We love any late season flowering woodland perennials, and few are more impressive than our native Actaea cordifolia. This wonderful rare native (globally rare ranking of G3) from Virginia west to Tennessee has languished in taxonomic purgatory under a parade of invalid names. The 4′ tall, upright, branched terminal spikes end in finger-like clusters of
Over the last few years, we have trialed two selections of the edible fig, Ficus carica, purported to be dwarf. The first, acquired as Ficus ‘Little Miss Figgy’ was purported to mature at 6′ tall x 4′ wide. Well, our 10 year-old specimen is now 25′ tall x 25′ wide. The second, Ficus ‘Fignomenal’ is
Fignomenally Wrong Read More »
Agave desmetiana is a mysterious North American native century plant, hailing from south of the US border, toward the southern tip of Mexico. Experts still argue about exactly where, with some claiming its origin is Oaxaca, Yucatan, and Veracruz. Not only do we not know for sure where it’s from, but we don’t have concensus
Agave desmetiana – The elegant mystery century plant Read More »
One of the great surprises in our bog garden is the survival of the North American native, bog bean, aka: Menyanthes trifoliata. This odd monotypic genus (only a single species), hails from cool parts of North America and Europe, and we assumed had little chance of survival in our hot, humid Southeastern climate. That was
Looking fabulous in the woodland garden as August gives way to September is the Chinese Begonia grandis ‘Alba’. We never have enough plants that will flower in the summer/fall woodland garden, so I can’t imagine a garden without cold hardy begonias. The sprays of white flowers and red backed leaves make B. grandis ‘Alba’ a
We wanted to publicly recognize our friend, plant breeder, Hans Hansen of Walters Gardens, who was just granted his 516th plant patent. Of those incredible numbers, 18 patents came when he worked for Shady Oaks Nursery, and 498 were granted since he moved to Walters Gardens in 2009. To give you some perspective, only six
After peak hydrangea season is long in the rear view mirror, the Japanese/Taiwanese Hydrangea involucrata erupts in flower. For us, that means August and September in NC. The main clone on the market (pictured below) is Hydrangea involucrata ‘Wim Rutten’, from Dutch plant breeder, Catherine Rutten. Our garden specimen is now just over six years
High on Late-summer Hydrangeas Read More »
We’re just wrappping up the midseason of the Lycoris (Surprise Lily) flowering season, that runs from August 11-August 25. This typically wraps up the last of the spring-foliage species and hybrids, and takes us through the middle part of the fall-leaved species and hybrids. Lycoris aurea is one of the most tender of the Lycoris
Midsummer Surprises Read More »
There have been more than once I’ve rolled my eyes, like an Exorcist movie extra, when reading on-line comments about the causes of variegation in plants. Thankfully, our plant friend, Dr. Michael Marcotrigiano got so fed up, he actually wrote a book about the subject, Understanding Variegated Plants, to help dispel many of the oft
Understanding Variegation Read More »
Looking lovely in late August is the variegated turmeric ginger, Curcuma longa ‘Snowdrift’. Thriving in light shade, this amazing garden plant is obviously both ornamental and useful. Discovered as a mutation by plantsman Richard O’Brien, this amazing selection is late to emerge, rarely making a garden appearance before mid-June in NC. Our oldest clumps, planted
Snowdrift in Summer Read More »
