Looking great as it emerges from dormancy is Asparagus cochinchinensis ‘Graham’s Cracker’, our incredible 2015 introduction, that came from NC gardener Graham Ray, who originally purchased this dwarf seedling from Plant Delights. Asparagus ‘Graham’s Cracker’ makes a very tight, upright, 18″ tall x 18″ wide clump, great for a textural contrast in the garden. For
Here are two exceptional fairy wing cultivars that are in peak bloom today. The top is our introduction, Epimedium ‘Rise and Shine’. The floriferous nature of many of the recently introduced epimediums puts many of the older cultivars to shame. Epimedium ‘Woodland Elf’ will be a 2026 introduction of a plant developed by plant breeder,
Floating Fairy Wings Read More »
Looking lovely in the garden this week is the amazing Southeastern US native, Amsonia tabernaemontana ‘Storm Cloud’. Amsonia, commonly known as blue star, are a group of mostly native, typically deer-resistant perennials, prized both because they make such good drought-tolerant plants and they bear one of the few true blue flowers in the perennial world.
Storm Clouds Brewing Read More »
One of the finest of the dwarf, non-weedy ajugas is the amazing Ajuga tenorei ‘Blueberry Muffin’, which is in full splendor in the garden this week. We grow this in half day sun, with slightly moist, but well-drained soils. We love using these groundcovers as “green mulch”, where they help retain moisture and suppress weeds
Blueberry Muffin, without the Calories Read More »
The genus Asarum are primarily late winter flowering woodland perennials in the pipevine (Aristolochiaceae) family, that have long been a focus of our collection efforts. Asarum includes the former genus, Hexastylis, that Southeast US botanists still struggle emotionally to give up. We trim the previous years foliage away as the flowers emerge, so we can
Gingers are Ready and Willing Read More »
In flower now, is our specimen of Distylium racemosum ‘Akebono’. While Distylium is quite popular now, compared to decades earlier, many of the specialty variegated cultivars are still little known. The word Akebono is Japanese for the color of the sky at dawn. It is commonly used in Japan to name plants with a bright
Akebono…no relation to Sonny Read More »
We were walking by our specimen of Chinese redbud (Cercis chinensis ‘Avondale’) recently, and couldn’t get over the number of feeding bees, including both honeybees, as well as our native bees. Chinese redbuds have far more flowers than our native redbuds, so can feed more pollinators, although we certainly love both. It’s good that the
It’s the start of arum flowering season at JLBG. These fascinating tuberous aroids grow through the winter, and sleep during the summer months. Our earliest species to burst into bloom are Arum creticum from Greece, Arum sintensii, from Cypress, and Arum palestinum from Palestine. Unlike many of their relatives, arums don’t produce foul odors. Arum
We’ve long admired the weeping elm at the JC Raulston Arboretum, and the specimen at JLBG (below) was rooted as a cutting in 2018 from their plant, which has long been labeled Ulmus minor var. minor ‘Pendula’. When we starting digging deeper on its background, we became even more confused. First, the plant is not
Crying over Weeping Elms Read More »
Most folks only know daphnes that retain evergreen foliage, but one of our favorite exceptions is the Chinese native, Daphne genkwa, which happens to be in full flower at JLBG this week. This floriferous species needs moist, but well-drained soils, unlike so many of its European counterparts. Unlike the commonly grown, Daphne odora, it has
The Naked Chinese Daphne Read More »
