In 2019, we were trillium botanizing in Lumpkin County, Georgia, when we stopped at a site along the Chestatee River. Growing together at the site, were Trillium catesbiae, Trillium freemanii cf., and Trillium decumbens. Despite the trilliums, the most exciting plant that caught my eye was a unique, small-leafed toothwort that somewhat resembled a minature
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One of the easiest of the evergreen desert ferns we grow if the North American native, Astrolepis sinuata, better known as wavy cloak fern. This year, we’ve introduced spore grown plants of Astrolepis sinuata ‘Jeff Davis’, from our 2000 spore collection in the West Texas county by the same name. In that desolate region (population
We just snapped this image of our clump of Aucuba japonica var. borealis ‘Sea of Japan’. In parts of the county where typical Aucuba japonica isn’t winter hardy, this tetraploid subspecies may be worth a try. This subspecies hails from one of coldest regions of coastal Japan, in northern Honshu, where it’s subject to an
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In 2015, one of our crazy plant explorer friends, mentioned that he was heading to Iran to botanize for for plants. The first thing that popped into my mind, was my long-standing quest to acquire some wild documented poet’s laurel, Danae racemosa. Surprisingly, he was able locate fruiting plants from the Mazandaran region, just north
Looking fabulous in the winter garden in mid December is the amazing Arachnioides standishii. The common name, upside down fern, refers to the fronds, which appear to be inverted. This slowly spreading fern is tardily deciduous, meaning it remains evergreen until temperatures drop to 10-15 degrees F. Although the fine texture makes it look delicate,
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It was on a 2008 expedition to Taiwan, where I met the Taiwan native spruce, Picea morrisonicola. This amazing plant was named in honor of its native habitat on Mt. Morrison, which was, as was the colonialistic habit at the time, named for English missionary, Robert Morrison (1782-1834) . Today, the mountain is known as
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
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I was first introduced to lowland loosestrife on a 2022 South Carolina botanizing trip with Zac Hill and Patrick McMillan. I was shocked that I’d never heard of Steironema hybridum before, despite it being a widespread US native from Canada south to Florida. How is it possible that this late season-blooming perennial wildflower is completely
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Looking great in the garden now, is the rare, Southeast (NC, SC, GA) US native mint relative, Carolina bogmint. Macbridea caroliniana is a Federal Species of Concern (Global G2 rank), found most often in sphagnum bog edges, open forested bottomlands, and savannas. The first photo below is our newly named, dark pink-flowered clone ‘Pink Hill’,
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One of our favorite ginger lilies is the shade-loving, Hedychium densiflorum ‘Stephen’. While it may look similar to the other members of the genus, Hedychium, it’s actually quite different. While most ginger lilies adore heat, this one tolerates heat, but prefers a cooler summer. It was discovered in 1966 in the Dudh Kosi Valley of
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