One of our personal favorite genera is the Southeast US native swamp gentian, Sabatia. Blooming in the garden now is Sabatia kennedeyana….no relation to the current Presidential candidate. Swamp gentian is quite vulnerable with a rarity rank of G3. It has a very limited range, naturally occurring only in sandy/peaty coastal plain habitats in an odd,
Unwanted and Unloved Read More »
Ever since I was a kid, I was fascinated by the native orange-flowering (NY south to Mississippi) annual bog plant, Polygala lutea. The brilliance of the orange color nearly glows in the garden, but how in the world did the folks who named it, come up with the idea to use the specific epithet “lutea”,
Color-blind botanists Read More »
We have long loved the Southeast US native star grasses (NC to Texas), but until a few years ago, the only one we’d grown was the faster-growing, Rhynchospora colorata. Below is our Charleston, SC collection of the much slower spreading, Rhynchospora latifolia, which also has more showy, wider bracts. In the wild, this grows in
A Star Grass is Born Read More »
One of our sarracenia beds looks lovely as it is surrounded on the elevated dry side by a ring of two ice plants, Delosperma ‘Kelaidis’ and Delosperma cooperi. We enjoy the juxtaposition of dryland and wetland plants beside each other, which causes lots of double takes.
Our bog garden is aglow in late April, thanks to our clump of Sarracenia x moorei ‘Red Saucers’. This JLBG seedling arose from a cross of Sarracenia leucophylla ‘Hurricane Creek White’ and Sarracenia flava. This seedling selection puts on one of the best floral displays we’ve seen from any of the native pitcher plants. We
Dining in the Garden with Red Saucers Read More »
Last week, we made a short foray to pick up some spaghnum for the bog gardens we constructed last year, and it was great to see the native golden club, Orontium aquaticum already in flower. This fascinating aroid needs a bog with shallow water to survive. These plants were growing in very deep shade, but
In flower now at JLBG is the rarely seen, Southeast native, Parnassia caroliniana. This amazing, but difficult to grow bog perennial begins flowering for us in mid-November. Even more odd than the plant itself, are it’s relatives. It’s a member of the Celastraceae, meaning its cousins include the genus, Euonymus, and the bittersweet vine, Celastrus.
Grass of Parnassus Read More »
Many of our sarracenia (pitcher plants) have started to go dormant by now, but that’s not the case for Sarracenia leucophylla and any of it’s hybrids. Patrick explained this difference by noting that this species is designed for attaching moths, due it’s white tops that illuminate at night. These moths are prevalent in the fall,
Falling for Sarracenia Read More »
Here is one of our bog gardens showing off the lovely native Spiranthes bightensis ‘Chadd’s Ford’, wrapping up its flowering in early November. This easy-to-grow native orchid is right at home with sarracenias (pitcher plants) in very moist soils. Despite its popularity in gardens, Spiranthes bightensis has a global rarity rank of G1, meaning it
Tressing Up for the Fall Dance Read More »
Ever since I first saw Lycopodiella prostrata as a young child, I have been fascinated with this alien-looking oddity. Botanically, these belong to a primitive group of plants known as clubmosses. Every trip to the coast, I seem to wind up with a small piece to try in the garden, and every time, I fail.
Likin’ Lycopodiella Read More »
