The fourth of our eight century plants with flower spikes is now open. This is a 10-year old specimen of Agave ocahui…one of the agaves with unbranched flower spikes. We’re enjoying the amazing flowers, while also trying to make crosses with other species to create interesting new hybrids…wish us luck! Since Agave ocahui doesn’t offset, […]
Agave ocahui in flower Read More »
If big and bodacious is your thing, then you need a Bidwill’s coral bean. I just snapped this photo of our clump of Erythina x bidwillii in the garden. This amazing hybrid of our North Carolina native coral bean with the South American coral bean is one amazing plant. It dies back to the ground
Bidwill’s Coral Bean Read More »
One of the really tiny and well-behaved groundcovers for summer interest is Laurentia fluvitalis. Here it is flowering in the garden today at under 1″ tall with lovely sky blue flowers…perfect for a miniature garden. Good sun, and slightly moist soils are best.
Laurentia fluvitalis groundcover Read More »
One of the real stars of the early summer garden are the crinum liliies. These amazing and durable amaryllid relatives simply provide color like nothing else in the garden. Here’s our clump of Crinum ‘Schreck’ in the garden…pretty exceptional! Although crinums are insanely drought tolerant, they flower much better with a bit of moisture.
We’ve reached the end of a rather warm week here in NC, but recent rains have given us a nice respite, so I’ll be heading out into the garden today for some planting time. There’s lots going on now including a splendid display from the woody salvias. Here a new photo of Salvia ‘Hot Lips’…a
One final favorite…the very floriferous, but more compact Echinacea ‘Salsa Red‘ in the gardens today!
Echinacea ‘Salsa Red’ Read More »
Here’s another coneflower that’s been a star in our trials…the creamy yellow-flowering Echinacea ‘Aloha’. All of these I’ve shared have shown excellent vigor, good perennialization, and have sturdy stems.
After last years’ performance, Echinacea ‘Secret Glow’ moved into our top tier of favorite coneflowers. Again, this year, it’s a star in the garden as you can see here!
Echinacea ‘Secret Glow’ Read More »
The hybrid coneflowers are making such an amazing show in the garden now, we just had to share. Here is Echinacea ‘Hot Papaya’…part of a stunning 3′ tall, five year old clump. They key to growing echinaceas is to plant them in well-drained soil, and do so before September. It’s also very important to cut
Echinacea ‘Hot Papaya’ Read More »
I wanted to share this photo of the patio area here at Juniper Level Botanic Garden today. Even without lots of flowers, it’s the juxtaposition of textures and forms that create a wonderful tapestry.
Mid-June at Juniper Level Read More »
