When Bartlett Arboretum plantsman, Adam Black, offered me a pot of Brucea javanica, a few years ago, I quickly turned him down. The last thing we needed was a tender tree from the Indonesia island of Java. Java is located at 6-9 degree latitude, so the idea that anything from Java would have a chance
I was just photographing our 21 year old specimen of Abelia x grandiflora ‘Mardi Gras’, and as we like to do, took measurements, which showed our plant is now 8′ tall x 10′ wide. I should also note that this is growing in an unirrigated part of the garden, without benefit of fertilizer. Just for
A Really Big Mardi Gras Read More »
We are thrilled to announce that NC State alumni, former PDN/JLBG intern, and US National Arboretum Director, Dr. Richard Olsen, will be returning home to take over as the Head of the NC State Horticulture Department. In his two decade stint with the US Department of Agriculture, Richard has left quite a legacy. After finishing
Shaped like a miniature, dull version of the tropical Asian Rafflesia, we always enjoy finding earthstars in the summer woodland garden. Geastrum saccatum, or rounded earthstar, grows on decomposing organic debris, spending most of its life underground. The fruiting structures below, only appear above ground in our region from July thru September. The eye-like structures
One of our favorite native perennial groundcovers is the Georgia Pancake Bluestar, discovered by our friend Bob McCartney, retired of Woodlanders Nursery. We purchased our first plant from Woodlanders in 2001, before it even had a name, which we quickly remedied. Twenty five years later, we still think this is one of the finest perennial
Flatter than a Georgia Pancake Read More »
We’ve always loved false plum yews of the Asian genus, Cephalotaxus, which contains only eight species. In garden and nurseries, you’re most likely to see selections of the species, Cephalotaxus harrgintonia (or harringtonii), especially dwarf or columnar forms. Many years ago, I was enchanted by this wonderful form of the straight species, Cephalotaxus harrgintonia ssp.
For those, who watched both in person, and on-line, when our Amorphophallus titanum flowered last August, we thought we’d share it in its less impressive stage. After flowering last August, it remained completely dormant until mid-July (11 months), when this new growth stalk began to arise. It’s now hit the top of our tallest greenhouse,
Titanum, doing, well, Titanum Things Read More »
The Souto rock/bog garden combination, that we installed in 2023, has begun to fill in nicely. If you haven’t seen it recently, our Fall Open Nursery and Garden is coming up September 18-20 & 25-27, 2026. Jeremy Schmidt and Patrick McMillan get the credit for the amazing design and installation.
Amorphophallus krausii ‘Son of La’ is a giant, winter hardy selection of the non-offsetting Amorphophallus krausii, from an Alan Galloway collection, on our 2005 expedition, when it was discovered in the province of Son La, Vietnam, near Dien Bien Phu, at 4,573′ elevation. Alan had grown this selection outdoors in his Raleigh garden for years,
La, La, La, and now, Son of La Read More »
A splendid new selection, of the little-known, native (Virginia to Texas) Hydrangea barbara, is the gold-foliaged Hydrangea barbara ‘Chattahoochie Sunrise’. If you don’t recognize the name, it was formerly known as Decumaria barbara, before members of the genus hydrangea had an unexpected family reunion. We have grown this amazing discovery from Georgia plantsman, Cliff Brock,
This Woodvamp is Simply Golden Read More »
