Looking lovely in late August is the variegated turmeric ginger, Curcuma longa ‘Snowdrift’. Thriving in light shade, this amazing garden plant is obviously both ornamental and useful. Discovered as a mutation by plantsman Richard O’Brien, this amazing selection is late to emerge, rarely making a garden appearance before mid-June in NC. Our oldest clumps, planted
Snowdrift in Summer Read More »
One of the great North American native plants that never gets a bad rap is Comptonia peregrina, commonly known as sweet fern. Looking good now, this wax myrtle relative in the Myricaceae family, is usually classified as a sub-shrub. The fragrant, finely textured foliage clothes the 2′ tall stems, which spread by underground rhizomes, to
Straight Outta Compton Read More »
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
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
Looking lovely in the rock garden this month, despite the heat and drought is our 10 year-old patch of the Greek native, Dittany of Amorgos (Origanum calcaratum). This amazing woody perennial oregano can be found on island like Crete, hanging out in crevices of limestone cliffs. At JLBG, we grow it in our gravel amended
Dittany of Amorgos Read More »
As a general rule, native plants to California aren’t supposed to thrive in hot, humid NC, but from time to time, we find some fascinating surprises. One in particular is Anemopsis californica (Yerba mansa), which despite its origin has thrived for us, and has made a patch over 10′ wide in the garden. Although it’s
Moving from California Read More »
We’re loving the amazing Agastache ‘Pink Pearl’ in the garden. This incredible Terra Nova introduction is the most densely flowering agastache clone we’ve ever grown. These are our two year old clumps in the drier part of the garden. As long as you give these a sunny, well-drained spot, they’ll reward you with an incredible
Discovering Pink Pearls in the Garden Read More »
This spring, we flowered the highly confused NC native wild ginger, mistakenly known as Asarum memmingeri in the garden. In reality, it’s never been given a proper name, so we refer to it as Asarum sp. nov. Allegheny Wild Ginger. Below, Patrick explains how this ginger was dropped into a botanical abyss, and what needs
Much ado about Memminger’s Heartleaf Wild Ginger Read More »
Here’s a recent garden combo that we’ve been enjoying with purple eucomis (pineapple lily), Agapanthus ‘Navy Blue, backed with Foeniculum vulgare ‘Purpureum’ (bronze fennel).
A Shot of Summer to Go Read More »
There aren’t a huge number of Siberian native plants that thrive in our heat and humidity, but one that has been outstanding for us is Angelica dahurica. For those, who have traveled the world, the specific epithet “dahurica” means, from Davuria (Dahuria), a region of south-east Siberia and north-east Mongolia. Angelica dahurica is a widely-cultivated,
From Siberia to Raleigh Read More »
