Plant images from the garden and nursery

Our crop of the Himalayan Cardiocrinum giganteum are looking great in the coldframes today…no dried up, dead plants here.  The seed take 2 years to even germinate, so this is a long-term production crop.

Last week, I posted a leaf closeup of the giant Chinese mayapple ( Podophyllum pleianthum ‘Tai Wedding’ ), so here it is in the garden today…loving one of our few warm days since last fall.

I just took this photo of Helleborus x hybridus ‘Cotton Candy’ in the garden…good enough to eat, but no calories!  http://www.plantdelights.com/Hellebores/Helleborus-for-sale/buy-Lenten-Rose/Hellebore-plants/

Several weeks ago, I posted a photo of Helleborus ‘Pink Frost’, but the real beauty of this sterile selection is that the flowers become a darker pink as they age…a color that hold for months.  Here is how it looks today!    http://www.plantdelights.com/Hellebores/Helleborus-for-sale/buy-Lenten-Rose/Hellebore-plants/

Here’s a lovely clump of Helleborus x hybridus ‘Golden Lotus’ in the gardens today, here at Juniper Level.  Only a couple of years ago, double yellow-flowering hellebores were so rare, they would have cost you your first born…not any longer.    http://www.plantdelights.com/Hellebores/Helleborus-for-sale/buy-Lenten-Rose/Hellebore-plants/

I know brown foliage freaks out many gardeners, but we were thrilled how well our cycad collection fared during our cold winter.  We expect the foliage on all Cycas species to turn brown below 12 degrees F, but if you grow these, look closely at the base and you’ll probably see that the very base

This was our coldest winter since we began growing the dwarf Japanese Selaginella tamariscina forms outdoors, so we are thrilled to find how well they sailed through our cold weather.  Here is Selaginella ‘Golden Sprite’ in our rock garden…very tiny and very slow growing, but sooo cute!  http://www.plantdelights.com/Selaginella-for-sale/buy-Spikemoss/Groundcovers-for-Shade/

The giant Chinese mayapples have emerged in the last couple of days.  Here is Podophyllum pleianthum showing off its fascinating leaf edges..a soft eyelash-like fringe around the edge of each leaf.  You’d never guess that mayapples are actually in the barberry family!  Podophyllum pleianthum emerges from the ground in bud, so it won’t be long