The Spanish snapdragon, Antirrhinum glutinosum ‘White Hot’ looks great in the garden this month. For us, this is one of the longest-living snapdragon species, provided the soil is well-drained and remains fairly dry. The more typically sold Antirrhinum majus simply doesn’t thrive through our hot, humid summers.
Looking lovely this spring has been our patch of Marshall’s Barbara’s Buttons, Marshallia caespitosa. This cute perennial hails from prairies from Missouri south to Texas and will be available this fall. Hardiness is Zone 5a-8b.
In the crinum lily world, a yellow flower is considered the holy grail by plant breeders, since it only naturally exists in the Australian crinum species, Crinum luteolum. Two other species which occasionally show a yellow blush in the flower are Crinum bulbispermum and Crinum jagus. Crinum luteolum is completely ungrowable in the Southeast US.
One of the newest discovered species of our native asarum (formerly Hexastylis) is Asarum finzelii, from northeastern Alabama. In foliage, the plant resembles both Asarum arifolium and Asarum speciosum. The flowers, however, are quite different from both, as you can see below. It is our hope to get this propagated before too long, so we
The lovely Aesculus pavia, native from Illinois south to Texas, and east to Florida, has been absolutely glorious over the last few weeks. This easy-to-grow small tree typically tops out between 15-20′ tall.
We’ve just concluded our Spring Open Nursery and Garden weekends, and as always welcomed thousands of new visitors. One of my favorite parts of Open House is also reconnecting with old friends and acquaintances, some of whom I haven’t seen in ages. I was delighted to catch up with one of my high school &
Blast from the Past Read More »
This spring, we flowered the highly confused NC native wild ginger, mistakenly known as Asarum memmingeri in the garden. In reality, it’s never been given a proper name, so we refer to it as Asarum sp. nov. Allegheny Wild Ginger. Below, Patrick explains how this ginger was dropped into a botanical abyss, and what needs
Much ado about Memminger’s Heartleaf Wild Ginger Read More »
The foliage of Asphodeline damascena is looking absolutely wonderful…like a blue beetle’s wig from the 1960s. This little-known member of the Asphodel family hails from the dry deserts of Turkey and Syria/Lebanon. Other current members of the family include the genus Aloe, Haworthia, Hemerocallis, and Kniphofia. The short spikes of white flowers will appear soon,
Our decade old specimen of dwarf upright European hornbeam (Carpinus betulus ‘Columnaris Nana’) has reached a staggering 3.5′ in height. This dwarf, narrow selection is perfect for a small patio. It should eventually reach 6-7′ in height–enough to provide shade for small insects and garden gnomes that live near the trunk.
Our clump of Hans Hansen’s hybrid, Baptisia ‘American Goldfinch’ looked quite outstanding this April. This is a 4 year old clump from a 1 quart pot. Hardiness is Zone 4a-9b.
A Fine Yellow Bird Read More »
