One of the very first plants we planted when we started JLBG, 40 years ago, was the deciduous Viburnum setigerum, commonly known as Tea Viburnum. Today, it’s difficult to find this amazing 10′ tall species for sale. Cynically, I feel it’s probably because it can’t easily be clipped into a meatball, like many of the
Drink in a Tea Viburnum Read More »
Putting on an elegant show in the fall woodland garden is the hardy gesneriad, Briggsia mihieri. Some taxonomists have recently moved it to a sister genus, Glabrella mihieri, but we’ll let the dust settle before making the change. Native to only three Chinese provinces, Guangxi, Guizhou and Sichuan, it’s a high elevation plant, occurring between
Few shrubs we grow evoke an emotional response quite like Osmanthus fragrans ‘Beni Kim Mokusei’. For all its power to inspire devotion, however, it has no connection to the perfectly coiffed televangelist Benny Hinn. This amazing Chinese native evergreen comes in white, yellow, and orange flowered forms. The orange flowering clones are known as Osmanthus
Oh Beni, She is Really Keen Read More »
On a 2015 visit to Judith Jones’, Washington-based Fancy Fronds Nursery, we left with many ferns, including a very lacy plant with a tag of Arachniodes sp. Chile. Back in NC, the fern thrived in the garden, and as we studied the tag closer, it turned out to actually say Arachniodes sp. China. This turned
Hemlock-leaf Bristle Fern Read More »
Early fall is Hemiboea time in the garden, and the the first to flower this year, is the little-known Hemiboea gracilis. The specific epithet, “gracile” means graceful. This hardy gesneriad (African violet family) naturally grows in mountain valleys and streamside among rocks, from 1,000 – 4,000′ elevation in South Central China. As you can see,
One of the truly great WHATZAT plants of the fall garden, that results in more questions than anything else is the weeping fall shrub mint, Rostrinucula dependens. Little known outside its native haunts in Shaanxi, China and south to Yunnan, this deciduous shrub to 4′ tall is adorned with flaking brown bark and acts as
Weeping Fall Shrub Mint Read More »
Our patch of the Chinese, Thelypteris bombadilii is looking quite fabulous, as we wrap up summer at JLBG. We offered this amazing, deciduous groundcover fern in 2021, only three years after the species was published, and as occasionally happens, sales were miserable, despite the purported green mulch movement. Consequently, most of our left over stock
Emmenopterys henryi is a poorly known, but highly-prized, large (150′ tall) tree in the Rubiaceae (coffee) family. It was described by plant explorer, E.H. Wilson, as one of the most beautiful of the Chinese trees, yet, it was a tree, that for years, rarely flowered in cultivation. It’s namesake, Irish botanist, Augustine Henry, first discovered
Emmenopterys – The Need for Heat Read More »
It’s July, which means we’re enjoying the crazy flower clusters of Mucuna cyclocarpa. This vigorous, but non-invasive vine, from Southeastern China, flowers non-stop for us, from July until late September. The rubbery-feeling flowers resemble huge grape clusters. This self-sterile vine needs two clones to set viable seed, which is probably a good thing. Full sun,
A Honey of a Mucuna Read More »
We’re all familiar with maple trees, but one of our favorite smaller maples in the garden is the little-known, single-lobed, evergreen Acer cordatum. This fascinating group of maples have foliage that looks nothing like what most people know as a maple. This Chinese species was formerly considered a form of Acer laevigatum, before being elevated
