Since the late J.C. Raulston was alive, various variegated foliage forms of our native Magnolia grandiflora have been passed around the local high end collectors market. While I found them fascinating, it was obvious to me that they were genetically unstable, periclinal chimeras. A few years ago, local plantsman, Tom Krenitsky offered me his selection,
A Stable of Instability Read More »
Looking good as we head into winter is our patch of Echinocactus texensis, aka: horse crippler cactus. These Texas and New Mexico natives are loved by gardeners who grow winter hardy cactus, but equally despised by ranchers who have to deal with horses, and farmworkers, who step on them. Their low growth profile, along with
It’s hard to talk about bald cypress, without a brief mention of Taxodium taxonomy. We adopt the concept of three separate species, although some taxonomists prefer to lump them all in a single species with three varieties. They are Taxodium acendens (aka: T. distichum var. imbricatum), Taxodium distichum (aka: T. distichum var. distichum), and Taxodium
LaNana – No Hair and No Knees Read More »
There are few North American native shrubs that put on a better show for us and the native bees, than silver prairie clover, Dalea bicolor var. argyaea. This amazing dryland evergreen in the legume family, is clothed in small, bright silver foliage, which, starting for us in early October is adorned with hundreds of small
A Daily Dose of Dalea Read More »
Eysenhardtia is a small genus of only 13 species in the pea family, Fabaceae, native from the Southwestern US, south into Central America. The star of the genus in our climate is Eysenhardtia texana, in particular, a winter hardy Patrick McMillan collection from Uvalde, Texas. For us, this small, deciduous, dryland shrub, is adorned with
Flocking to Eysenhardt Read More »
Back in 2008, I was visiting Virginia plantsman, Paul James, and was taken by the form of one of the now mature bald cypress seedlings that he’d planted around his extensive mountainside property. Bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) are deciduous conifers, native to the southeastern US, and while all are nice, I found this one exceptional.
Admiring Paul’s Bald Read More »
Our native wax myrtle, Myrica cerifera, is a ubiquitous plant, oft scorned by plant snobs as a mere commoner. As a functional shrub with deliciously fragrant foliage, it’s prized by both builders, and the mow and blow crowd, because its tough as nails in a wide range of conditions from sun to shade, and from
Waxing eloquently about Myrtle Read More »
One of our favorite native perennial groundcovers is the Georgia Pancake Bluestar, discovered by our friend Bob McCartney, retired of Woodlanders Nursery. We purchased our first plant from Woodlanders in 2001, before it even had a name, which we quickly remedied. Twenty five years later, we still think this is one of the finest perennial
Flatter than a Georgia Pancake Read More »
Looking lovely in the late July garden is the rare North American native Allium oxyphyllum. This little-known species hails from the shale barren (eroded, and often baking steep slopes of degraded shale) region of Virginia and West Virginia, where it is extremely rare, with a global G2 rank. The 1′ tall x 1′ wide clump
One of our favorite summer flower natives, that’s looking great in the water garden now, is the stunning water hemlock, Cicuta maculata. Although it’s native across all of North America, it’s rarely grown in gardens. Perhaps this is because nurseries like us, are terrified to offer a perennial plant that contains such a highly effective
