Looking lovely this week in the garden is our clump of Agave x protamericana ‘Silver Surfer’. This 2007 Plant Delights/JLBG introduction is our winter hardy (Zone 7b) selection from seedlings of a 1992 Yucca Do seed collecting expedition (YD 45-83) at 5,200′ in Palmillo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, where Agave americana ssp. protamericana intergrades with Agave asperrima.
Century Plant Superhero Read More »
Looking great in the garden, as we turn the page on a new year is the Japanese bay tree. I first met Machilus thunbergii (Lauraceae) thanks to my horticultural mentor, the late J.C. Raulston, who extolled the virtues of this evergreen tree, native to Taiwan, Southern China, Vietnam, Korea, and Japan. J.C. had been frustrated,
We love our Mediterranean blue fan palms! While there are several blue foliaged palms for gardeners in tropical climates, Chamaerops (Kam her hops) humilis var. argentea is the only one we’ve found reliable in our Zone 7b/8a garden. Mediterranean blue fan palm hails from high elevations in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, where it eventually
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I was just admiring one of our clumps of the amazing Yucca linearifolia in the garden…truly one of the stars of the genus. This North American native, named as recently as 1995, can be found naturally around the Nuevo Leon region in Northern Mexico. The plant below is now 18 years old and 5′ tall.
We love the fall foliage of the evergreen Southeast US (Alabama, Tennessee, and Texas) native, Croton alabamensis. This lanky, 5′ tall shrub is a member of the Euphorbia family. In early winter, it drops its summer, fruity-scented leaves, but not before they turn pumpkin orange. This has been considered by many botanists to be one
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While most plants are going dormant in winter, others have a seemingly backward schedule. One of those is our native cardamines. Below is our garden clump of Cardamine bulbosa, which emerged in late November, and is growing happily as we hit the new year. This cabbage family (Brassicaceae) member, native from North Dakota south to
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I was fascinated recently, while observing the water puddles on an agave leaf after a recent rain event this winter. These natural phenomenon are often missed as we hurry through life, or are even things we simply take for granted. In fact, each aspect of life is quite more complex than we realize. The cause
While most gardeners are quite familiar with boxwoods of the genus, Buxus, far less are familiar with their close cousins, sweet box of the genus Sarcococca. Sarcococca is a small genus of only 15 species of small woody evergreen shrubs, ranging from the Western Himalayas to Thailand, with one long lost family member that resides
Christmas boxes through the Garden Read More »
In our search for the worlds’ most esoteric perennials, we’ve managed to grow enough of the hardy monotypic aroid, Ambrosinia bassii, to share in the new 2025 catalog, that launches at year end. This miniature oddity from Europe’s Mediterranean region, prefers to hang out in woodlands, growing in humus over the top of limestone rocks.
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In 2015, we were potting seedlings from our cross of two hardy century plants, Agave lophantha and Agave x pseudoferox (salmiana var. ferox of Hort.), when we found one with a tiny yellow streak on one leaf. Over the years, it grew larger until it was large enough to core, which we do to promote
