The first photo below is our hybrid century plant, Agave x ocareginae ‘Oh Victory’, from a cross we made in 2014, between Agave ocahui and Agave victoriae-reginae. The plants went in the ground in 2017. Of the eleven seedlings we selected and planted in the ground, only five have survived. Below you can see both
Stirring the Gene Pot Read More »
The coolest plant feature in the garden this week are the seed pods on the woodland ginger, Zingiber mioga ‘Lushan Gold’. We’ve grown many different forms of Zingiber mioga, but none like ‘Lushan Gold’. First, this exceptional Chinese collection from Atlanta Botanic Gardens’ Scott McMahon clumps instead of runs like all the commercial forms. Secondly,
Here’s Looking at You, Ginger Read More »
We received the shocking news this week that our friend, and retired Director of the Morris Arboretum (Pennsylvania), Paul Meyer, passed away. Paul spent his entire 42 year career at the Morris Arboretum, first as Curator/Director of Horticulture, and then 28 years as Director of the Garden, before retiring in 2018. We all wondered what
Paul’s Final Expedition Read More »
I posted photos earlier from our lycoris selection back in August, but the season extends through September and into October. Below are some of the later flowering varieties. With a selection of cultivars, you can easily have a lycoris in flower from early July until mid October. Lycoris ‘Tipping Point’ looks like the common Lycoris
The Last Surprises Read More »
Our plants of Eysenhardtia texana ‘Uvalde’ are perfuming the air with their sweet fragrance in October. As you can imagine, it’s abuzz with pollinators. This Texas/Mexico native, known as Texas kidneywood, makes a 10′ tall shrub that’s quite heat and drought tolerant. The common name comes from the fact that the genus Eysenhardtia has been
The shaggy blazing star, Liatris pilosa has put on quite a show over the last few weeks. Looking quite different in the garden than it did in the wild, this native from Delaware south to Florida enjoys bright sun and well-drained soils. Our plant is growing in one of our Permatill amended rock gardens. Hardiness
Shaggy, but not a dog Read More »
The star of the fall garden this year has been Colchicum tenorii (recently corrected to Colchicum cilicicum), which has been flowering for weeks. Our clump of this Italian native bulb, began as a single bulb in 2000. Once the flowers finish next week, the large, green leaves will emerge and continue to grow through the
The Tenor of Colchicums Read More »
Introducers of new century plant selections are challenged with coming up with appropriate cultivar names, often have a propensity to use wordplay, referring to the agaves spiny teeth. Two favorites, we photographed this week are below, Agave titanota ‘Snaggletooth’ (top), and Agave titanota ‘Sabertooth Tiger’ (bottom). Both are mutations of the same original plant, the
Century Plants – it’s all about the teeth Read More »
In full flower now at JLBG is the longspike tridens, aka: Tridens stricta ‘Buffalo Feathers’. Athough native from NC west to Texas, the genetics of our clump hails from a Wade Roitsch (Yucca Do) collection in Lee County, Texas, and is superior ornamentally in both form and longevity. We have found this little-known ornamental grass
Why not try Tridens? Read More »
We have been admiring the amazing Nerine angustifolias in our dryland parking lot berms over the last few weeks, and they are almost at peak bloom. These South African (Mpumalanga province) amaryllids are distant allies to the Southeast Asian genus Lycoris, although they keep their foliage, unlike lycoris. Typically nerines don’t offer much winter hardiness
The Charming Nerines Read More »
