We’ve long enjoyed the fall-flowering, hybrid muhly grass, Muhlenbergia ‘Pink Flamingos’ in the garden. As an ornamental, it only has one fault, the plumes are so heavy, that they spend most of their life kissing up to the mulch. I was noticing last week that once winter arrived and the plumes lost moisture, they are
One of the most festively fashionable plants in the garden during the winter holiday season is undoubtedly, Ruscus aculeatus ‘Elizabeth Lawrence’. This amazing evergreen perennial has a wide native range through Southern Europe and into Asia, but in the wild, most plant are either male or female. They also range naturally in height from 2′
Festively Fashionable in the Woodland Read More »
Looking great new in the woodland garden now is the evergreen Selaginella braunii. Native to ten provinces in Southern China, this evergreen spikemoss can either grow in the ground (terrestrial), or as an epilith (on rocks), but always as a xerophyte (adapted to the driest of conditions), and always below 5,500′ elevation. The plants slowly
We’ve written several times about our collection of the Southwest North American native sotols, which we love for their year round interest. While their appearance is consistent through the season, they really shine in the winter, when other plants that take attention from them become dormant. Here is our clump of the northern Mexican native,
Mikkie Wanna Sotol Read More »
One of the most coveted plants in our garden are the variegated forms of the Asian broadleaf evergreen, Daphniphyllum. Of the 30 species, only two have named variegated forms, Daphniphyllum macropodum and Daphniphyllum teysmannii . As best we know, these were first brought into the US from Japan in the early 1990s, by Barry Yinger of
Daphniphyllum ‘Mountain Dove’ Read More »
While many woodland ferns go dormant in fall, there are actually quite a few that remain evergreen through the winter months. One of our favorites is the compact Asian (China, Japan, Korea) native, Dryopteris uniformis ‘Cristata’, with each pinnae ending in a ruffled petticoat. Below is our 20″ tall x 2′ wide clump in early
Our specimen of the dwarf, Gingko biloba ‘Mariken’ is looking quite lovely this week, with its golden fall foliage. This amazing plant was discovered in 1995 in Holland as a witches broom mutant. Fifteen years later (2010), it was named Plant of the Year by the American Conifer Society, and also awarded the Royal Horticultural
Looking lovely this fall/early winter is the fascinating Asian beautyberry, Callicarpa rubella, planted here beside the golden, Juniperus conferta ‘All Gold’. This little-known beautyberry species has been a star for us in the garden since 2015. Thanks to the US National Arboretum for sharing their wild collection.
It’s that time of year when our hardy grapefruit and lemon trees begin bombing the house with loud thuds. Although they are missed by most visitors, we have two rather nice size plants of a Dunstan grapefruit and Ichang Lemon. Both hardy citrus aren’t exactly the sweetest fruit you’ve ever eaten, but, hey, they certainly
If Life Gives you Lemons, and Grapefruits…Grow your own Read More »
Here are three of the more unusual mahonias in our collection that are looking good currently. Mahonia oiwakensis hails from Taiwan, and three adjacent mainland Chinese provinces. The foliage is narrower than Mahonia lomarifolia, and the winter hardiness seems better also. We’ve never seen a cultivated plant more than 7′ tall, but in the wild, it
