Despite it being 55 years ago, it’s still impossible to not flash back to Monty Python’s ridiculous “The Larch” skit, from their “How to Recognise Different Types of Trees from Quite a Long Way Away”. Although we’re limited in the true larches we can grow here, one that does thrive, and one of the earliest
Real News…Fake Larch Read More »
Looking great in the garden now is the amazing southeast US (coastal NC south to northern Florida) native, Coreopsis palustris ‘Summer Sunshine’. Our 2000 introduction has rated at the top of the list at the famed Mt. Cuba native plant trials. It’s nice when one of our introductions get the independent adulation it deserves. Although
Looking amazing this month is the evergreen, southeast US native groundcover, Houstonia procumbens. Our selection of roundleaf bluets, Houstonia ‘White Clay’, is our 2003 cutting collection from Clay County, Florida. Originally discovered in 1902 in Charleston, South Carolina, and hailing from the southeastern US, (southeastern South Carolina west to eastern Louisiana), roundleaf bluets live their
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Apologies for writing about this two years in a row, but few plants give us more joy in the fall garden that Allium kiiense. A couple of years ago, nursery sales of this were so poor that we planted about 40 plants to create a green mass on 1′ centers, as one would do with
Making sense with Kiiense Read More »
We just snapped this photo of one of our more amazing fern introductions, Microsorum buergerianum ‘Datun’. This six year-old clump is from our 2008 spore collection of this fabulous mat forming, epiphytic fern from north of Taipei, Taiwan. Although the foliage burnt back at 11 degrees F, it re-flushed quickly the following spring. Hardiness Zone
Evergreen Fern Mat Read More »
It’s peak flowering season for the Mediterranean native Cyclamen hederifolium, both in the gardens and cold frames. Here is our crop of nursery cell packs currently. These were transplanted from seed pots last year, and are putting on quite a show, which typically last several months. It’s hard to imagine any garden not being filled
Here’s a recent shot on our dryland welcome berm with the amazing southwest US (Arizona, Texas) native, Thymophylla pentachaeta var. pentachaeta ‘Laredo Gold’ in full flower. This incredible perennial has been in flower since spring in this rocky, un-irrigated bed. I’m not sure how much more you can ask from a perennial. Hardiness in zone
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For those of us in the mail order nursery, the closure of any of our compatriots seems like a death in the family. As I’ve mentioned earlier this year, the decline in retail sales across many sectors has devastated the mail order garden industry. So many of the nurseries we value so highly are those
Just finishing its flowering season is the picture-worthy, fall-flowering native, Chromolaena ivifolia. This fascinating Southeast US (Florida west to Texas and south to Central America) native was a eupatorium in a former life, before being relegated to a genus that sounds more like it should be in the title to a follow-up to the Macarena
In flower this week is one of the most amazing fall-flowering sages we grow, Salvia ‘Phyllis Fancy’. This Salvia leucantha hybrid is far more winter hardy than it’s parent. Below is our two decade old clump, that looks amazing in October. The mature height and spread are 7′ tall, so be sure to allow enough
