In 2021, our staff spotted one of our patches of Ajuga ‘Black Scallop’, in which part of the clump had mutated to a form which had foliage that was nearly 2-3 times as large as the original. We moved the sport nearby and watched it over the next three years until we were sure the
We’ve grown a number of herbal thymes through the years, and most either take over the garden or die in our hot, humid summer. One that has really impressed us recently is the wonderful Thymus neiceffii, known as Juniper leaf thyme. This native to the Balkan peninsula forms a ground-hugging silvery mat that looks very
What a Nice Thyme Read More »
Few people grow the amazing Southeast native Macbridea caroliniana, so we wanted to share our clump that’s in full flower now. This is primarily a coastal plain species that ranges from NC south to Georgia, and provides quite a feast for native bees. This is a two year old clump, growing in average to slightly
Here Comes the Bride…the MacBride Read More »
Looking quite golden this week is this combination of Trillium discolor, surrounded by a patch of Chrysogonum repens…two great perennials, that both happen to be Southeastern US natives.
Striking Spring Gold Read More »
One of the great groundcovers for small spaces is the Asian (SE China, Korea, and Japan) native, Mazus miquelii. For us, this 1-2″ tall, stunning groundcover bursts forth in flower, starting for us in mid-March. Its soil preference is for average to moist growing conditions. Recent taxonomic work has shown all material known commercially as
Messin’ with Mazus Read More »
Occasionally some plants engender the reaction that it aught to be in most gardens, followed by the disbelief that it is not seen just everywhere. Who wouldn’t want a pool of cobalt blue flowers in February, March and April on a well behaved and easily pleased plant, wanting little more than a sunny spot and
The rosettes of pale green leaves of Sedum palmeri ‘Mendoza’ are exquisitely beautiful year-round, as beautiful as flowers, especially so in winter when the leaves become tipped with red. The early spring floral display is more like a well-worn piece of jewelry, a bonus of gold stars of five-petaled flowers repeating the form of the
Winter with Mendoza Read More »
Starting off the new year is our flowering clump of the Taiwanese endemic wild ginger, Asarum hypogynum. The huge, glossy, evergreen patterned foliage is enough reason to grow this gem, but through most of the winter, the incredible floral display silently sits virtually unnoticed by most human visitors. JLBG currently houses one of the largest
We were recently admiring the lovely russet fall coloration of a mat of Selaginella uncinata. This lovely woodland groundcover from Central China and south into Vietnam, has a lovely metallic blue hue during the growing season, but we also like this change to the semi-evergreen foliage in fall. This is such a great, well-behaved garden
Falling for Spikemoss Read More »
One of our favorite ferns, known as Cat’s claw fern, is putting on quite a show this fall. Onychium japonicum is a plant I’d never met until a 1996 expedition to Yunnan, China. Although it was a bit depauperate in the wild, the potential I saw, was far exceeded by its garden performance. We now
