Hi i purchased this at the chelsea flower show but it didn't come with an ID. Any ideas?

Lucky you, getting to go to Chelsea! The flowers look like an orchid but the leaves are throwing me off. Do you have any idea if it is supposed to be a UK or European native? Or the name of the supplier? Janet @JRsbugs may be able to help.

Beautiful! I found it.. and I'm so tempted!

Persicaria bistorta 'Superba'

https://www.google.co.uk/searc...

Janet. I want one! Apparently hardy to USDA Zone 3 in North America but doesn't tolerate high heat according to Mobot:

http://www.missouribotanicalga...

It would be in no danger of getting high heat here Sue!

It could be a thug if not in the right place, it's awarded the RHS AGM. That means a good performing, generally trouble free plant.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/...

Well it can get hot there sometimes, not as prolonged in summer as here though. We're expecting 32C (90F) here again today but in winter it can go down to -30C (-22F) or colder. So I was interested in the cold hardiness in case I ever run into it in a nursery/garden centre - but finding a moist cooler spot in my garden would be next to impossible and more of a challenge than its winter hardiness it seems

Once in around 20 years or more we get temperatures that high! 1975 and 76 were over 30C, again in 2006. I don't recall anything like it in between but there might have been an occasional 25C.

Our current temps.. it can be the same for the whole of summer! We rarely get hard freezes, it's been as low as -20C in the early 1980's and again near that in 2010/11 but usually no lower than -5 to -7C.

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/pu...

I remember 1976, it was so hot and dry we had to feed hay to the horses down on the south coast near Portsmouth because the grass was all dried up. Rarely got frost although the last winter I lived in the UK (still in the south) we had snow on the ground for a whole three weeks

Yes, lovely Bistort (Bistorta officinalis subsp. officinalis 'Superba')