Looking great in the garden after a low of 15F is our introduction, Agave ovatifolia ‘Cameo’. This variegated century plants is one we discovered as a sport on Agave ‘Vanzie’. The blue leaves are edged with a wide muted green border. Despite the variegation, it has shown no loss in winter hardiness from the typical
A little known conifer that’s one of our garden favorites, is Cupressus (Hesperocyparis) arizonica ‘Raywood’s Weeping’. We’re limited conifer-wise, compared to the Pacific Northwest, so we were thrilled to find such a superb weeping silver-blue foliaged, North American native, that thrives in our hot, humid climate. It can be staked as high as you’d like,
Weeping makes us Jump for Joy Read More »
No, we’re not going to discuss the sad state of UNC football, as enough people have jumped on that lame horse. Instead, we’re going to talk about an ornamental grass that we adore. A couple of years ago, we posted a summer blog about this amazing southeast US native grass, Andropogon glaucopsis. Our SC seed
Posing for a photo this week behind Colocasia ‘Redemption’ is a patch of Sorghastrum nutans ‘Slim Pickens’. This amazing form of the US native Indian Grass, named both for it’s form, and nativity to Pickens County, SC, has surpassed all other clones in the trade, in our trials at JLBG. The blue foliage, narrow form,
The Redemption of Being Slim Read More »
In 2007, we released an amazing silver blue, winter hardy form of Agave x protamericana, named A. ‘Silver Surfer’. Unfortunately, the tissue culture lab that was producing it for us closed, and supplies over the last decade have been virtually non-existent. We’ve reverted by to our old, less efficient method of using offsets, which are
Silver Surfer Returns Read More »
I’ve always been fascinated with the use of contrasting textures and forms in the garden, so this combination of the Texas native, Clematis carrizoensis and Agave x protamericana at JLBG, give one idea how that’s possible in the dryer part of the garden.
We’ve written many times about the huge number of plants we’ve killed, but we find that’s the best way to learn. Often, we have a good idea if a particular plant will be successful, and sometimes, it’s just a random attempt. Such was the case, when we planted a cultivar of Rocky Mountain subalpine fir,
Rocky Mountain Hurricane in NC Read More »
One of our favorite clones of the North American native, Agave x protamericana is Agave ‘Funky Toes’. Below is our clump in mid-February, looking no worse for wear after a low of 14 degrees F. This is a splendid introduction from the former Yucca Do Nursery, that we’ve grown since 2004, and is a natural
A Century of Funky Toes Read More »
Our specimen of the North American native, Yucca rostrata ‘Sapphire Skies’ is looking quite lovely in the January garden. This is one of the tallest of the hardy blue-foliage soapworts, thriving well into Zone 6, and south through Zone 9. This clump is sixteen years old this year, so it’s officially entering adulthood, when growth
The Rising Sapphire Skies Read More »
We love our Mediterranean blue fan palms! While there are several blue foliaged palms for gardeners in tropical climates, Chamaerops (Kam her hops) humilis var. argentea is the only one we’ve found reliable in our Zone 7b/8a garden. Mediterranean blue fan palm hails from high elevations in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, where it eventually
Hard to top a Chamaerops Read More »
