Flowering now is the amazing Coreopsis palustris ‘Summer Sunshine’, an award-winning 2000 Plant Delights/JLBG introduction. Although it’s native to swampy forests, from NC south to Florida. We have found that Coreopsis palustris makes an even better specimen in full sun, and in regular garden soil…as long as the soil doesn’t get bone dry. For us, […]
Summer Sunshine Swamp Tickseed Read More »
For a decade, starting in 1971, one of the long running television commercials was for Memorex audio cassettes, featuring the late Ella Fitzgerald. I dare say there are less and less people who remember those days. The recurring question the commercial asked, to demonstrate the quality of the recording was, “Is it live, or is
Mother Nature or AI Read More »
Flowering this week in our part shade rock garden, is the amazing, fall-flowered gesneriad, Titanotrichium oldhamii. This is simply an amazing plant that we grown for more than two decades. Several years ago, we were lucky enough to see in the wilds of Taiwan, where it grew from vertical rock walls. Light, but open shade,
Falling for False Gloxinia Read More »
We have really enjoyed the native arborvitae, Thuja occidentalis ‘Congabe’, marketed under the name Fire Chief. This juvenile foliage selection from the late Maryland nurseryman, Joe Cesarini, is a stunning plant year round. It was originally discovered as a compact branch mutation on Thuja ‘Rheingold’, which we stopped growing years ago, due to its tendancy
Falling in Love with the Fire Chief…shhh Read More »
We’ve just finished the flowering season for the amazing, Taiwan native, Lilium formosanum. This amazing lily comes true from seed, and for us, flowers the first year from seed. After three years, it reaches 6′ tall in our climate, Zone 8a, Raleigh, NC. The deliciously sweet flowers make such an amazing show in August, at
Giant Formosa Lily Read More »
A small number of times each year, we open our home garden, adjacent to the nursery for fundraising tours, led by Tony, for a limited number of small groups. These gardens are not typically open for visitors, and have a number of plants that don’t exist anywhere else at JLBG. Our home garden received the
There’s No Place like Home Read More »
We’ve grown the Asian Sauromatum horsfieldii, and other Sauromatum species, for almost two decades, and the more different accessions we grow, the more we’re convinced that there are more than one species lumped into what’s currently considered Sauromatum horsfieldii. With a purported natural range from India to Sumatra, one can only expect a number of
A Really Muddy Horse Field Read More »
Instead of singing the blues, this Asian praying mantis is hanging out with the blues of Ceratostigma willmottianum, while it stealthily waits, like the invisible man, for Grub Hub to arrive with dinner.
I was just photographing our 21 year old specimen of Abelia x grandiflora ‘Mardi Gras’, and as we like to do, took measurements, which showed our plant is now 8′ tall x 10′ wide. I should also note that this is growing in an unirrigated part of the garden, without benefit of fertilizer. Just for
A Really Big Mardi Gras Read More »
We’ve always loved false plum yews of the Asian genus, Cephalotaxus, which contains only eight species. In garden and nurseries, you’re most likely to see selections of the species, Cephalotaxus harrgintonia (or harringtonii), especially dwarf or columnar forms. Many years ago, I was enchanted by this wonderful form of the straight species, Cephalotaxus harrgintonia ssp.
