In full flower now is our patch of Agapanthus ‘Ever Amethyst’, from the agapanthus kings, De Wet agapanthus breeders in South Africa. This has been an exceptional performer in our trials. For us, agapanthus flower after the spring floral flush, and before the summer flowering plants begin, providing a great early summer filler. We will
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In 2022, Lysimachia lanceolata ‘Burgundy Mist’ hit the native plant market with great fanfare. Here was an ornamentally improved version of the Eastern North America (Wisconsin south to Florida) moist meadow native, Lysimachia lanceolata (aka: Steironema lanceolatum), from the folks at Tennessee’s GroWild Nursery. The linear-leaf foliage of this selection takes on a burgundy cast
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One of the truly fabulous Southeast natives, that is completely unknown to gardeners, is the amazing Trautvetteria nervata. The genus, Trautvetteria, a member of the Ranunculus family, is already poorly known. Even the comprehensive Kew Gardens database makes a mess of the species list. Trautvetteria nervata, a coastal plain denizen of only a few counties
Trautvetteria – Queen of the Swamp Read More »
I thought I’d share the view from our home kitchen table, where Anita and I enjoy dinner. The house was designed so that the garden view was integrated into the home. Our JLBG staff do an amazing job of keeping the garden maintained. As is the case throughout our entire property, plants are installed on
One of our great native small trees is Cyrilla racemiflora, commonly known as Titi. The genus, itself, is so odd, that it warrants its own family, Cyrillaceae. Although there are 10 species in the genus, this is the only one in commerce. Interestingly, the other nine species only occur in Cuba. In the wild, Cyrilla
It’s odd when one of the rarer members of a plant genus is actually one of the best garden subjects. Such is the case with the rare (G3 rank) wine cup, Callirhoe bushii. Although there are only 50 populations in the wild, scattered from Arkansas to Kansas, it is certainly one of the most amazing
We were recently visited by a well-known landscape designer, who specializes in Southeastern US native plants. As we walked through the crevice garden, and I pointed out a clump of Polygonella americana, he was shocked at how nice it looked. His comment was that American jointweed always looked scraggly in the wild, so he hadn’t
American Jointweed – Smoke this Over Read More »
Looking great in the garden is the superb fern hybrid, Adiantum x mairisii. We received our first plant in 1993, as a gift from the late fern collector Nancy Swell of Virginia. The similarity in name to the Chinese native Adiantum mariesii, has caused a good bit of confusion in fern collections. This sterile hybrid,
Looking great recently is a new, still undescribed dryland, shrub mint from south-central Georgia. This amazing dwarf Clinopodium sp. nov. Upson County, matures at only 6″ tall x 18″ wide with a stunning show of pink flowers for us, in early June. We’ve long treasured the shrubby wood mints, but this is truly exceptional. Hopefully,
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We have a ridiculously large collection of Solomon’s Seal species and cultivars from around the world, and flowering now is one of our many favorites, Polygonatum stenophyllum, whose epithet means narrow leaves and hails from Korea into the Russian Far East. This belongs to the group of whorled-leaf species, where the leaves are attached all
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