Every now and then a new cultivar of an existing genus comes along, that completely re-writes what we know of, and think of that genus. Such is the case with the toad lily, Tricyrtis ‘Fluffy Orchid’. Most new breeding breakthroughs are the result of extensive, planned breeding projects, but this one just showed up. As
Fall Fluffy Orchid Read More »
We are enjoying a lush flowering of angel trumpets this fall, with their sweetly fragrant, nocturnal flowers. This is the cultivar Brugmansia x candida ‘Double White’, looking quite lovely this week.
Angel Trumpet Time Read More »
There are few North American native shrubs that put on a better show for us and the native bees, than silver prairie clover, Dalea bicolor var. argyaea. This amazing dryland evergreen in the legume family, is clothed in small, bright silver foliage, which, starting for us in early October is adorned with hundreds of small
A Daily Dose of Dalea 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
One of the most colorful plants of the fall garden is Clerodendrum speciosissimum ‘Arkansas Hardy’. This Indonesian native is rightly listed as only hardy to Zone 9 by most sources. Years ago, however, Arkansas customer, David Cockrell, told us about a form that was winter hardy there, which he later shared. His clone, shown below
Leucophyllum langmaniae ‘Purple Lion’ is the second selection of barometer bush that has thrived for us, since 2019. This is another collection from the amazing field work of plantsman, Patrick McMillan. Hailing from north of Monterrey in Nuevo Leon, Mexico, this cold and heat/humidity tolerant clone has been an amazing performer in our garden, forming
Mexican Barometer Bush Read More »
Looking great during the fall harvest moon season is its namesake hardy begonia. Unlike all of the West Coast hybrids we’ve tried, Begonia ‘Harvest Moon’ is another gem from Georgia plantsman, Ozzie Johnson, that handles both our brutal summer heat and our cold winters. We can never have too many woodland perennials that flower in
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 »
Over a period of years, we’ve tried three different clones of the Eastern Himalayan (India to Myanmar) native banana, Musa ornata, with no luck getting them to survive. We finally gave up, concluding that it simply wasn’t winter hardy here, living up to its on-line reputation of being a Zone 9-11 plant. That was before
Flowering now is the amazing Coreopsis palustris ‘Summer Sunshine’, an award-winning 2000 Plant Delights/JLBG introduction. Although it’s native to swampy forests, from NC south to Florida. We have found that Coreopsis palustris makes an even better specimen in full sun, and in regular garden soil…as long as the soil doesn’t get bone dry. For us,
Summer Sunshine Swamp Tickseed Read More »
