Putting on an elegant show in the fall woodland garden is the hardy gesneriad, Briggsia mihieri. Some taxonomists have recently moved it to a sister genus, Glabrella mihieri, but we’ll let the dust settle before making the change. Native to only three Chinese provinces, Guangxi, Guizhou and Sichuan, it’s a high elevation plant, occurring between 8,500′ and 10,000′. Typically, plants from this elevation detest our summer heat, but that has fortunately, not been the case with this gem. Flowering typically starts for us in early October, so this is a great way to add fall color to the shade garden.
