We just love the East Coast native Chamaelirium luteum…aka: fairy wands. The male forms have the largest, most showy flowers, as seen here at JLBG this week. A lover of average/moist shade, it is long been used medicinally for female reproductive issues.
Fairy Wands Lighting up the Garden Read More »
Several of our volunteers have dabbled with cactus breeding, so here is one of the hybrids we’re currently enjoying at JLBG, thanks to the creative efforts of Mike Papay. The top image is the female parent, Notocactus ottonis (yellow). The middle image is the male parent, Notocactus herteri var. roseoluteus (pink). The bottom image is
Two of our favorite upright phlox are from the fashionably early series from Walters Gardens. These both derive from another of our favorites, Phlox ‘Minnie Pearl’. Here they are in the garden this week, with never a sign of mildew.
Are you fashionably early? Read More »
Back in 2009, the since deceased Delaware Valley plantsman, Jim McClements, shared a may apple hybrid he’d created by crossing the US native Podophyllum peltatum with the Chinese native Podophyllum pleianthum. The offspring was named Podophyllum x inexpectum ‘Ruby Ruth’ (after his second wife). Our plant spent years in a much too dry a garden
When is a May Apple no longer a May Apple? Read More »
We’ve grown lots of campanulas (bell flower) through the years….109 of them, to be precise. Some are good garden plants, many die, and some even try to take over the garden. After 35 years of trials, the star of the genus is still Campanula ‘Sarastro’. Discovered, named, and introduced by Christian Kress of Austria’s Sarastro
Sarastro rings a bell Read More »
One of our favorite new small trees is Styrax japonicus ‘Evening Light’…here it is in the JLBG gardens this week. The incredible black foliage serves as a lovely foil for the masses of pure white flowers. This fascinating introduction, was discovered in 2001 as a dark leaf seedling by Dutch nurseryman, Henny Kolster, and has
The native Camassia leichtlinii ‘Sacajawea’ is looking great at JLBG today. This selection of the US West Coast native thrives also here in the hot, humid, southeast US. This selection was named after Sacajawea, the a member of the Lemhi Shoshone tribe, who helped guide explorers Lewis and Clark in the early 1800s. When food
Here’s a fun combination at JLBG this week with Heuchera ‘Smoke and Mirrors’, Iris x hollandica ‘Red Embers’, and Carex retroflexa ‘Bonnie and Clyde’. So many plants, so many fun combinations.
After being told several years ago that creating interspecific hybrids of arisaema (Jack-in-the-Pulpit) was virtually impossible, we started our own breeding program. Here are a few of our creations from our Contrarian Frankestein Lab that are looking quite nice this week.
Our 3-year old clump of Abutilon megapotamicum (flowering maple) is looking particularly splendid this week. Planted in full sun and compost amended soil, it has reached 6′ in height and 10′ in width. When grown in part sun or light shade, both flower production and size is reduced. In mild winters like we’ve had recently,
