Flowering in late February in the rock garden is the tiny bulb, Ornithogalum chionophyllum. This genus of onion relative has both some garden treasures and horrific weeds. This gem is a narrow endemic to the Troodos Mountains of Cyprus between 2,000′ and 6,000′ elevation. If the Troodos Mountain don’t sound familiar, perhaps you’ve heard of
Nothing signals that winter in trending toward spring in our garden more than the seriously cute, Amana anhuiensis. Most folks have probably never heard of this miniature bulb, since it was only published in 2013. The genus itself, was first published in 1867 as an Orithyia, before becoming a tulip a few years later, and
This January, we first flowered Hippeastrum idimae, a 2017 published species from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, that we received from our friends at Yucca Do in 2015. This new species was discovered by amateur Brazilian botanist, Idimá Gonçalves da Costa, in a long-ago deforested area, where it had survived among a few granite outcrops. This
Not your Average Amaryllis Read More »
Flowering here in early January, is the little-known snowdrop, Galanthus snogerupii. This species hails from as very small region in central Greece. These are sometimes confused with Galanthus woronowii, and listed by some as a subspecies of Galanthus ikariae. Who says that plants can’t cheer you up on even the dreariest of days.
Hard to spell Snowdrop Read More »
Last weekend, we planted our first Androcymbium rechingeri in the garden. In Latin, the genus name roughly translates to masculine cup like. This little known Colchicum cousin hails from a very tiny region on the Eastern sea coast of Crete. This highly endangered species, first described in 1967, grows from an underground corm, which flowers
Masculine Cup Flower Read More »
Apologies for writing about this two years in a row, but few plants give us more joy in the fall garden that Allium kiiense. A couple of years ago, nursery sales of this were so poor that we planted about 40 plants to create a green mass on 1′ centers, as one would do with
Making sense with Kiiense 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
Who says there isn’t much flowering in fall? Our clump of Crinum ‘Lil’ Suzy’ is looking pretty amazing in early October. This little-known, but stunning hybrid was created by Texas plantsman Steve Lowe from a cross of Crinum scabrum x Crinum oliganthum. Crinum are one of Juniper Level Botanic Garden’s specialty collections which includes about
The genus Pancratium in the Amaryllid family has long been a garden favorite, despite few others gardeners growing them. There seem to be several etymological theories on the derivation of the name. The root, “Pagkration” means almighty in Greek. Consequently, some folks think the genus name refers to ancient Greek sport of pankration, which involves
Sickenberg’s Pancreas Flower Read More »
“You should have seen my garden last week” or some variation on this theme is a common refrain when visiting a garden. I felt much this way recently when I led a tour of Juniper Level Botanic Garden. I just could not find a knock-your-socks off clump of Rhodophiala bifida. So here is a glorious
Hill Country Red Perfection Read More »
