We’ve got a thing for botanical oddities….plants that only a mother could love, and the spikemosses certainly fit that bill. We currently grow 19 different winter hardy species, which include 10 North American native species, and 9 from other lands. Current taxonomic trends are splitting the spikemosses into an array of different genera, making it
Wright’s Spikemoss Read More »
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 »
One of the most interesting plants in the October garden, is the native Drosera tracyi. This giant sundew is endemic to the US gulf coast and has made a fascinating specimen in our bog garden, with a medusa-like mass of sticky tentacles. These super hairy tentacles are coated in a sweet-scented syrup, to which small
Tracy’s Sticky Hair Read More »
Looking absolutely ravishing in the October garden is the Texas/Mexico native Lindheimer’s Muhly, Muhlenbergia lindheimeri. Named after the Father of Texas Botany, German immigrant, Ferdinand Lindheimer (1801-1879), this amazing ornamental grass does its namesake proud. The 3′ tall x 5′ wide semi-evergreen clump of thin, glaucous-green foliage is topped with rigid plumes to 6′ tall
Lindheimer’s Legacy Read More »
Flowering now is the amazing Coreopsis palustris ‘Summer Sunshine’, an award-winning 2000 Plant Delights/JLBG introduction. Although it’s native to swampy forests, from NC south to Florida. We have found that Coreopsis palustris makes an even better specimen in full sun, and in regular garden soil…as long as the soil doesn’t get bone dry. For us,
Summer Sunshine Swamp Tickseed Read More »
Most folks think of Zinnias, as an annual bedding plant, but the genus actually includes so much more, including some little-known, North American native perennials. One that has thrived for us, since 2018 is Rocky Mountain zinnia, Zinnia grandiflora, which naturally resides from Kansas to Arizona. We’re growing a particularly vigorous selection, Zinnia grandiflora ‘Gold
Not Your Grandmothers Zinnia 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
The North American (Durango, Mexico) native, Hymenocallis durangoensis, has been absolutely spectacular this month in the garden, where we grow it in full sun, in average to moist soils. Sadly, this spider lily never sells very well, so we keep having to dump our surplus nursery stock at years end. We’re just stubborn enough to
