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 »
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 absolutely elegant in a crevice garden seep is the native Carex echinata. Although star sedge is quite common from Maine to Minnesota, it’s quite rare in NC. This is seed grown from a population in the mountainous Alleghany County, NC, although it’s thriving in our coastal plain garden. In the wild, this clump former
A Star Sedge is Born Read More »
A couple of years ago, we installed a new bog garden in front of our nursery office with a rock stepping stone path through the center. Looking for a plant to fill in between the stepping stones without taking over, I thought it would be interesting to try the Southeastern US native Lachnocaulon anceps, a
Brian William’s introduction of Colocasia ‘Pharoah’s Mask‘ is looking particularly lovely now in the garden. A sunny, slight to moist site, with plenty of nutrition are the keys to success.
Mask of the Pharoah Read More »
Looking quite lovely in the garden is a stunning Southeast US native, Canna glauca ‘Panache’. The natural flower colors of Canna glauca, commonly known as water canna, range from white to pink, but we love this bicolor peachy yellow selection. Although it natively grows in shallow water, it also thrives quite well in average garden
A Native Canna with Panache’ Read More »
Our Eastern US native sand myrtle, Kalmia buxifolia is a far cry from its better-known cousin, mountain laurel, Kalmia latifolia. This is why for many years, it was placed in an entirely different genus, Leiophyllum. This more diminutive cousin prefers moist acidic sandy soils. Our collection from NC’s Brunswick County has made itself right at
No garden is complete without at least one rudbeckia. Looking good in the garden now is the lovely Rudbeckia umbrosa. Formerly recognized as a a subspecies of the more commonly grown Rudbeckia fulgida, this is a very different plant that’s taller, and with very hairy foliage. For us, this moist woodland native tops out between
Umbrage to Umbrosa Read More »
Elliott’s aster (Symphyotrichum elliottii) is the absolute last of our asters to flower at JLBG. It doesn’t begin to flower until the first of November and withstands the mild frosts of October like they didn’t even happen. It is naturally found in tidal freshwater marshes and other moist open sites from the Virginia and Carolina
Autumn’s last buzz – Elliott’s Aster Read More »
Our clump of the native, Sabatia kennedyana just finished another amazing floral show. This fabulous, but easy-to-grow perennial has a truly odd native distribution on the coastal border of North and South Carolina, on the coastal border of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and in Nova Scotia! I don’t think I’ve ever seen such an odd,
Kennedy’s Sabatia Read More »
