Looking great in late July is the rare Southeast native perennial Scutellaria mellichampii ‘Bluffton Blues’. This is a superb South Carolina selection from SC nurseryman Danny Payne. This species ranges from South Carolina into Alabama, where it can be found on lightly shaded riverbanks. We’ve grown it with great success in our crevice garden, where it makes a well-behaved 2′ tall x 2′ wide, clumping specimen. The species is named after physician and amateur botanist Joseph Mellichamp (1829-1903).
I suspect you got this gem from Larry Mellichamp a descendent of Joseph’s. Met Larry in the greenhouse at UNC. We got chatting plants and he almost missed a course that he was teaching. Fond memories of Larry giving me a personal tour of PDN and some special time with your carnivores, several years ago during a
NARGS conference.
Indeed, we did get it from our late friend, Dr. Larry Mellichamp.