The plant genus, Rhexia is a primarily North American native genus in the Melastomaceae family, making it a cousin to the popular tropical house plant, Tibouchina. Rhexia is a genus of only thirteen species, of which we’ve grown eight. The most widespread is Rhexia virginica, which naturally occurs from Canada south to Texas. They are
Trained Rhexia vs. Untrained Rhexia Read More »
Over a 45 year career of botanizing, one odd type of plant I’ve found repeatedly throughout the Southeast US are gold foliage sweetgums. A few were seedlings, while others were mutations that occur when roadside tree saplings are mowed down, causing bud mutations. Some discoveries, we’ve been able to propagate, while we just weren’t there
The Man with the Golden Gum Read More »
Looking great in the garden now is Stokesia laevis ‘Peachie’s Pick’. This incredible selection of our native Stokes aster was discovered as a seedling in the Mississippi garden of gardener/floral designer, Sara “Peachie” Saxon, and in 2001, it was introduced to the commercial trade by the former Niche Gardens of North Carolina. Stokes aster is
The Season for Peachie Read More »
One plant that I’ve tried to grow for decades are the cotton grasses of the genus, Eriophorum. Actually, fourteen of the sixteen recognized species of bog denizens are North American natives. but all but Eriophorum virginicum are native so far north, they have little heat tolerance, as our trials have shown. Some species are tight
Cotton Grass…Fluffy, not Stuffy Read More »
In 2022, Lysimachia lanceolata ‘Burgundy Mist’ hit the native plant market with great fanfare. Here was an ornamentally improved version of the Eastern North America (Wisconsin south to Florida) moist meadow native, Lysimachia lanceolata (aka: Steironema lanceolatum), from the folks at Tennessee’s GroWild Nursery. The linear-leaf foliage of this selection takes on a burgundy cast
The Legend of Burgundy Mist Read More »
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 our great native small trees is Cyrilla racemiflora, commonly known as Titi. The genus, itself, is so odd, that it warrants its own family, Cyrillaceae. Although there are 10 species in the genus, this is the only one in commerce. Interestingly, the other nine species only occur in Cuba. In the wild, Cyrilla
It’s odd when one of the rarer members of a plant genus is actually one of the best garden subjects. Such is the case with the rare (G3 rank) wine cup, Callirhoe bushii. Although there are only 50 populations in the wild, scattered from Arkansas to Kansas, it is certainly one of the most amazing
We were recently visited by a well-known landscape designer, who specializes in Southeastern US native plants. As we walked through the crevice garden, and I pointed out a clump of Polygonella americana, he was shocked at how nice it looked. His comment was that American jointweed always looked scraggly in the wild, so he hadn’t
American Jointweed – Smoke this Over Read More »
Looking great recently is a new, still undescribed dryland, shrub mint from south-central Georgia. This amazing dwarf Clinopodium sp. nov. Upson County, matures at only 6″ tall x 18″ wide with a stunning show of pink flowers for us, in early June. We’ve long treasured the shrubby wood mints, but this is truly exceptional. Hopefully,
The Missing Shrub Mint Read More »
