We’re all familiar with maple trees, but one of our favorite smaller maples in the garden is the little-known, single-lobed, evergreen Acer cordatum. This fascinating group of maples have foliage that looks nothing like what most people know as a maple. This Chinese species was formerly considered a form of Acer laevigatum, before being elevated
A nice surprise has been our unexpected success with growing the Bhutan cypress, Cupressus torulosa. This conifer, which can reach 100′ in the wild is generally considered not reliably winter hardy here in Zone 7b/8a. Despite this, our seven year old plant is still thriving, with no winter issues so far, even at a low
Bhutanning in the Sun Read More »
Looking absolutely dazzling in the garden now, is the star of the genus, Baptisia arachnifera. This superb garden plant from only two counties in Coastal Georgia, is very easy to grow, but sadly very rare in the wild. It’s Federally Endangered status is due to most (95%) of its habitat being crowded out by commercial
Spider Web Baptisia Read More »
One of many horticultural oddities to grace the JLBG gardens is this fascinating, variegated selection of our native cross vine, Bignonia capreolata. This Tennessee selection, named Bignonia ‘Jeana’s Jewel’ was discovered and shared by plantswoman, Jeana Prewitt, who is also the namesake of the popular Phlox ‘Jeana’. Although we love this oddity, I can’t imagine
A plant that’s really thriving in our summer heat and drought is the Southwest US (Arizona, Texas, New Mexico) native cactus, Grusonia emoryi. This colorful, compact, rock garden-sized specimen, matures at 1′ tall x 3′ wide, with great age. If you have free-range pets, who like to play with such plants, you may want to
We were recently bushhogging an overflow nursery parking area, which is a fallow field, that includes quite a few tree seedlings, primarily Liquidambar styraciflua. During the six-hour mowing exercise, I discovered three different variegated clones of our native sweet gum, each growing about 100 feet apart. Recent research has documented that mowing off woody plants
Our New Gums Make us Smile Read More »
As early July rolls around, our buffalo gourds in the garden are looking like, well, like buffalo gourds. Ibervillea lindheimeri is an odd North American native member of the squash family, occurring naturally from Oklahoma south into Northern Mexico. At ground level, it forms a rather nice caudex (swollen plant base), that’s highly prized by
If you want to create a colorful, fire-like spark in your woodland garden, without endangering your neighbors, there are few plants better than our 2021 introduction, Lychnis senno ‘Once in a Vermillion’. This Chinese woodland native catchfly, has proven both durable and reliable, starting to flower for us in July, and continuing through September. Below
A Cool Forest Fire Read More »
Looking rather spectacular and rather prickly is our native Yucca aloifolia ‘Variegata’. This stunning Southeast US coastal native is rarely offered by nurseries primarily due to the difficulty in taking cuttings. Reportedly, the common name “Spanish bayonets” came from early Spanish settlers in Florida, who planted these as a perimeter border to ward off intruders.
Colorful Spanish Bayonets Read More »
We’ve grown literally thousands of wild gingers, both North American and Asian natives. One of the finest plants in the entire collection is our 2000 Davidson County, NC, selection from a development site, that we named Asarum minus ‘Woodland Wonder’. Below is our 25 year old clump. As much as we hate to divide it,
Woodland Wonder Wild Ginger Read More »
