The first plant enthusiasts to reach China found a wonderful array of unfamiliar garden plants that had been nurtured by Chinese gardeners for thousands of years. This is the story of the struggles, the daring and the dogged perseverance of those early collectors. Where would we be without magnolias, camellias, chrysanthemums, tree peonies, repeat-flowering roses, viburnums and so many more? Jane Kilpatrick writes with knowledge and affection of the amateur pioneers and the plants they introduced to an audience that had not realized the flowers they had seen on wallpapers, silks and ceramics could be real.