There’s just something about a plant, whose inflorescence looks like a giant phallus, and smells like a pile of rotting meat, that people just can’t resist. Perhaps, it’s the horticultural equivalent of staring at a car wreck. If you’re one of those individuals who is so inclined, or you’re just entranced with nature’s sense of
The March of the Titan – T-minus 10 days, and estimating Read More »
One of the early surprise lilies to start off the summer flowering season is Lycoris x incarnata ‘Blue Pearl’, in flower now at JLBG. This cross from Japanese bulb breeder, Dr. Shuichi Hirao, is a hybrid of two of the most winter hardy species, Lycoris longituba and Lycoris sprengeri. After flowering, the plant will remain
Flowering this week in the garden is the little-known, Hydrangea hypoglauca. Hydrangea taxonomy has been in a bit of flux, especially within the group of species that comprise the Hydrangea heteromalla complex. One of the taxonomic segregates from that group is Hydrangea hypoglauca, which hails from forested mountains between 600 and 12,000′ elevation in the
We wanted to share Kit Kat and Jasper’s spot on impersonation of our nursery and garden staff after working the two weekends of our Summer Open Nursery and Garden event. Thanks to everyone who visited, including many from across the country. Nothing makes us more excited than to share the garden with visitors, who get
One of our favorite ginger lilies is the shade-loving, Hedychium densiflorum ‘Stephen’. While it may look similar to the other members of the genus, Hedychium, it’s actually quite different. While most ginger lilies adore heat, this one tolerates heat, but prefers a cooler summer. It was discovered in 1966 in the Dudh Kosi Valley of
Ginger sure is Dense Read More »
One of our favorite desert/dryland ferns that grace our crevice garden is the Texas native, Pellaea ovata. The zig-zag rachis (the thing that holds the leaflets) gives it its common name of zig-zag fern. This dryland evergreen native from Central Texas south into Central America, makes a great specimen for a rock garden setting. For
The plant genus, Rhexia is a primarily North American native genus in the Melastomaceae family, making it a cousin to the popular tropical house plant, Tibouchina. Rhexia is a genus of only thirteen species, of which we’ve grown eight. The most widespread is Rhexia virginica, which naturally occurs from Canada south to Texas. They are
Trained Rhexia vs. Untrained Rhexia Read More »
Our patch of the Texas native pipevine, Aristolochia watsonii is home this week to some very happy, and very voracious pipevine swallowtail caterpillars. Although the plant will soon be defoliated, it’s designed as such, and will quickly reflush with new foliage once the caterpillars have molted. We love the color combination of the bronze leaves
My Dear Watson, You make a Good Snack Read More »
Over a 45 year career of botanizing, one odd type of plant I’ve found repeatedly throughout the Southeast US are gold foliage sweetgums. A few were seedlings, while others were mutations that occur when roadside tree saplings are mowed down, causing bud mutations. Some discoveries, we’ve been able to propagate, while we just weren’t there
The Man with the Golden Gum Read More »
Flowering now at JLBG is the dwarf, highly threatened pineapple lily, Eucomis montana. In botanical terms, the word “montana” indicates from the mountains. This stunningly elegant pineapple lily species hails from the northern end of South Africa’s Drakensberg Mountains (Mpumalanga, Free State, and Swaziland), where it can be found growing in grasslands on rocky hillsides.
