Looking great in the garden today is the miniature elephant ear, Colocasia bicolor ‘La La La’. This is our 2005 collection from 2,200′ elevation in Vietnam’s Son La province. This isn’t a fast grower, which is why it’s taken us 20 years to grow a patch this large. Since seemingly every province in the region
One of the truly fabulous Southeast natives, that is completely unknown to gardeners, is the amazing Trautvetteria nervata. The genus, Trautvetteria, a member of the Ranunculus family, is already poorly known. Even the comprehensive Kew Gardens database makes a mess of the species list. Trautvetteria nervata, a coastal plain denizen of only a few counties
Trautvetteria – Queen of the Swamp Read More »
Spiking over the last few weeks before finally opening is the crazy agave relative, Beschorneria ‘Ding Dong’. All of us who have crazy relatives, can relate to family members that are somewhat off of the bell curve. Beschorneria has thick, evergreen, spineless leaves, and flower stalks that look like Christmas lights on LSD. Beschorneria ‘Ding
Ding Dong…Who’s There? Beschor-who? Read More »
Several years ago, we grew seed of Dianthus anatolicus, native from Tibet to Turkey, and while all were interesting and deliciously fragrant, one, which we named Dianthus ‘Lunatic Fringe’ stood out from the rest for its exceptional floral show, and heat/humidity tolerance. Our original plant, pictured below, is now almost five years old and still
Looking great as it emerges from dormancy is Asparagus cochinchinensis ‘Graham’s Cracker’, our incredible 2015 introduction, that came from NC gardener Graham Ray, who originally purchased this dwarf seedling from Plant Delights. Asparagus ‘Graham’s Cracker’ makes a very tight, upright, 18″ tall x 18″ wide clump, great for a textural contrast in the garden. For
Looking lovely in the garden this week is the amazing Southeastern US native, Amsonia tabernaemontana ‘Storm Cloud’. Amsonia, commonly known as blue star, are a group of mostly native, typically deer-resistant perennials, prized both because they make such good drought-tolerant plants and they bear one of the few true blue flowers in the perennial world.
Storm Clouds Brewing Read More »
It’s been a while since we posted a photo of our Edgeworthia chrysantha ‘Snow Cream’ in full flower, so for those who missed seeing it at our recent Winter Open Nursery and Garden, here it is in its full splendor in mid-March. Our 26 year old specimen is now 8′ tall x 15′ tall, growing
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
Our plant of Edgeworthia chrysantha ‘Snow Cream’ is jam packed with flower buds in early January. These will begin to open, usually in early February, as bright yellow, incredibly fragrant flowers. This particular specimen celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. We didn’t name or introduce it until 2000, but since that time, it’s made its
These Buds are for You Read More »
We’ve just named the third selection of our Rohdea x japensis (Rohdea japonica x Rohdea chinensis) hybrid this winter, this one for its incredible fruit show. We’ve christened this Rohdea x japensis ‘Super Fruit’. Later this winter, we’ll divide our original clump and start down the production pipeline, which should take about 5-6 years to
