Looking absolutely ravishing in the October garden is the native pitcher plant, Sarracenia ‘Daina’s Delight’. This 1990s introduction was selected by pitcher plant expert, Kim Magnuson of Hawaii, from an original cross involving Sarracenia leucophylla and an unresolved hybrid created by New Zealand’s Mark Edwards. The Sarracenia leucophylla genes cause it to produce an insane
Daina’s Delight – Fit for a Princess Read More »
Our bog garden is aglow in late April, thanks to our clump of Sarracenia x moorei ‘Red Saucers’. This JLBG seedling arose from a cross of Sarracenia leucophylla ‘Hurricane Creek White’ and Sarracenia flava. This seedling selection puts on one of the best floral displays we’ve seen from any of the native pitcher plants. We
Dining in the Garden with Red Saucers Read More »
Many of our sarracenia (pitcher plants) have started to go dormant by now, but that’s not the case for Sarracenia leucophylla and any of it’s hybrids. Patrick explained this difference by noting that this species is designed for attaching moths, due it’s white tops that illuminate at night. These moths are prevalent in the fall,
Falling for Sarracenia Read More »
Flowering this month is one of my favorite curiosities, Grandma’s hat pins. Eriocaulon decangulare hails from costal habits from New Jersey south to Texas, where it can be found in bogs and swamps. They thrive in the same conditions as pitcher plants. Perhaps it’s time to send some seed to the nursery since we haven’t
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I first ran into the sticky blazing star, Liatris resinosa, a few years ago when botanizing in the eastern part of NC. Since that time, it has thrived in our garden, where we grow it in a bog with pitcher plants as well as in an alpine berm. Our plants have just topped 3′ in
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We grow quite a few sarracenia (pitcher plants) from seed, with only the very best (most unique and most vigorous) getting planted in the ground for further trials. Through the decades, we’ve only had a few that we eventually found worthy of a name. Below is a photo taken this week of a newly selected
Pouring over another Pitcher Read More »
The native Lophiola aurea put on a lovely show in the garden this spring. Thanks to Patrick McMillan for introducing me to this little-grown, lowland bog endemic that has a bizarrely scattered range in a few coastal sites from Nova Scotia south to Florida. We have ours growing with pitcher plants, where it has thrived.
This winter, we were mulling over options for our a bed along the walkway to our nursery and garden office. We had previously had a narrow raised bed, but this was backing up rain water on our sidewalk. The garden and research staff proposed that we remove the raised bed and install a bog garden/rain
Bogged Down in the Garden Read More »
Last week, Patrick, Zac, and I spent a couple of day botanizing in the low country…i.e. Coastal South Carolina. In between swatting away the incredible troupe of mosquitos which chose to join us, we were able to capture a few images to share below. The ancient lime sinks are fascinating. Here, old sinkholes due to
Low Country Treasure Hunt Read More »
We were saddened this past week to hear of the passing of our friend, Dr. Larry Mellichamp, age 73, after a three year battle with bile duct cancer. I first met Larry in the late 1970s, when he spoke to our Horticulture Club at NC State. Over the next 45 years, we interacted regularly, mostly
