Those of us in the perennial world are morning the loss of retired professor, Dr. Steven Still, 80, who passed away earlier this month. Not only was Steven a professor of renown at The Ohio State University, where he taught for 25 years, but during that time, he was also the first Director of the
I’m just back from speaking to a couple of North American Rock Garden Society Chapters in Massachusetts, an area I hadn’t visited in over two decades. My journey began at the Berkshire Botanic Gardens in Stockbridge, a venue I last spoke at in 1999. Over 50 folks showed up on a cold, drizzly day, as
Hanging with a Mass of Rockers Read More »
In flower in late March at JLBG is the sweetly fragrant Osmanthus x burkwoodii ‘Elizabeth Lawrence’, a plant we acquired from the late garden writer, Pam Harper. This sweet olive is a cross of the Turkish Osmanthus decorus and the Chinese native Osmanthus delavayi, created by 20th century English nurserymen, Arthur and Albert Burkwood. The
The Burkwood’s Sweet Legacy Read More »
Last weekend included a quick trip to Marietta, Georgia, to celebrate the 80th birthday of our long-time plant friend, Ozzie Johnson. Ozzie is a life long garden designer and consultant in the Atlanta area, as well as a career volunteer at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Ozzie has traveled extensively through China, Vietnam, and Japan, searching
A Visit to OZ to see the Wizard 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 »
This spring, I was fortunate to be able to visit the former garden of the late Camellia guru, Dr. Clifford Parks. One of the many plants that took our breath away was this unlabeled evergreen azalea. We were able to root cuttings, but now, I’m hoping someone out there in horticulture land will recognize it
I recently had the opportunity to visit the grape breeding trial garden of grape savant, Jeff Bloodworth of Orange County, NC. I didn’t realize it until my visit that Jeff, now 73, and I were in the Horticulture Department at NC State together from the mid to late 1970s. While I was starting on my
Back in the early 2000s, we grew the spiral ginger, Costus speciosus for many years, before finally loosing it in a very cold winter, but its potential hardiness has always fascinated us. In 2013, Georgia plantsman Ozzie Johnson collected a specimen near the border of North Vietnam and Southern China at 3,900′ elevation. Below is
Those who were heavily into gardening in the early 1990s probably remember the micro-mail order nursery, The Wildwood Flower, run by the unique and colorful NC plantsman Thurman Maness. While Thurman’s nursery lasted less than a decade in the mail order realm, his impact in the horticultural world continues though his many plant introductions. Thurman’s
Where are they now? Sparkle deVine revisited Read More »
It was great to get a chance to reconnect with Florida plantsman Nestor White at our recent Open Nursery and Garden, since it had been well over a decade since his last visit. Nestor has what is almost certainly the largest Crinum collection in the world with over 1,000 different accessions. If you purchase crinums
