Flowering now is the amazing Coreopsis palustris ‘Summer Sunshine’, an award-winning 2000 Plant Delights/JLBG introduction. Although it’s native to swampy forests, from NC south to Florida. We have found that Coreopsis palustris makes an even better specimen in full sun, and in regular garden soil…as long as the soil doesn’t get bone dry. For us,
Summer Sunshine Swamp Tickseed Read More »
This simple combination of Geranium ‘Azure Rush’ and Tradescantia pallida is one that repeats several places in the garden. The geranium flowers from spring to frost, and the Tradescantia, which is perennial here, also looks good throughout the growing season. While this combination echoes colors, it contrasts form and texture.
I first met the North American (Mexico) native perennial, Galphimia glauca on a 2019 visit to the former Unique Plant Nursery and Garden in NC, returning home with a starter plant, propagated by plantsman/designer, Sebastian Hamilton. It didn’t take long to become a huge fan of the genus. Galphimia is a member of the Malphigiceae
The Gold of Galphimia Read More »
One of the new butterfly bushes that has impressed us in our trials is Buddleia ‘Cherry Royale’ from breeder Hans Hansen. The habit, flower color, fragrance, and lack of seedlings has made this one worthy of our 2026 Spring Catalog. In our garden, it matures at 6′ tall x 6′ wide.
Looking cute as a proverbial button for the last few months is Pratia angulata, a plant whose recent name change has moved it into the genus, Lobelia, as Lobelia angulata. It is one of a very small number of plants we can grow here, that are native to New Zealand and the Chatham Islands. In
A Parade of the Plant, Formerly Known as Pratia Read More »
It’s odd when one of the rarer members of a plant genus is actually one of the best garden subjects. Such is the case with the rare (G3 rank) wine cup, Callirhoe bushii. Although there are only 50 populations in the wild, scattered from Arkansas to Kansas, it is certainly one of the most amazing
We were recently visited by a well-known landscape designer, who specializes in Southeastern US native plants. As we walked through the crevice garden, and I pointed out a clump of Polygonella americana, he was shocked at how nice it looked. His comment was that American jointweed always looked scraggly in the wild, so he hadn’t
American Jointweed – Smoke this Over Read More »
One of the little-grown, but fabulous native milkweed species is Asclepias perennis. In the wild, this amazing plant is found from Indiana south into Texas, where it grows in seasonal flood plains, swamps, ditches, and otherwise wet areas. In the garden, however, we have found it very happy in average to moist garden soils, as
White Swamp Milkweed Read More »
Looking great in mid-November here is Echinacea ‘Tres Amigos’. For us, many of the hybrid coneflowers are repetitive flowering machines, if they are cut to ground after each flowering. And when we say cut to the ground, it could be one of two senarios: if the basal foliage is still looking good after flowering, you
Coneflower Matrix, Reloaded Read More »
Putting on quite a show this month is the North American native, Malvaviscus drummondii ‘Big Momma’. This supersize form has been flowering all summer, but continues unabated as we move into fall. In the wild, malvaviscus grows in dry shade, but we have found that slightly moist sun produces a much more showy plant. This
