One of our all time favorite ornamental grasses graces us with its stunning display of plumes each year, starting in mid-October. Lindheimer’s Muhly (pronounced mulee) grass hails from central Texas (Edwards Plateau) south to northern Mexico, where it’s found growing on alkaline oak savannahs. Its specific epithet commemorates the Father of Texas Botany, German immigrant,
Lindheimer’s Muhly Read More »
Just over three years ago, we blogged about our new laser engraver that we purchased for labeling plants in the garden at JLBG. Since we were completely new to the experience at the time, and now have three years in our rear view mirror, we thought it was time for an update. We had no
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I spent a week in Asheville at the beginning of August this year, when the region hosted the International Perennial Plant Association meeting. Attendees from all over the world enjoyed the amazing region, its gardens, nurseries, and people. For many attendees, it was their first time to visit the beautiful NC mountains. My, how things
Who’ll Stop the Rain Read More »
Kudos to our Digital Marketing/Social Media Specialist, Lidia Churakova, who, in her other life, is an amazing artist. Lidia was selected to create a City of Raleigh street mural, just finished in downtown Raleigh. Virtually all of our PDN/JLBG on-line videos are filmed and edited by Lidia. She also created our new JLBG logo and
We’re enjoying the annual fruit drop on our native Ginkgo this month. Word on the streets is to never plant a seed grown ginkgo, since you could get a female tree, which according to articles, smell worse than an aging garbage dump. As is so often the case, there is a lot of exaggeration going
Do you remember Ginkgos Read More »
As we were putting away the tender xMangaves for the winter, I took time to grab one more photo of a plant that has enchanted open house visitors this year. xMangave ‘Bridal Falls’ is a creamy edged sport of xMangave ‘Falling Waters’, developed by Walters Gardens Director of New Plant Development, Hans Hansen. This gem
Last week when we were finishing dinner, Anita noticed that the setting sun was wonderfully illuminating a clump of Miscanthus ‘Little Kitten’, so we jumped up from the table, cameras in hand, to capture the moment below. Being mindful allows us to take in so many amazing, but fleeting moments in the garden.
When the Light is Right Read More »
Mahonias are highly prized by gardeners as winter-flowering evergreen shrubs, but the majority of mahonias that most people know are the Mahonia x media (M. japonica x lomarifolia) selections, that originated in the UK. With age, these can reach 10-12′ tall, and are highly prized for their fragrant winter flowers, and ability to feed pollinators
Re-imagining Mahonia Read More »
We’ve grown a number of herbal thymes through the years, and most either take over the garden or die in our hot, humid summer. One that has really impressed us recently is the wonderful Thymus neiceffii, known as Juniper leaf thyme. This native to the Balkan peninsula forms a ground-hugging silvery mat that looks very
A few years ago, I was fascinated to see a catalog listing for a new ornamental grass that I didn’t know, Calamagrostis ‘Cheju-Do’. This struck my eye because calamagrostis are great ornamental specimens, and in 1997, I had the opportunity to botanize Korea’s southern island, Cheju. We subsequently acquired a specimen, which prospered for us,
