Antennaria solitaria, the solitary pussytoes is looking great in the garden this week. This amazing native groundcover hails from Ohio south to Alabama, where it can be found in open shade or part sun, but always in dry soils. Despite being native in acidic soils, our plants below are thriving in our alkaline crevice garden.
Pussy Toes, all alone Read More »
Starting in late winter, the amazing blue-flowered South American Ipheion ‘Rolf Fiedler’ begins its stunning floral show in the garden. This rare native, which has only been found on the top of two hills in Uruguay, has yet to be formally assigned a confirmed species name, although some botanist believe it to be Ipheion peregrinans.
Rolfing in the Garden Read More »
We’ve made a regular habit of killing fritillarias (the bulb…not the fried food) in the garden, especially those ungrowable brightly-colored species like Fritillaria imperialis that tantalizingly appear each fall in the major bulb catalogs. Although it lacks the bling of it’s showier cousins, the species that is reliable for us in the garden is Fritillaria
Fritters in the Garden Read More »
The superb (and spineless) Ilex ‘Cherry Bomb’ is looking amazing in the garden this week. Our specimen is now 22 years old, and measures 35′ tall x 15′ wide. It originated at the US National Arboretum as part of Dr. William Kosar’s breeding program, and is a 1959/1960 seedling from Ilex ‘Nellie R. Stevens’, most
With our recent 16 degree F winter temperatures, all of the cycas plants (sago palms) in the garden now have fried foliage. This foliage will not recover, but damage like this is fully expected in our climate, and not something that will damage the plants. Be sure to not remove the old damaged foliage this
Burned baby, burned Read More »
If you’ve visited JLBG, you know how much we love working with rocks, so we continue to find new areas to plant more. We’ve recently tackled two long overdue projects near the Mt. Michelle waterfall. The first was re-working the Mt. Michelle watercourse we know as Mystic Creek (named after one of our late cats).
Rocking and Rolling in the Winter Garden Read More »
Fargesia robusta is one of the many excellent clumping bamboos for the garden. Thriving in light shade to part sun, this evergreen gem tops out around 7′ in height. We know it’s still hard for some people to realize, but clumping bamboos truly cannot run. This garden specimen at JLBG is now 22 years old.
No running allowed Read More »
With a mild winter so far at JLBG, our numerous Iris unguicularis clones have been flowering beautifully. First is the clone Iris unguicularis ‘Francis Wolseley’ and then Iris unguicularis ‘Winter Echoes’. Colors in this species ranges from white to light blue to dark purple.
Winter Iris Parade Read More »
In full flower now at JLBG is Mahonia x lindsayae ‘Cantab’, a hybrid of Mahonia japonica and the virtually unknown Mahonia siamensis. The intensely sweet fragrance is truly intoxicating…the strongest in the genus Mahonia. Sadly, you’ll rarely find this available for sale, since it’s somewhat gangly form doesn’t curry favor with most nursery growers. Winter
It’s always interesting when we introduce a plant we think is an incredible addition to the garden, but virtually no one purchases it. Thank goodness, it doesn’t happen too often, but I’m reminded of one such case every day when I get home and admire our row of Agave x striateosa ‘Straight and Narrow’. This
Too Straight and Narrow Read More »
