We’re only a couple of weeks away from the 2025 Southeastern Plant Symposium, co-hosted by the JC Raulston Arboretum and Juniper Level Botanic Garden. Our goal each year is to bring in the top horticultural speakers from around the world, to share their knowledge about plants that are growable in the Southeastern US region. We
Southeastern Plant Symposium 2025 Read More »
After a winter where our temperatures drop below 15 degrees F, all the foliage on our cycad fry. We wait until 1 month before last frost (around March 15) to remove the old foliage, which you can see in the photo below. One month later, on April 15, the new fronds are emerging. A month
It’s Aliiive! Cycas Rebirth Read More »
Flowering for the last few weeks, and still not slowing down is the amazing, southeast US Gulf Coast (GA to Louisiana) native, Chrysogonum australe ‘Eco Lacquered Spider’. This amazing groundcover makes a solid mass in part sun to open shade. There are few plants that better live up to the term, “green mulch”. Hardiness Zone
Groundcover of Green and Gold Read More »
Here are a few photos from the front garden, around Anita and I’s home this week. There’s nothing quite like waking up and watching the garden wake up as well. Below is a photo of the same spot, ten years earlier, when it was a horse farm. The Cryptomeria japonica ‘Yoshino’ is the only plant
There’s No Place like Home, There’s No Place like Home Read More »
In flower in late March at JLBG is the sweetly fragrant Osmanthus x burkwoodii ‘Elizabeth Lawrence’, a plant we acquired from the late garden writer, Pam Harper. This sweet olive is a cross of the Turkish Osmanthus decorus and the Chinese native Osmanthus delavayi, created by 20th century English nurserymen, Arthur and Albert Burkwood. The
The Burkwood’s Sweet Legacy Read More »
Most folks only know daphnes that retain evergreen foliage, but one of our favorite exceptions is the Chinese native, Daphne genkwa, which happens to be in full flower at JLBG this week. This floriferous species needs moist, but well-drained soils, unlike so many of its European counterparts. Unlike the commonly grown, Daphne odora, it has
The Naked Chinese Daphne Read More »
Passion drives everything at NC State — the donors’ passions fuel our students’ passions, and our students’ passions inspire our donors’ passions. NC State University is hosting their annual Day of Giving on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. Please consider donating in support of Juniper Level Botanic Garden to preserve this world-class resource for future generations. You can
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We wanted to share another thought-provoking column by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume about the myths of the invasive species movement. Clear-cutting is Clear-cutting, No Matter Where the Trees are From: A rant against dogma and eradication As regular readers know, critiquing the “invasive plant” narrative is one of my main themes here. The name of the
Clearing the Muddy Water Read More »
We were recently checking some surprising winter damage on one of our Schefflera delavayi specimens in the garden, and when we sliced open a stem, we found a lovely example of a chambered pith arrangement. Pith is a lightweight polystyrene like material, composed of parenchyma cells, and found in the center of stems of dicot
We never know who will show up at our Open Nursery days, but it was great to chat with Jim and Stephany Putnam of HortTube at our recent open weekend. This local couple do so much to promote gardening and share good plant information all over the country…we salute your amazing work! Here is a
