It was on a 2008 expedition to Taiwan, where I met the Taiwan native spruce, Picea morrisonicola. This amazing plant was named in honor of its native habitat on Mt. Morrison, which was, as was the colonialistic habit at the time, named for English missionary, Robert Morrison (1782-1834) . Today, the mountain is known as
As gardeners, we seem to often want what we can’t have, and that’s certainly the case for us, and spruces of the genus, Picea. A hot, humid, sandy loam tobacco field in coastal North Carolina isn’t exactly ground zero for growing a lot of spruces well. We’ve learned quite a bit via trial and error
Sprucing up the Winter Garden Read More »
We love planting garden combinations that cause visitors to have a moment of cognitive dissonance. One of those moments in the garden currently is illustrated in the combination of Picea orientalis with Sabal ‘DeFuniak’. I remember a visitor once commenting that they didn’t like it that we had planted cactus with ferns, since they found
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Here’s an early June shot from the garden. The conifer in front left is Picea abies ‘Glauca Pendula Oxtail’. The weeping conifer in the distance is Cupressus glabra ‘Raywood’s Weeping’. The bright shrub in the distance is Ligustrum lucidum ‘Marble Magic’. Delve more into the world of woody ornamentals during the upcoming Southeastern Plant Symposium
The Serbian spruce, Picea omorika ‘Blue Sky’ is looking lovely at the base of the Mt. Michelle waterfall this week. We think the color of the spruce foliage nicely echos the nearby agave–a combination you won’t see in most gardens. We’re always on the lookout for more spruces that tolerate our heat and humidity.
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