One of our long-time favorite summer perennials is the amazing Lychnis ‘Orange Sherbet’. This gem first came into our life when I traveled for a Midwest talk in 2004, where one of the hosts asked if I’d like a plant of her Lychnis coronata. I assumed she was talking about either the common, short-lived Lychnis
Orange Sherbet is Simply Delicious Read More »
Our acanthus in the garden are looking absolutely superb now. This clump of Acanthus ‘Morning Candle’ was particularly photo worthy with its 4′ tall flower spikes and shiny, lobed basal foliage. We find that very open light shade to a few hours of morning sun produces the best floral shows. Acanthus require little in the
Morning Candles that last for Days Read More »
In the plant world, plants of the genus Saxifraga, are lovingly referred to as sax’s. While we can’t grow any of the lovely alpine species, we have found a few that thrive here. Looking amazing in the garden now is the evergreen groundcover, Saxifraga stolonifera, as they have burst into flower. Who needs to see
We love a good Sax Read More »
Flowering now in the garden is Blephilia ciliata, a little-known clumping mint cousin, native from Vermont south to Georgia and west to Texas, where it occurs in open woods and meadows. In form, Blephilia ciliata is a woodland version of bee balm without the pesky spreading tendency. Downy wood mint forms a 1.5′ tall x
Gettin’ down with Downy wood mint Read More »
We’ve been growing the fall-flowering Farfugium japonicum for nearly 40 years, and despite growing numerous cultivars as well as seedlings, had seen no difference in the standard yellow flower color, until a 2008 visit to the Georgia garden of plantsman Ozzie Johnson. There, I first met the cultivar, ‘Beni’, which in Japanese, means red flowers.
Beni and the Not Yets Read More »
The lovely variegated evergreen shrub, Fatsia japonica ‘Murakumo Nishiki’, is really looking fabulous now, as we move into fall. The commercial availability of this woody ivy relative, has been a bit sparse, but hopefully propagation protocols will continue to improve. There are so few cuttings per plant that the only real answer for better availability
Many gardeners grow hardy aroids in their garden, ranging from the tiny arisarum to the giant amorphophallus, but few folks have tried members of the genus, Taccarum (tacky-arum). Taccarum is a small genus of only six species, all native to South America. As a nice addition, the flowers have no detectable fragrance. In our trials,
The Hardy Tacky Arum Read More »
July has been a great month to enjoy the floral show of the most winter hardy member of the genus Aloe. Our plant of Aloe cooperi, below, is happy as can be, growing in half day sun in our crevice garden.
Rock on with Aloe Cooperi Read More »
Back in the early 2000s, we grew the spiral ginger, Costus speciosus for many years, before finally loosing it in a very cold winter, but its potential hardiness has always fascinated us. In 2013, Georgia plantsman Ozzie Johnson collected a specimen near the border of North Vietnam and Southern China at 3,900′ elevation. Below is
We love the way Laurentia fluvitalis forms a flowery skirt around the base of Tricyrtis lasiocarpa. This combination has thrived for years in a part sun garden location, where it receives full sun for 3-4 hours daily. The soil moisture is average to dry.
