Thu Sept 3 – Enjoya in Pistoia Thursday morning began with a drive back to Pistoia, with a first stop at Matteini Tranquillo Nursery, owned by husband and wife, Maria Matteini and Tiziano Nesi. They live and work from the 18th century villa on the property, which is certainly one of the more amazing nursery […]
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Wednesday, September 2 – Nursery Time Our day began by heading east for the one-hour drive to Pistoia. I had read about a couple of small specialty nurseries on-line, so we dropped in along the route, sans appointment. The first was Vivao Rhododendron Nursery, near Lucca, which specializes in both Rhododendron and Camellia. Despite the
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Tuesday September 1 – The Redneck Alps For day two of field work, we headed north into the Apennine Mountains. We stopped for a supply of bottled water, now we had realized the extent of the heat and humidity we were facing. I am truly impressed with the cheese and meat section of the area
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In 2019, I received an invitation to speak at the 2020 Murabilia Plant Festival in Lucca, Italy. As we got closer to the festival date in September of that year, it became obvious to festival organizers that the severity of the COVID epidemic in Italy would not allow the festival to be held for several years.
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One century plant that had long frustrated us was the exquisite Agave parryi ssp. truncata. This southern form of the species is hugely popular in California and Arizona, where temperatures are milder, but it never would overwinter for us here in Zone 7b/8a. In 2010 we planted a form from Mountain States Nursery in Arizona,
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Flowering for the last several week is the South American (Argentina, Uruguay) iris family member, Cypella (Phallocallis) herbertii. The narrow foliage is almost invisible, so this gem can be tucked into any sunny spot for a splash of summer color. We have grown this for over three decades, and it never fails to perform. Hardiness
As Anita and I were headed out on a recent, late day errand, we were stopped in our tracks by this stunning snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) that had taken a liking to our driveway. I tried to inquire why it was so far from a pond, but it took the fifth. This is a youngster,
Back in 2008, I was visiting Virginia plantsman, Paul James, and was taken by the form of one of the now mature bald cypress seedlings that he’d planted around his extensive mountainside property. Bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) are deciduous conifers, native to the southeastern US, and while all are nice, I found this one exceptional.
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I vividly remember the first time I saw an on-line photograph of ‘Ippongi’, both due to the amazing foliage, but also the 12,000 USD price tag. That was 2017. Soon after, we would acquire a small plant in a trade with another agave collector. Although it’s a tropical plant that has no frost tolerance, this
Our patch of the Chinese, Thelypteris bombadilii is looking quite fabulous, as we wrap up summer at JLBG. We offered this amazing, deciduous groundcover fern in 2021, only three years after the species was published, and as occasionally happens, sales were miserable, despite the purported green mulch movement. Consequently, most of our left over stock
