Early April is peak time at JLBG for Ajuga flowering, commonly known as bugleweed. We think these amazing new cultivars are a great solution to reducing the need for mulch in sun to part sun landscaped areas. Some of the new colored leaf cultivars are even more spectacular when in flower…below are a few.
Trumpeting Bugleweed 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 »
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
In 2022, we introduced Ruellia sp. nov. ‘Humility’, a new, still unpublished Southeast US native species, found in 2013, by our taxonomist, Zac Hill, in southern Alabama. Until it’s formally published with an official name, we gave it a cultivar. Not only is it easy to grow, and attractive in flower, but the October foliage
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 »
One of our favorite rock garden perennials for summer color is the amazing Ruellia ‘Black Beauty’. We love this small, easy-to-grow, unobtrusive perennial, and spent over a decade searching for it after we first saw it in the Maryland garden of the late Alexej (Sasha) Borkovec, where it occurred as a probable hybrid of East
Agastache ‘Crazy Fortune’ is putting on an incredible show in our garden during summer, bringing in an array of both native bees and butterflies. This Eastern Yellow Swallowtail was enjoying it’s visit so much, it didn’t mind posing for a quick photo op. This pollinator magnet is one of the easiest agastaches to grow in
Crazy as a Fortune Read More »
Hosta ‘Sunshine Floozie’ is looking great in the garden this week. This 2019 Plant Delights/JLBG introduction has a superb floral show in addition to making a great clump of foliage and is a hybrid that resulted from a series of crosses including Hosta ‘Dancing Queen’ and Hosta ‘Branching Out’. Unfortunately, it didn’t sell nearly as
Flowering now in the garden is Blephilia ciliata, a little-known clumping mint cousin, native from Vermont south to Georgia and west to Texas, where it occurs in open woods and meadows. In form, Blephilia ciliata is a woodland version of bee balm without the pesky spreading tendency. Downy wood mint forms a 1.5′ tall x
Gettin’ down with Downy wood mint Read More »
I can hear the chants from the Tennessee volunteer faithful, as they begin humming the State song of Tennessee. Instead, we are referring to one of their finest ornamental plants from the Cumberland Plateau region (TN, KY, and SC), the Federally Threatened Conradina verticillata ‘Rocky Top’, commonly referred to as Cumberland rosemary. For the last
Good ole’ Rocky Top Read More »
