We’ve just named the third selection of our Rohdea x japensis (Rohdea japonica x Rohdea chinensis) hybrid this winter, this one for its incredible fruit show. We’ve christened this Rohdea x japensis ‘Super Fruit’. Later this winter, we’ll divide our original clump and start down the production pipeline, which should take about 5-6 years to
Looking good in its full fruit mode in mid January is the holly, Ilex ‘Emily Brunner’. This hybrid of Ilex cornuta and Ilex latifolia has proven to be one of the best specimen hollies we grow. A mature specimen is 20′ tall x 20′ wide, so if you’re planting this, give it enough space. Years
Being Fruity isn’t always a Bad Thing Read More »
One of the most festively fashionable plants in the garden during the winter holiday season is undoubtedly, Ruscus aculeatus ‘Elizabeth Lawrence’. This amazing evergreen perennial has a wide native range through Southern Europe and into Asia, but in the wild, most plant are either male or female. They also range naturally in height from 2′
Festively Fashionable in the Woodland Read More »
Looking lovely in December are the Japanese Laurels of the genus, Aucuba. If you’ve hung around any southern gardeners, you already know that we often have some peculiar pronunciations. I’m from the south and still remember thinking, whaaat, the first time I heard someone talking about the A Coobers in their garden. Perhaps many folks
When many folks get together for the holidays, their families are so large, finding a place to house and feed them becomes problematic. Such is not the case for Sarcandra glabra, or for that matter, any of the plants in the Chloranthaceae family. Not only is the family itself quite small and quite old…prehistoric, in
Sarcandra – Part of a Small Family Gathering Read More »
After a long and magnificent flowering season, we’re now enjoying the fruit of the Gloriosa lily, Gloriosa superba. This sprawling vine has an odd distribution that includes both the Indian subcontinent, as well as Central and Southern Africa. There are many names in the genus, since through the years, taxonomists have named seemingly every variation.
Something Seedy about Gloriosa Read More »
From 20 feet away, the bright red fruit on our native coral bean, Erythrina herbacea stands out like a glowing red light district sign. Reportedly, the seed have hallucinogenic properties, but we don’t recommend trying this at home, since in Mexico, the seed are reportedly used to poison animals from rats to fish. We’ll stick
Seedy Red Light District Read More »
Looking spectacular in the garden this week is our specimen of the deciduous Viburnum sieboldii. This lovely plant from Central and Southern Japan, is named in honor of German physician/naturalist Phillip Franz von Siebold (1796-1866). My early attempts at growing this at JLBG were all failures, since this species isn’t known to be very heat
Burnum, Baby Burnum Read More »
An outstanding BLE (Broadleaf Evergreen) at JLBG this month is the amazing Prunus laurocerasus ‘Batumi Rubies’. This full-size form of the more commonly sold dwarf selections makes an amazing specimen. The fruit of this Black Sea native is typically black, but plantsman Todd Lasseigne made this amazing red-fruited collection in 2001, in the country of
My first encounter with the Taiwan tree viburnum, Viburnum arboricola, was on our 2008 expedition to Taiwan. Below is our garden specimen, grown from seed from that trip. Some taxonomists consider it a subspecies of Viburnum odoratissima, but we feel it is distinctive enough to warrant species status. While our plant has now topped 20′
