Flowering now in the garden is rare, and little-known native barberry, Alloberberis swaseyi. Just for afterhours entertainment, we planted our garden plant near its lust object, Lilium grayi. This native shrub, endemic to the alkaline cracks and rocky soils in the Edwards Plateau of Texas, has thrived for us in the hot, humid, Southeast US.
Dirty Danglin’ Barberry Read More »
Looking lovely in the garden this week, despite the cold, wet rain, is Iris reticulata ‘Carolina’. This Dutch selection of the tough, easy-to-grow, bulbous iris from the Caucuses, was introduced in 2012 by W. van Lierop & Z. B. V. We obtained this as a form of Iris reticulata, which is correct if you agree
Carolina Fan in Winter Read More »
What a lovely surprise to find our native liver leaf (Hepatica americana) in flower in the garden on Christmas day. This fabulous North American native, evergreen perennial, is found in moist woodlands, throughout the Eastern US. Because this collection is from Western South Carolina, it’s flowering months earlier than forms from colder regions. The common
Liver for Christmas Read More »
Emerging in the woodland garden now are the amazing toothworts of the former genus, Dentaria. Dentaria ‘Green Snowflake’ below, is our 2017 introduction of our hybrid between two natives, Dentaria heterophylla and Dentaria dissecta. This foliage sailed through our recent low temperatures of 15 degrees F. In another eight weeks, the clump will be topped
Here come the Green Snowflakes Read More »
In only its third winter in the garden, Camellia vietnamensis has already surpassed our expectations. The large, single white flowers that start for us in early winter, combined with the beautiful foliage has been exceptional in our trials. So far, our plants have sailed through 14 degrees F. There seems to be quite a bit
From Vietnam, with Love Read More »
Looking lovely in the fall garden is the little-known fern, Microlepia strigosa ‘Shishi’. Despite the durability and appearance of this Southeastern Asia native, it has never been a fern that has sold well. In our garden it forms an 18″ tall x 3′ wide patch. Perhaps now that some fern taxonomists have moved it into
A Lack of Microlepia Respect Read More »
If you like botanical oddities, then the cute Camellia parvilimba is just what you’ve been looking for. This miniature species, is tiny, in terms of flowers, leaves, and overall stature. Camellia parvilimba is the victim of a taxonomic tug of war, with many taxonomists classifying it as simply a tiny form of Camellia euryoides, while
Honey, Who Shrunk the Camellia? Read More »
I first met the genus, Exbucklandia, in the fall of 1996, at China’s Kunming Botanic Garden. At the time, I’d never heard of this odd, evergreen witch hazel cousin. Not only was the plant odd, but the genus name was an equal oddity. It was originally named by Scottish taxonomist, Robert Brown in 1832, as
The Buckland Faux Paus Read More »
One of our favorite fall-flowering trees is the tropical-looking Schefflera delavayi. As a child, I was always enamored with schefflera on our family vacations to Florida, never dreaming it would be possible to grow these “tropicals” in our Raleigh garden. Fast forward 60 years, a number of “hardy” schefflera species in the Arailaceae family have
Delavay’s Schefflera is a now a Heap of Pleureum Read More »
We have long been fans of the Asian ferns in the genus, Woodwardia. Of the eleven species in the genus, five are North American, and the rest are Asian. Our particular infatuation are with the giant, evergreen species, including Woodwardia prolifera, Woodwardia unigemmata, and the hybrid, Woodwardia x izuensis. All of these have huge, tropical
Wards of the Woods Read More »
