Looking good as we head into winter is our patch of Echinocactus texensis, aka: horse crippler cactus. These Texas and New Mexico natives are loved by gardeners who grow winter hardy cactus, but equally despised by ranchers who have to deal with horses, and farmworkers, who step on them. Their low growth profile, along with
It’s hard to talk about bald cypress, without a brief mention of Taxodium taxonomy. We adopt the concept of three separate species, although some taxonomists prefer to lump them all in a single species with three varieties. They are Taxodium acendens (aka: T. distichum var. imbricatum), Taxodium distichum (aka: T. distichum var. distichum), and Taxodium
LaNana – No Hair and No Knees Read More »
One of the very first plants we planted when we started JLBG, 40 years ago, was the deciduous Viburnum setigerum, commonly known as Tea Viburnum. Today, it’s difficult to find this amazing 10′ tall species for sale. Cynically, I feel it’s probably because it can’t easily be clipped into a meatball, like many of the
Drink in a Tea Viburnum Read More »
One of the most interesting plants in the October garden, is the native Drosera tracyi. This giant sundew is endemic to the US gulf coast and has made a fascinating specimen in our bog garden, with a medusa-like mass of sticky tentacles. These super hairy tentacles are coated in a sweet-scented syrup, to which small
Tracy’s Sticky Hair Read More »
One of the garden ferns that we have admired since its 2011 planting is the Australian/New Zealand native, Diplazium australe. This incredible, fine-textured fern, forms a 3′ tall deciduous clump. In the wild, it can be found streamside and in moist forests, but it’s thrived for us in average to dry soils. It’s virtually unknown
Ferner from Down Under Read More »
Reminiscent of the television graphics when the Starship Enterprise shifts into hyper warp drive, Aspidistra sichuanensis ‘Warp Drive’ gives the same effect in the woodland garden. Unlike Aspidistra elatior cultivars, which have upright foliage, the leaves on Aspidistra sichuanensis arch at a 90% angle, creating a very different visual effect in the woodland garden, as
We’ve long enjoyed the tropical-looking Arailia family genus, Tetrapanax…in spite of it’s root suckering tendancies. You would think that plants that root suckered would be easy to propagate, but that’s interestingly not always the case. The common form of rice paper plant, which dies to the ground each winter in our climate, isn’t a problem,
Looking absolutely ravishing in the October garden is the Texas/Mexico native Lindheimer’s Muhly, Muhlenbergia lindheimeri. Named after the Father of Texas Botany, German immigrant, Ferdinand Lindheimer (1801-1879), this amazing ornamental grass does its namesake proud. The 3′ tall x 5′ wide semi-evergreen clump of thin, glaucous-green foliage is topped with rigid plumes to 6′ tall
Lindheimer’s Legacy Read More »
One of our favorite clones of the Japanese sacred lily, Rohdea japonica is the clone Rohdea ‘Sekkei Nishiki’. The English translation of the cultivar name is “snow valley brocade”. The narrow, thick, cupped leaves are densely streaked with creamy bands, and it forms a lovely evergreen patch in the garden. Despite these attributes, it’s probably
There are few North American native shrubs that put on a better show for us and the native bees, than silver prairie clover, Dalea bicolor var. argyaea. This amazing dryland evergreen in the legume family, is clothed in small, bright silver foliage, which, starting for us in early October is adorned with hundreds of small
A Daily Dose of Dalea Read More »
