The seed pots below may not look particularly exciting, but to us, this birthing moment is one worth celebrating. Just over a year ago, we flowered our first plant of the North American native (New York south to Louisiana), Frasera caroliniensis. Like an agave, frasera takes up to two decades to flower, after which it
Frasera in Re-runs Read More »
My love affair with viburnums came later in life, as it simply wasn’t a plant I connected with at an early age. The longer I’ve gardened, the more I’ve grown to appreciate all that viburnums add to the landscape, in terms of form, fragrant flowers, and fruit. The Asian evergreen Viburnum odoratissimum is one that
The Odoriferous Viburnum Read More »
Looking quite lovely in the garden, now is Camellia japonica ‘Nuccio’s Bella Rossa Crinkled’. This stunning camellia is slow growing, has golden edged foliage, and large, fully double, rose-red flowers.
Our specimen of Mahonia ‘Marvel’ is in full flower today. This curious plant from Georgia’s Ozzie Johnson is reportedly a seedling of Mahonia x media ‘Charity’, and while it shares the flower characteristics of the parent, I’m not sure what odd mutation occurred to remove all of the leaf spines. We think this is a
A Mahonia on which to Marvel Read More »
We wanted to share a late November photo of our selection of our native evergreen wild ginger, Asarum minus ‘Woodland Wonder’, which came from a division from a plant we found growing back in 2000, in North Carolina’s Davidson County. Perhaps, one day, we’ll have enough of this exceptional clone to share.
Phlomis x cytherea is a little-known Jerusalem sage that we find incredibly garden worthy. First published in 1967 and named for the island of Cytherea (Kithira), which lies halfway between Mainland Greece and Crete, this natural hybrid occurs in Greece and the Greek islands, where Phlomis fruticosa and Phlomis cretica cohabitate. Compared to the much
Cytherea – The Phlomis G-Spot Read More »
Living in the community of Juniper Level, there should be little surprise that we have a significant collection of junipers from around the world. One of the rarest and most unusual is Juniperus cedrus (Canary Island Juniper). This native to high elevations in the Canary Islands, almost went extinct, due to overharvesting, which is now,
The Cedar-like Juniper – Juniperus cedrus Read More »
It’s the time of year, we all hopefully stop and take time to thank those who are so important in our lives. I (Tony) am incredibly blessed to be embarking on our 40th year in business in 2026. No sane person thought our model of building a private, ex-situ conservation botanical garden, and mail order
Here’s another picture that shows contrasting forms and textures in the garden. In the center is a Cryptomeria japonica Gracilis’, backed by a clump of cast iron plant, Aspidistra sichuanensis ‘Spotty’. Rounding out the combination in the front is Alstroemeria psittacina ‘Variegata’
While we love our giant century plants for their garden value, we also treasure their smaller forms for container culture. Below are a few of our favorites, for those who may not have any garden space. As a general rule, most variegated forms are less winter hardy than their non-variegated counterparts, so unless you live
Containing A Century of Excitement Read More »
