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 absolutely wonderful in the garden this month is our patch of the native Clethra tomentosa ‘Woodlander’s Sarah’. This splendid introduction from SC’s Woodlander’s Nursery is the finest, and most stable variegated form we’ve ever seen. Each leaf is randomly speckled with creamy white speks and sectors. Starting in late July, the clump bursts into
Rhus typhina ‘Baltiger’ (Tiger Eyes staghorn sumac) is looking glorious this week, staged behind a mass of Hymenocallis ‘Tropical Giant’. The native Rhus typhina typically doesn’t love our hot summers, with a native range that runs primarily from Maine to Minnesota. Although there are a few disjunct southern populations of the species, all of the
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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
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We’ve grown a number of distinctive forms of the Zone 7 hardy century plant, Agave lophantha, through the years, but one of our favorites is the Yucca Do introduction, Agave lophantha ‘La Bufa Baby’, currently on sale. This was originally discovered in the Sierra Chiquita Mountains of Tamaulipas, Mexico. It’s the only selection we’ve seen
The ladyslipper orchid, Cypripedium ‘Rascal’ has been looking absolutely stunning in the spring woodland garden. This is a hybrid of two North American native species, Cypripedium parviflorum var. parviflorum and Cypripedium kentuckiense.
Some folks of a certain age, remember Columbo as a 1970s television series starring Peter Falk, but long before that, 1788 in fact, there was an Eastern (Michigan south to South Carolina) native perennial, Frasera caroliniensis, commonly known as American Columbo. This odd deciduous gentian relative is a monocarpic perennial that takes between 5-15 years
Last week, we made a short foray to pick up some spaghnum for the bog gardens we constructed last year, and it was great to see the native golden club, Orontium aquaticum already in flower. This fascinating aroid needs a bog with shallow water to survive. These plants were growing in very deep shade, but
We love the curled leaf tips of Nolina erumpens as the afternoon sun lights the clump. This bear grass is native to the border region of Texas and New Mexico. For us, it thrives in a sunny, well-drained location. LIke its cousins, agave and hosta, nolina is another member of the asparagus family, but without
Looking good in the garden this week is the North American native, Hepatica acutiloba. The flower color ranges from white to blue to lavender. This particular clone, now 18 years old, is a selection from St. Clair County, Alabama. Hepatica is a member of the same family, (Ranunculaceae) as clematis and hellebores. Hardiness Zone 6a-9b,
