Flowering now is the amazing groundcover selection of the European daphne, Daphne cneorum ‘Pygmaea’. For years, we were told this wouldn’t grow in our climate, and if you treat them too well, they will not thrive. This is in flower now, growing in our dryland berm, composed of 50% Permatill gravel, 25% native sandy loam,
How Low can you Grow? Read More »
I have long been a fan of the fascinating dryland geophyte, Asphodeline lutea. Native from the Mediterranean through the Caucuses, and south into Africa, Asphodeline lutea is prized for its early spring spikes of bright yellow, star-like flowers. About a decade ago, I heard rumors of an orange-flowered form, which immediately went on my desiderata
Asphodels…a Color Change Read More »
Looking amazing this month is the evergreen, southeast US native groundcover, Houstonia procumbens. Our selection of roundleaf bluets, Houstonia ‘White Clay’, is our 2003 cutting collection from Clay County, Florida. Originally discovered in 1902 in Charleston, South Carolina, and hailing from the southeastern US, (southeastern South Carolina west to eastern Louisiana), roundleaf bluets live their
Florida’s Houston-ia Read More »
Here’s a recent shot on our dryland welcome berm with the amazing southwest US (Arizona, Texas) native, Thymophylla pentachaeta var. pentachaeta ‘Laredo Gold’ in full flower. This incredible perennial has been in flower since spring in this rocky, un-irrigated bed. I’m not sure how much more you can ask from a perennial. Hardiness in zone
A Thymophylla whose Time has come Read More »
Eurybia hemispherica ‘Baby Blues’ (southern prairie aster), formerly known as Aster hemispherica, is a little-grown South Central US (Kansas south to Florida) native aster that’s thrived in our full sun garden since 2011. This Van der Giessen Nursery collection of this little-known mesic (moderately moist) to dryland species hails from the Black Belt region of
The Aster hemisphere Read More »
Although our focus is primarily on longer term perennials, we just can’t resist growing and sharing one of the coolest plants we know, moon carrot. Seseli gummiferum hails from Crimea, Turkey, and the Agean Islands. This crazy plant has silver grey foliage that resembles an artemisia, but the spikey carrot-like flowers, just opening this week,
Launching Moon Carrots Read More »
Flowering today is the lovely Alophia drummondii, a small southeast/midwest (Mississippi to Oklahoma) native iris relative, that’s virtually unknown to both gardeners and nurseries. The narrow leaves are easy to overlook, but the small, intricate flowers atop 2′ tall stalks, certainly grab your attention when it bursts into flower, starting for us in mid-June. This
Pineywoods Purple Iris Read More »
We’re loving the amazing Agastache ‘Pink Pearl’ in the garden. This incredible Terra Nova introduction is the most densely flowering agastache clone we’ve ever grown. These are our two year old clumps in the drier part of the garden. As long as you give these a sunny, well-drained spot, they’ll reward you with an incredible
Discovering Pink Pearls in the Garden 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.
We’ve grown a number of distinctive forms of the Zone 7 hardy century plant, Agave lophantha, through the years, but one of our favorites is the Yucca Do introduction, Agave lophantha ‘La Bufa Baby’, currently on sale. This was originally discovered in the Sierra Chiquita Mountains of Tamaulipas, Mexico. It’s the only selection we’ve seen
