Here are three of the more unusual mahonias in our collection that are looking good currently. Mahonia oiwakensis hails from Taiwan, and three adjacent mainland Chinese provinces. The foliage is narrower than Mahonia lomarifolia, and the winter hardiness seems better also. We’ve never seen a cultivated plant more than 7′ tall, but in the wild, it
Flowering in November is the lovely evergreen shrub, Fatsia japonica ‘Variegata’. If you look closer at the second image, you’ll find that it’s a feast for a range of native insects. Hardiness zone 7b to 10b.
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It’s hard to resist posting photos of the late-flowering, Southeast US native, Symphyotrichum (Aster) elliottii. It’s namesake was SC Natural History and Botany Professor, Steven Elliott (1771-1830). After most of the garden has shut down for fall, this amazing and exceedingly vigorous aster bursts into flower, quickly becoming a landing pad for an array of
Flowering for over a month now is the Southeast (NC to Alabama) US native, Ampelaster carolinianus. This odd aster is actually a woody vine, and our plant below is growing on our 7′ tall deer fence. As you can see in the top image, it’s a great fall attractant for Monarch butterflies. The stems remain
Standing out in the garden in October is the dramatic North American (Northwestern Mexico) native, Salvia madrensis ‘Red Neck Girl’. This 2002 Plant Delights/JLBG introduction is still one of our most spectacular introductions. The winged red stems are the main feature through the summer months, but once fall arrives, the giant stalks of yellow flowers
In full flower now, is yet another member of the Chinese gesneriad genus, Hemiboea. Hemiboea cavaleriei is a rarely cultivated species and forms a spreading mass to 30″ tall x 7′ wide in only 2.5 years. For us, flowering started in early October, and will continue until frost. In China and neighboring Vietnam, it grows
Boea Unconstricted 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 »
It’s peak flowering season for the Mediterranean native Cyclamen hederifolium, both in the gardens and cold frames. Here is our crop of nursery cell packs currently. These were transplanted from seed pots last year, and are putting on quite a show, which typically last several months. It’s hard to imagine any garden not being filled
In flower this week is one of the most amazing fall-flowering sages we grow, Salvia ‘Phyllis Fancy’. This Salvia leucantha hybrid is far more winter hardy than it’s parent. Below is our two decade old clump, that looks amazing in October. The mature height and spread are 7′ tall, so be sure to allow enough
A few years ago, I was fascinated to see a catalog listing for a new ornamental grass that I didn’t know, Calamagrostis ‘Cheju-Do’. This struck my eye because calamagrostis are great ornamental specimens, and in 1997, I had the opportunity to botanize Korea’s southern island, Cheju. We subsequently acquired a specimen, which prospered for us,
