One of the rarest of the Southeast US native Barbara buttons is Marshallia ramosa, a plant previous more abundant, but now classified at one of the rarest and imperiled levels, G2. This endemic to a few populations in Georgia and Florida has dwindled, primarily to a lack of fire, and a subsequent takeover by more
Barbara almost lost her Buttons Read More »
Eriobotrya japonica ‘Ghostbuster’ is our new loquat seedling, grown from seed from our spring, speckled-leaf selection in the garden. While most of the seedlings show some degree of speckling in spring, this gem is by far, the cream of the crop, with no sign of foliar burn. The foliage ages to green in summer, giving
Somethin’ Strange in your Neighbors Garden…Who ya Gonna Call? Read More »
Join me for another round of trillium photos that capture many of the later blooming species and hybrids grown here at JLBG. These typically wrap up here around mid-to-late April, depending on the weather. We hope this stirs up interest in this amazing group of perennials, especially the little-known species that hail from the southeast
Trilliums – Sound the Bell for Round 2 Read More »
While we love the typical redbuds that we’re all familiar with in our garden, only one plant stands out in the genus, as a true shade tree. While most redbuds that gardeners know, mature at 10-20′ tall, Cercis glabra towers above them all at a whopping 50-60′. This long-lived redbud is sadly virtually absent in
We were thrilled this week, to find that one of our native wild gingers, Asarum finzelii has produced a plethora of garden seedlings this year. This species from Northeastern Alabama, was only recently described in 2020 by Alabama botanist Brian Keener, who happens to be a speaker for our 2026 Southeastern Plant Symposium in early
Here are a few photos of our garden specimens of Helleborus x hybridus this week. If you weren’t one of the 7,800 visitors who got to see these in person during our recent Winter Open Nursery and Garden, here’s what you missed. Although they look decent in photos, they are much better in person. Since
Lenten Rose on Parade Read More »
Looking great in the winter woodland garden is our specimen of Cyclamen hederifolium ‘Fine Silver’. Most silver leaf seedlings still have markings of green, but that’s not the case on this gem. These come reasonably pure within a range, so let’s hope we’re able to gather seed this year. Dry soils during the summer dormant
The Value of Silver is Rising Read More »
We’ve grown shrubs in the genus, Cleyera for well over three decades, and still find them virtually underknown, underappreciated…and usually misnamed. 99% of the plants in the trade as Cleyera, are actually an allied genus, Ternstroemia. If that wasn’t confusing enough, Cleyera was long considered a Camellia relative, in the same family, Theaceae. Having grown
Clearing up Cleyera Read More »
The seed pots below may not look particularly exciting, but to us, this birthing moment is one worth celebrating. Just over a year ago, we flowered our first plant of the North American native (New York south to Louisiana), Frasera caroliniensis. Like an agave, frasera takes up to two decades to flower, after which it
Frasera in Re-runs Read More »
We’re enjoying the mid-summer show of grass-leaf Barbara’s buttons, Marshallia graminifolia ‘Georgetown’. We grew this from a Patrick McMillan/Zac Hill seed collection near Georgetown, SC. Marshallia graminifolia is a coastal plain endemic, found from NC to Georgia, where it forms a short basal rosette of narrow, linear foliage, that’s topped with 20″ tall flowers stalks,
