avent, during his more than 66 plant hunting expeditions to exotic places such as Argentina, China, Crete, and South Africa. In addition to being a plant explorer and businessman, Tony Avent is a renowned plantsman, a successful author and a popular public speaker who tours nationally. Plant Delights Nursery is known for its print catalog (https://www.plantdelights.com/inforequest.asp) which features humorous and topical cover art as well as irreverent, witty and sometimes edgy prose. Plant Delights Nursery and Tony Avent are frequently profiled on television (including The Martha Stewart Show and Almanac Gardener), in magazines (including Southern Living, Horticulture, and Fine Gardening) and in newspapers (including the New York Times, Houston Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, and News & Observer). Proceeds from Plant Delights Nursery support the Juniper Level Botanic Gardens, a six acre garden with extensive research programs that grows over 18,000 different plants.
Source: Plant Delights Nursery