I was admiring our specimen of Viburnum ‘Moonlit Lace’ the other evening, and wanted to upate our previous post about its mature size. It’s still being touted on-line as maturing at 3-4′ tall x wide, which simply isn’t the case. This 9 year old specimen is currently 7′ tall x 12′ wide. Based on the
Moonlit Lace on a Moonlit Night Read More »
There are few plants better to add a upright, phallic statement to the garden, than the native (Canada south to South Carolina) American arborvitae, Thuja occidentalis ‘Degroot’s Spire’. It is truly odd that I’ve never heard a native plant talk that recommended planting this…hmm. I’ve grown this in every garden I’ve every built, valued for
There are few plants in the garden that put on a holiday show like Photinia serratifolia ‘Green Giant’. I’ve admired this since I was a young horticulture student at NC State, where the west wall of the horticulture building housed some ancient specimens. This member of the rose family hails from China, Japan, Taiwan, and
Christmas Photinia Read More »
Looking lovely in the winter garden is the variegated foliaged Ilex cornuta ‘O. Spring’. We’ve grown this informal-shaped holly for almost 40 years. Although it’s a male, and consequently doesn’t fruit, the foliage is more than enough reason to grow this, where space permits. The holly is named for the late Otto Spring, so the
O. Spring in Winter Read More »
My love affair with viburnums came later in life, as it simply wasn’t a plant I connected with at an early age. The longer I’ve gardened, the more I’ve grown to appreciate all that viburnums add to the landscape, in terms of form, fragrant flowers, and fruit. The Asian evergreen Viburnum odoratissimum is one that
The Odoriferous Viburnum Read More »
Due to the large number of neighbors endowed with ex-domus (outside of the house) hoarding tendencies in the Southeastern US, homeowners are always looking for unique evergreen screening plants over 6′ tall. While there are plenty of choices for full sun, the choices for shade are quite limited to plants like Fatsia, Illicium, Thujopsis, Taxus,
Woah…Meet Big Mamma Read More »
I first met Juniperus chinensis ‘Aurea’ at the JC Raulston Arboretum in 2018, grown from cuttings taken at Richmond, Virginia’s Maymont Garden. We struggled to find a cultivar name, toying first with naming it Juniperus ‘Maymont Gold’. It wasn’t until horticultural cultivar historian, Larry Hatch, of Cultivar.org, told us that this is the true Juniperus
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 »
We love planting garden combinations that cause visitors to have a moment of cognitive dissonance. One of those moments in the garden currently is illustrated in the combination of Picea orientalis with Sabal ‘DeFuniak’. I remember a visitor once commenting that they didn’t like it that we had planted cactus with ferns, since they found
Hot and Cold Detente Read More »
Looking great in the garden, as we turn the page on a new year is the Japanese bay tree. I first met Machilus thunbergii (Lauraceae) thanks to my horticultural mentor, the late J.C. Raulston, who extolled the virtues of this evergreen tree, native to Taiwan, Southern China, Vietnam, Korea, and Japan. J.C. had been frustrated,
