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 »
Over two weeks behind this winter, the new growth of the Mediterranean native, Dracunculus vulgaris has finally emerged. This lovable monster is now only a few weeks away from showing off its foul-smelling, phallic, but visually fascinating inflorescence, a large maroon spathe with a dark purple spadix. Watching this is sort of like a train
The Vulgar Dragon Awakens Read More »
Even after growing the hardy Cyclamen hederifolium for over five decades, I’m still amazed by the incredible diversity of leaf patterns. Since cyclamen are obligate out-crossers (they can’t have productive sex with themselves), the pattern diversity from each new crop of seedlings continues to expand. In the garden, we plant similar patterned forms nearby, resulting
Psyched for Cyclamen Read More »
Flowering now at JLBG is Galanthus elwesii ‘Mt. Everest’, a truly an amazing introduction in an already crowded field of snowdrops. This Galanthus elwesii selection appeared as a seedling for Holland’s Kwekerij De Schullhorn. It flowers on the early end of the galanthus season for most of the snowdrops we grow. We especially love the
Tall Drops of Snow Read More »
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 »
The procession of Lycoris (Surprise lilies) continues as we pass mid-August. Here are some recent images. So far, this year, we have flowered over 300 different taxa. Below is Lycoris aurea, which has the widest natural range of any lycoris, from India to Africa, south to Indonesia. Winter hardiness of this fall-leaf species is dependent
A Summer of Surprises Read More »
After finally getting some long overdue rain, the crinum lilies have put on quite a show. The crinum flower season at JLBG runs from March thru October. Here are a few of the July flowering cultivars to enjoy. These amaryllid family members form huge underground bulbs, making them difficult for most nurseries to offer in
The Crinums of Summer Read More »
It’s that time of year, where the parade of lycoris (surprise lilies) kicks into high gear. For us, flowering season begins in late June, and continues into October with a steady parade of cultivars. Lycoris flowering is trigged by the natural timing window, but increases after rain showers, and can be consequently be delayed during
Surprise time begins Read More »
This week, we’ve been enjoying our first flowering of our South African native, Boophone disticha. This fascinating member of the Amaryllid family, which I was blessed to see in the wild back in 2005, can live to over 100 years of age. In cultivation, they can be flowered from seed in 9-15 years. While most
Bouffant Boophone Read More »
