Just when you think you’ve seen it all… Walking through the garden this week, I noticed that one of our Amorphophallus konjac seedlings had decided to flower at the completely wrong time of year, and to make matters worse, in doing so, it suffered from a crotch blowout. You’ve gotta love Mother Natures’ sense of
While we can grow an incredible assortment of lycoris species and cultivars in our climate, the same is not true for their amaryllid cousins in the genus, Nerine. The only Nerine that we have found so far, that truly thrives here is Nerine angustifolia. This African endemic hails from Lesotho, Swaziland, and the South Africa
Where Nerines Fear to Tread Read More »
The flowering season has begun in mid-July for the Angolan native, Crinum fimbriatulum. This distinctive plant produces flower spikes just over 4′ tall, giving it an imposing presence in the sun garden. The dramatic white flowers with red stripes, was named for the slight fringing on the flower petals, although I would certainly have selected
Angolan Fringed Crinum Read More »
The North American (Durango, Mexico) native, Hymenocallis durangoensis, has been absolutely spectacular this month in the garden, where we grow it in full sun, in average to moist soils. Sadly, this spider lily never sells very well, so we keep having to dump our surplus nursery stock at years end. We’re just stubborn enough to
Raise your hand if you’ve grown the North American native iris relative, Nemastylis tenuis? This fascinating small bulb is in full flower now at JLBG. In the wild, it can be found straddling the US/Mexico border, crossing into the US in two counties each in Texas and Arizona. There, they grow in rocky grasslands, both
A Stylized Iris Cousin – Nemastylis Read More »
We know it’s time to start thinking of spring when the Atlas Mountain native, Narcissus romieuxii ssp. romieuxii, bursts into flower, here in late January. Nights in the teens F are no match for this amazing bulb.
Cold-blooded Narcissist Read More »
Last year, we posted a garden photo of the amazing new Galanthus ‘Mt. Everest’, which came to us as a Galanthus elwesii selection from Holland. We now think it is most likely a hybrid between Galanthus elwesii and Galanthus plicatus, first prompted by the assessment from Patrick McMillan. Below is it in full glory, starting
Mt. Everest – an easy Garden Climb Read More »
Looking great in the winter woodland garden is our specimen of Cyclamen hederifolium ‘Fine Silver’. Most silver leaf seedlings still have markings of green, but that’s not the case on this gem. These come reasonably pure within a range, so let’s hope we’re able to gather seed this year. Dry soils during the summer dormant
The Value of Silver is Rising Read More »
Flowering this week in the garden is the little-known Greek snowdrop, Galanthus snogerupii, which is found only on the Greek island of Andros. This glossy-leaf species is one of the earliest of the fall snowdrops to flower. Some galanthophiles consider it a subspecies of Galanthus ikariae, but others feel it deserves species status.
Falling for a Greek Snowdrop Read More »
Recently, Garden Curator, Doug Ruhren, was moving one of our new Amorphophallus konjac selections from our field trials into the garden. When dug, this form, with solid black stems, had a tuber that was nearly the size of a basketball. The old growth has died back, and it will remain dormant until next June. Below
Basketball Jones…On the Move Read More »
