I’ve long had a fascination with the floral variegation of plants, and in particular, azaleas. Rhododendron ‘Gay Paree’ is a little-known Satsuki Azaleas from the 1950s/1960s work of California breeder, Howard Kerrigan. I acquired this back in the 1980s, and it’s thrived in our garden since then. For us, it’s never grown larger that 2′ […]
Hosta rectifolia ‘Mito-no-Hana’ is quite striking in the garden this week. This eye-popping selection of the Japanese Hosta rectifolia comes from Japan’s Tenjin Yama Bunen Nursery in Mito City. The leaf coloration is best in open shade or with a couple of hours of morning sun. The leaf vein coloration fades in the intense heat
Here’s a fun combo we planted in the woodland garden with a silver-center leaf Jack-in-the-pulpit, Arisaema serratum in a patch of Rohdea japonica ‘Sekkei-no-Homare’. We used the leaf color in the jack to echo the leaf edge color in the sacred lily.
We obtained this amazing variegated Japanese Solomon’s seal selection in 2015, and in the years since, Polygonatum odoratum ‘Ki Chou’ has formed an amazing specimen in the garden. We’ve started dividing our clump, and hopefully, will have enough to share within the next couple of years. Hardiness is Zone 4a-9b. JLBG currently holds one of
Ki Chou, Bless You Read More »
As you know by our many past posts, we are fascinated by the amazing flowers of the Pig’s Butt arum, Helicodiceros muscivoris, which will be opening in several more weeks. We’re equally amazed at the three dimensional structural scaffolding that the plant contrived to support such a heavy, one-sided flower. Below is the glaucous, angular
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This is the first time in three years, that we needed to cover early emerging plants due to a late frost. Although we are still almost two weeks behind a typical spring, enough plants had emerged, combined with a predicted drop to 26 degrees F in late March, that we felt that covering was warranted.
I was saddened to learn of the recent passing (April 4) of one of the most amazing horticulture figures, I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing, the incomparable Pearl Fryar. It was 30 years ago this month, when I was speaking at South Carolina’s Brookgreen Garden, that we first met. Pearl was speaking ahead of
Early last year, we noticed a new seedling, growing in our crevice seep. We realized it was nothing we had planted, and concluded that it belonged to the genus of pocketbook flowers, Calceolaria. We had actually tried three of the mostly South American native calceolaria species years earlier, but the genus is known for its
Trying to Identify a Pick Pocket Read More »
Early to mid-April has been peak for the amazing calanthe orchid show in the garden. These easy-to-grow, semi-evergreen terrestrial orchids, are a woodland perennial we wouldn’t garden without. Calanthe discolor ‘Eco White’ is a selection from the late nurseryman, Don Jacobs. This species range includes China, Korea, and Japan. Calanthe ‘Golden Treasure’ is our selection
Pretty as a Juice Newton song is our patch of Brunnera macrophylla ‘Queen of Hearts’. For so many decades, we struggled to keep any brunneras alive in our hot, humid summers. Brunnera ‘Jack Frost’ was the first to survive here, but thrive is a word we never could really use to describe it. That all
Playing with the Queen of Hearts Read More »
