Most of the prehistoric sago palms we grow in the garden are Chinese natives, yet a few of the most unusual, winter hardy ones we grow are actually North American natives. Ceratozamia hildae, which looks great this week, hails from oak woodlands in the provinces of Queretaro and San Luis Potosi, at elevations up to
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We’ve written several times about our collection of the Southwest North American native sotols, which we love for their year round interest. While their appearance is consistent through the season, they really shine in the winter, when other plants that take attention from them become dormant. Here is our clump of the northern Mexican native,
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Standing out in the garden in October is the dramatic North American (Northwestern Mexico) native, Salvia madrensis ‘Red Neck Girl’. This 2002 Plant Delights/JLBG introduction is still one of our most spectacular introductions. The winged red stems are the main feature through the summer months, but once fall arrives, the giant stalks of yellow flowers
One of the many wonderful North American natives from just south of our southern US geopolitical border is the amazing Purple Mexican Spiderwort, Tradescantia pallida, aka Setcreasea pallida. Although most people know it as a hanging basket specimen, it is also a fabulous garden perennial from Zone 7b south. Here is a plant at JLBG
From Mexico with Love Read More »
From 20 feet away, the bright red fruit on our native coral bean, Erythrina herbacea stands out like a glowing red light district sign. Reportedly, the seed have hallucinogenic properties, but we don’t recommend trying this at home, since in Mexico, the seed are reportedly used to poison animals from rats to fish. We’ll stick
Seedy Red Light District Read More »
While most folks think of wabbits when the hear Peter Cottontail, I can’t help but think of a very special Mexican century plant, Agave albopilosa. Agave albopilosa is simply the most amazing agave species ever discovered, and one that took the succulent world by storm when it was first published in 2007. The small population
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Flowering in the garden this week is the virtually unknown geophyte, we fondly refer to as the Milli Vanilli lily, aka. Milla magnifica. Native from the Mexican states of Guerrero and Morelos, this unusual member of the onion family grows from a bulb that remains dormant until mid-June. Once the bulb breaks dormancy, the long,
Flowering now in the garden is the North American native, Echeveria runyonii, a Northern Mexico succulent native to rocky cliffs in the state of Tamaulipas. This gem was discovered in the wild by our friends at Yucca Do Nursery in 1990 and the species was later named in honor of botanist, Robert Runyon. This delightful
Looking lovely in late winter is the Mexican beautyberry, Callicarpa acuminata. Long after most beautyberry fruit has been long gone, the tawny purple fruit of Callicarpa acuminata ripen. The Mexican beautyberry plant matures around 4′ tall x 8′ wide, and thrives in light shade. While the fruit are loved by wildlife, it’s often wildlife that
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Looking great well into December is the North American native, Salvia chamaedryoides, known as Blue Oak sage. This evergreen, dryland native hails form 7,000′ to 9,000′ elevation in the Chihuahuan Desert of northern Mexico. For us, it flowers heaviest in spring and fall, with dark, cobalt blue flowers. It’s one of the few silver leaf
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