We are just wrapping up the early spring lily season in the garden, and here are few we captured images of this year. Lilium formosanum var. pricei ‘Hehuan’ is a dwarf form of the Taiwan lily, from our 2008 expedition, collected at 9,300′. It blooms two months before the much taller, lowland form Lilium formosanum
Just finishing it’s flowering for the year is our specimen of Cylindropuntia kleinii. This North American native to the Chihuahuan desert regions of Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma, forms a 5′ tall, gnarly specimen, composed of long, jointed sections, that break away as they become attached to anything that tries to pass to near. Many
In 2019, we were trillium botanizing in Lumpkin County, Georgia, when we stopped at a site along the Chestatee River. Growing together at the site, were Trillium catesbiae, Trillium freemanii cf., and Trillium decumbens. Despite the trilliums, the most exciting plant that caught my eye was a unique, small-leafed toothwort that somewhat resembled a minature
A Dentist and Horticulturist’s Dream Read More »
Last year, we wrote about the famous Sabal ‘Birmingham’ palm, but until a few weeks ago, I hadn’t visited the old specimens at Raleigh’s Jaycee park in well over a decade, so I thought it was time to check on their status. We don’t know an exact planting date, but best guesses are that they
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Phlomis x cytherea is a little-known Jerusalem sage that we find incredibly garden worthy. First published in 1967 and named for the island of Cytherea (Kithira), which lies halfway between Mainland Greece and Crete, this natural hybrid occurs in Greece and the Greek islands, where Phlomis fruticosa and Phlomis cretica cohabitate. Compared to the much
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We have long been fans of the Asian ferns in the genus, Woodwardia. Of the eleven species in the genus, five are North American, and the rest are Asian. Our particular infatuation are with the giant, evergreen species, including Woodwardia prolifera, Woodwardia unigemmata, and the hybrid, Woodwardia x izuensis. All of these have huge, tropical
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Looking great in the garden is the superb fern hybrid, Adiantum x mairisii. We received our first plant in 1993, as a gift from the late fern collector Nancy Swell of Virginia. The similarity in name to the Chinese native Adiantum mariesii, has caused a good bit of confusion in fern collections. This sterile hybrid,
Emerging beautifully from its winter slumber is the elegant native fern, Dryopteris x australis. The 4′ tall clumps look superb all through the heat of summer. Despite the “down under” sounding specific epithet, “australis” actually means “from the south”, referring to its’ natural range from from Virginia to Arkansas, where it is found in moist
One of our favorite clones of the North American native, Agave x protamericana is Agave ‘Funky Toes’. Below is our clump in mid-February, looking no worse for wear after a low of 14 degrees F. This is a splendid introduction from the former Yucca Do Nursery, that we’ve grown since 2004, and is a natural
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Looking lovely this week in the garden is our clump of Agave x protamericana ‘Silver Surfer’. This 2007 Plant Delights/JLBG introduction is our winter hardy (Zone 7b) selection from seedlings of a 1992 Yucca Do seed collecting expedition (YD 45-83) at 5,200′ in Palmillo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, where Agave americana ssp. protamericana intergrades with Agave asperrima.
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