Here’s our latest bit of mangave related plant breeding craziness. In 2015, we (Zac Hill) used pollen from a Jon Lindstrom xPolifreda hybrid (Manfreda maculosa x Polianthes geminiflora) to pollinate a flowering Agave victoriae-reginae. To our surprise, we got a single viable seed, creating a tri-generic x Hansara (name unpublished), that we named H. ‘Queen
Recreating Frankenstein? Read More »
In 1994, when I first saw the tree yucca, Yucca filifera, growing in the mountains of Northern Mexico, it immediately went on my plant lust list. My first plants, acquired under the old name, Yucca australis, all met with a demise as untimely as The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. I thought our garden spots
Climbing to the Hairy Top Read More »
As of September 2025, we officially have a newly published hardy palm species, Sabal tamaulipensis, although it’s one that we’ve been growing since 1995, and offering for sale through Plant Delights since 2006. From the first time we laid eyes on it, we knew it constituted a new species, but our and other palm collectors
The Newest Species of Hardy Palm Read More »
One of the superstars in our fall garden every year is the amazing Aloysia virgata, better known as tree verbena. Our 24 year old clump, pictured below is grown here as a dieback perennial. From the ground in spring, this South American (Argentina, Brazil) native reaches 10-12′ tall by fall in our zone 7b/8a garden.
Solidago brachyphylla is a little-known, fall-flowering goldenrod, native from South Carolina west to Alabama. In the wild, this rare native (G3 rank) is found in open forests, but in the garden, it performs far better in part to full sun. Unlike one of our other favorites, Solidago rugosa, this species grows in a tight clump.
A New Rod that’s Just Golden Read More »
A happy combination near the crevice garden includes Sedum ‘Pride and Joy’, Dalea bicolor var. argyraea, a hellebore, and an Iris. The challenge of gardening in drifts of one is to used textures and forms to make aesthetic combinations. The easy-to-grow, southwest native dalea allows for some great combinations in a region where silver leaf
Falling for Fun Combinations Read More »
We’ve long admired the woodland genus Veratrum, for both their large, pleated, orchid-like basal foliage, and also for their tall flower spikes. Having grown fifteen of the twenty-seven known corn lily species, we can confidently say that fourteen of them don’t like our hot, humid summers. The lone survivor from our years of trials is
Corn Lilies…Been there, Killed that Read More »
The September fragrance of tea olives are unmistakable in the garden, when the flower season gets started here at JLBG. Open house visitors are always shocked at the incredible sweet aroma from these amazing Asian (China, Japan, Korea, and Thailand) native evergreens. Below is our 23 year old plant of Osmanthus fragrans var. aurantiacus. I
Sweet Tea Olive Season Read More »
I first met the North American (Mexico) native perennial, Galphimia glauca on a 2019 visit to the former Unique Plant Nursery and Garden in NC, returning home with a starter plant, propagated by plantsman/designer, Sebastian Hamilton. It didn’t take long to become a huge fan of the genus. Galphimia is a member of the Malphigiceae
The Gold of Galphimia Read More »
Looking great throughout our rock garden sections is the elegant, evergreen desert fern, Cheilanthes eckloniana ‘Naude’s Neck’. Cheilanthes eckloniana is named after the 1800s Danish plant collector Christian Ecklon. We first met this gem on our 2005 expedition to South Africa. This is our 2013 Plant Delights/JLBG introduction, spore grown from plants along the road
African Desert Fern Read More »
