Looking lovely on our patio now is the amazing century plant, Agave desmettiana ‘Galactic Traveler’. The coloration on this amazing, tropical, spineless, specimen is truly surreal. We hunted for years, before attaining a single division five years ago, and for the first time this year, we have propagated enough to share through Plant Delights.
Okay, how many out there are growing kungias? Be honest, now! Kungia is a little-known genus of only two species of succulents, native to Gansu, Shanxii, and northern Sichuan, China. The majority of plants that look anything like this are almost all native to the deserts of Africa, so it’s not surprising that our Kungia
Looking lovely in the garden now is the woodland perennial, Actaea pachypoda, commonly known as doll’s eyes. Most of the commercial material available in the trade comes from much colder climates, and will not survive our summers. It has a huge native range from Canada south to Louisiana, so it’s surprising that introductions of heat
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While most folks think of wabbits when the hear Peter Cottontail, I can’t help but think of a very special Mexican century plant, Agave albopilosa. Agave albopilosa is simply the most amazing agave species ever discovered, and one that took the succulent world by storm when it was first published in 2007. The small population
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I doubt many gardeners in the US, have grown the European native rock samphire (no relation to the pan flute dude, Zamfir), Crithmum maritimum. This odd member of the carrot family, hails from sea coasts from England to Africa, where it clings to the rocky sea cliffs, enduring constant gusts of salty sea water. This
Flowering in the garden this week is the virtually unknown geophyte, we fondly refer to as the Milli Vanilli lily, aka. Milla magnifica. Native from the Mexican states of Guerrero and Morelos, this unusual member of the onion family grows from a bulb that remains dormant until mid-June. Once the bulb breaks dormancy, the long,
Goin’ bonkers in the garden in late August is the hardy South African spider plant, Chlorophytum bowkeri. Chlorophytum bowkeri is an African native (Mozambique, Swaziland, South Africa, and Zimbawae), non-running spider plant that can be found in damp grasslands and forest margins to 6,000′ elevation. In the garden, it has been an outstanding performer for
I just snapped this photo of one of the most fascinating summer-growing aroids in the garden. Englerarum is the Charlie Brown of the hardy elephant ear like aroids. It looks somewhat like an alocasia or colocasia, but after taking a DNA test in 2013, was kicked out of both genera, and left to its own
Unwanted and Un-loved Read More »
The procession of Lycoris (Surprise lilies) continues as we pass mid-August. Here are some recent images. So far, this year, we have flowered over 300 different taxa. Below is Lycoris aurea, which has the widest natural range of any lycoris, from India to Africa, south to Indonesia. Winter hardiness of this fall-leaf species is dependent
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Flowering now in the garden is the North American native, Echeveria runyonii, a Northern Mexico succulent native to rocky cliffs in the state of Tamaulipas. This gem was discovered in the wild by our friends at Yucca Do Nursery in 1990 and the species was later named in honor of botanist, Robert Runyon. This delightful
