Here are the first of the ever expanding group of Helleborus x glandorfensis, opening this week. The Glandorf roses are made from crosses of Helleborus niger and Helleborus x ericsmthii. Unlike Helleborus x hybridus, these all have outfacing flowers, and are completely sterile. These are just a few of the hundreds of hellebores that will
The Glandorf Roses Read More »
Starting to flower in late January is the little-known, Iris tuberosa. This Mediterranean species hails from Southern France all the way to Turkey. It’s so unusual, that for decades it was put in an entirely different genus, Hermodactylus. It’s a rather easy plant to grow, thriving in dry conditions from full to light shade. Hardiness
After a couple of warm days, the lenten roses (Helleborus x hybridus) have begun to pop. Here are a couple of our seedling selections in the garden today. Over the last decade, we have made these selections from our Winter Delights strain, looking for great colors, more outfacing flowers, and of course, good flower form.
In the plant nerd world, certain plants are referred to as BIO plants. This means they are so odd or so poorly named, that they will be relegated to the world of “botanical interest only” (BIO). These are indeed, plants that only a mother could love. I couldn’t resist sharing a winter photo of our
The latest new group of lenten roses are the Helleborus x lemperii hybrids. These are crosses, long thought to be impossible, between Helleborus niger and Helleborus x hybridus. The first variety, H. ‘Walberton’s Rosemary’ was introduced in 2012 as Helleborus x lemonnierae, but the name was too confusing with the cultivar, Helleborus ‘Madame Lemonnier’, so
Here’s a garden image this week with two Southeast US native spring ephemerals, both of which emerge in the middle of winter and are dormant by summer. The Trillium underwoodii is surrounded by a patch of Cardamine bulbosa ‘Fairy Lights’. Both should be in full flower in another 3-4 weeks. How much is going on
Twenty years ago this year, we published this hypothetical catalog piece about what it would be like if airlines sold plants, which is still pertinent today. IF AIRLINES SOLD PLANTS Customer: Hi. How much are your plants? Clerk: Well, ma’am, that all depends on a lot of things. Customer: Is there an average plant price?
If Airlines Sold Plants Read More »
When people first hear the name, Daphniphyllum, they immediately think, Daphne, and obviously, when this was named by Blume in 1826, he thought the same. Daphniphyllum, however, couldn’t be more different. First, it’s completely unrelated. Daphne is in the Thymelaeaceae family, while Daphniphyllum sits alone in its own family, Daphniphyllaceae. Daphniphyllum is a small genus
Looks like a Daphne, but… Read More »
Looking out our home window this week, I shrieked that the Persian ironwood, Parrotia persica was in flower, while Anita looked on as though I’d lost my mind- which isn’t a rare occurence. I grant you, most folks probably don’t get as excited as I do, over flowers that normal folks can barely see, but
Persian Ironwood Ablaze with Color Read More »
My first encounter with the Taiwan tree viburnum, Viburnum arboricola, was on our 2008 expedition to Taiwan. Below is our garden specimen, grown from seed from that trip. Some taxonomists consider it a subspecies of Viburnum odoratissima, but we feel it is distinctive enough to warrant species status. While our plant has now topped 20′
