For several years, we’d followed the development of fruiting St. John’s worts, developed for the florist industry, so finally we decided to get some plants for trial and see if they had any garden value. Much to our delight, they exceeded all of our expectations, so now we want to spread the word. For us
St. John’s wort with ornamental fruit Read More »
Sno Kiddin’…We average just over 5″ of snow each winter, and after yesterday, we’re hoping to turn off the snow faucet for the year. Predictions for our region were dramatically underestimated, and while we only received 5″ of snow at the nursery, nearby locations registered 12″+ accumulations. Here are a few images from the gardens.
Second round of snow Read More »
Although we love daylilies, we don’t offer a large list, opting only for very special selections that should be better known. Such is the case with Hemerocallis ‘Striped Fantastic’, one of only three stable variegated daylilies, and the first tetraploid. Due to its slow rate of increase, it’s taken 11 year for this worldwide release
A new variegated daylily, Hemerocallis ‘Striped Fantastic’ Read More »
Since we have a passion for native plants, we constantly seek out both new species and new selections that simply aren’t widely known. Eryngium aquaticum var. ravenelii is one of those plants that leave us asking why it isn’t grown more. Unlike most of the perennial native eryngiums that have green flowers, this one has
Two great native Eryngiums…unknown, but not for long Read More »
Be honest now…how many of you have grown psoralea in your garden? Psoralea is an odd little baptisia cousin that’s ignored by all the gardening books, as well as most recommended native plant lists. Here is our clump of Psoralea psoralioides in the garden this past June…pretty amazing for a perennial native from Illinois south
Psoralea…not a skin disease Read More »
We love dianthus (hardy carnations), both for their evergreen foliage, drought tolerance, and deliciously fragrant flowers. Getting dianthus to flower is easy, it just that soon after flowering, most succumb to our hot, humid summers. Consequently, we celebrate when a new dianthus not only survives, but thrives. The latest trial subjects to sail through our
New dianthus…take a sniff Read More »
We are thrilled to finally introduce our latest fairy wing from our breeding work here at PDN/JLBG. Epimedium ‘Peachie‘ is a 2010 Plant Delights seedling that has been absolutely stellar in our trials, both for the unique peach flower color and for the sheer density of flowers. We hope you will enjoy this in your
Epimedium ‘Peachie’…a real peach Read More »
During our recent cold snap, I haven’t been able to get the Rod Stewart/Dolly Parton rendition of “Baby it’s Cold Oustide” out of my head. At least Elwood had the good sense to find the warmest spot in the house…in the dryer on top of a load of warm clothes, while others of us had
Baby it’s cold outside Read More »
Plantsman Hans Hansen spends much of his time on a ladder, since that’s required when you breed plants with ridiculously tall flower spikes like Agaves and Manfredas. We continue to be amazed at the dazzling array of bi-generic Mangaves that he and his staff have created. You can follow Hans’ mangave work on the “Mad
Mad about Mangave Redux Read More »
We received our first plant of the solitary-growing Agave ovatifolia ‘Killer’, after it was first created by our friend Hans Hansen in 2009. As you can imagine, propagating a non-offsetting century plant like the whale tongue agave isn’t an easy task. By sacrificing the beauty of the original plant and drilling out the central core,
Killer Whale Century Plant Read More »
