This October marks our first flowering of Musa aurantiaca, a little-known species from the Arunchal-Pradesch and Assam region of India, into surrounding Myanmar and Tibet. We love that both the flower and developing bananas are both bright red. So far, our plant has sailed through winter temperatures of 11 degree F, with no problems. Thanks
Salvia glabrescens is a little-known (in gardening circles) woodland perennial sage from the mountains of Japan’s Honshu Island. We have been thrilled with their garden performance since 2005, but equally disappointed at their sales. Customers continually ask for fall-flowering plants for the woodland garden, yet fail to buy them when they are made available. Salvia
The Bald Sages of Fall Read More »
I first met the rarely-cultivated slender-leaf blazing star on a 2022 staff expedition with Patrick McMillan and Zac Hill, to Jasper County, SC. Here, Liatris tenuifolia grew throughout the dry, sandy habitat in between gopher tortoise mounds. The native range of this species, stretches from SC southwest to Mississippi. Our seeds from the expedition sprouted,
Slender-leaf Blazing Star Read More »
Who says there isn’t much flowering in fall? Our clump of Crinum ‘Lil’ Suzy’ is looking pretty amazing in early October. This little-known, but stunning hybrid was created by Texas plantsman Steve Lowe from a cross of Crinum scabrum x Crinum oliganthum. Crinum are one of Juniper Level Botanic Garden’s specialty collections which includes about
One of the many wonderful North American natives from just south of our southern US geopolitical border is the amazing Purple Mexican Spiderwort, Tradescantia pallida, aka Setcreasea pallida. Although most people know it as a hanging basket specimen, it is also a fabulous garden perennial from Zone 7b south. Here is a plant at JLBG
From Mexico with Love Read More »
In January, we posted photos of the Asian epiphytic fern, Neolepisorus fortunei ‘Green Ribbons’ growing in the ground, in our woodland garden. Here is another planting of it, growing as a lithophyte (on rocks) in our crevice garden. This six year old patch of ribbon fern shows that it doesn’t require soil to thrive. This
I’ve always loved the North American native Indian grass, Sorghastrun nutans, but found the commercially available clones and seed strains to be poor performers in our heat and humidity. For years, I kept my eyes open for a better selection, and finally on a 2018 visit to the SC Botanic Garden, I spotted an amazing,
Ever since hearing the hit song, Signs, in 1970, I’ve been fascinated with collecting images of signs around the world, as a reflection of the public conscience. Signs show the entire range human consciousness, from edgy satire to a lack of educational basics. This week, when picking up a new pair of eyeglasses, I was
Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign Read More »
In Greek mythology, chimeras are imaginary creatures, often formed by combining parts of several other creatures together into one. Classic examples are centaurs and mermaids. In plants, there are three types of foliage chimeras, sectoral, mericlinal, and periclinal. Sectorial is represented by plants like Philodendron ‘Thai Constellation, which has randomly flecked leaves. Periclinal chimeras are
The Mystery of Chimeras Read More »
The genus Pancratium in the Amaryllid family has long been a garden favorite, despite few others gardeners growing them. There seem to be several etymological theories on the derivation of the name. The root, “Pagkration” means almighty in Greek. Consequently, some folks think the genus name refers to ancient Greek sport of pankration, which involves
Sickenberg’s Pancreas Flower Read More »
