cream flowers

Lycoris aurea

A Summer of Surprises

The procession of Lycoris (Surprise lilies) continues as we pass mid-August. Here are some recent images. So far, this year, we have flowered over 300 different taxa. Below is Lycoris aurea, which has the widest natural range of any lycoris, from India to Africa, south to Indonesia. Winter hardiness of this fall-leaf species is dependent

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Syringa reticulata subsp. pekinensis

Lilacs don’t grow in the South, or do they?

Approximately twenty seven thousand different plants (27,000 taxa) make up the plant collection at Juniper Level Botanic Garden, and there was one plant that elicited a huge number of questions at the recently completed Spring Open Nursery and Garden Days. It probably helped that at 40′ tall it towered over the welcome tent (no it

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Surprise, Surprise, Surprise

It’s that time of year, when the surprise lilies, Lycoris, that we have scattered throughout the garden begin to pop. Actually, due to our early summer rains, they began popping in early July this year, 2-3 weeks ahead of normal. Surprise lilies are divided into two groups, based on when their leaves emerge….fall (October) or

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