Catalogue has a wide range of rare plants

ONE of my favourite catalogues that lands on my desk travels from North of the Border and overflows with plants from around the world that are nearly as rare as that monster from the loch.

Kevock Garden Plants, near Edinburgh, is run by Stella and David Rankin who have brought together a wondrous assortment of rarities, including alpines, bog and woodlanders.

NEW EDITION: The latest Kevock Garden catalogue.

Perhaps the most astonishing feature of the booklet is its range of more than 200 primula species and varieties, from show auriculas to lofty candelabras and back to alpine species that are new to me, such as limbata in pale purple, rusbyi in bright red-pink and yellow eye and zambalensis with large pink flowers and one of the discoveries of George Forrest, the great Scottish plantsman.

You will find numerous aquilegias, dianthus, hostas, irises, peonies, rhododendrons and saxifrages among its pages and a quirky A-Z in which "J" is used as a thank you to journalists for their coverage. How very kind!