One of our jack-in-the-pulpit hybrids that has looked fabulous in the garden this spring is Arisaema x trigesii ‘Zebra Stripes’. This selection is from our cross of the North American native Arisaema triphyllum and the Chinese native, Arisaema fargesii. This selection has amazing vigor, and we look forward to the day that we will have
A Jack of all Stripes Read More »
Join me for another round of trillium photos that capture many of the later blooming species and hybrids grown here at JLBG. These typically wrap up here around mid-to-late April, depending on the weather. We hope this stirs up interest in this amazing group of perennials, especially the little-known species that hail from the southeast
Trilliums – Sound the Bell for Round 2 Read More »
Epimedium breeding has come so far in the last few years, they look nothing like some of the still commonly sold selections. Below are just a few fairy wings that look amazing now at JLBG from our recent photo sessions. Looking absolutely amazing in the garden is Epimedium ‘Lyrical Lemonade’. In the history of fairy
Red Bull may give you Wings, but we prefer Fairy Wings Read More »
Here are a few photos of our garden specimens of Helleborus x hybridus this week. If you weren’t one of the 7,800 visitors who got to see these in person during our recent Winter Open Nursery and Garden, here’s what you missed. Although they look decent in photos, they are much better in person. Since
Lenten Rose on Parade Read More »
Once we made our first wide cross in the genus Arisaema, back in the early 1990s, we realized that there were probably few interspecific crosses in the Araceae family that weren’t possible, so we ramped up our work, as time permitted. The genus, Amorphophallus, was one of these in which we further explored the lack
Crossing into the Impossible Read More »
Four new Mangave selections passed the final cut for inclusion in the 2026 Plant Delights catalog, that will launch in a few weeks. To understand how difficult it is to pass our tests for inclusion, we currently have 660 different mangave selections on trial, each vying for a few coveted catalog spots. For the next
Recently, Garden Curator, Doug Ruhren, was moving one of our new Amorphophallus konjac selections from our field trials into the garden. When dug, this form, with solid black stems, had a tuber that was nearly the size of a basketball. The old growth has died back, and it will remain dormant until next June. Below
Basketball Jones…On the Move Read More »
Although the title sounds like it, we’re not promoting a new Woody Allen flick. It seems that despite having 27 agaves in the garden flower this spring and summer, three more have taken leave of their proverbial senses, and started sending up flower spikes that won’t open until fall, including the top Agave x amourifolia
The Smell of Love and Death is in the Fall Air Read More »
Here’s our latest bit of mangave related plant breeding craziness. In 2015, we (Zac Hill) used pollen from a Jon Lindstrom xPolifreda hybrid (Manfreda maculosa x Polianthes geminiflora) to pollinate a flowering Agave victoriae-reginae. To our surprise, we got a single viable seed, creating a tri-generic x Hansara (name unpublished), that we named H. ‘Queen
Recreating Frankenstein? Read More »
We wanted to publicly recognize our friend, plant breeder, Hans Hansen of Walters Gardens, who was just granted his 516th plant patent. Of those incredible numbers, 18 patents came when he worked for Shady Oaks Nursery, and 498 were granted since he moved to Walters Gardens in 2009. To give you some perspective, only six
