Looking rather nice in the garden in mid-winter is the yellow-fruited, Rohdea japonica ‘Golden Eggs’. We’re now on our third generation, and have been please to find that all of our offspring that have fruited so far, come true to color from seed. We picked up our original plant a Japanese auction over a decade
Golden Eggs in the Garden Read More »
It’s odd that one of the most talked about gardenias in our garden is one that never flowers, but such is the case for Gardenia jasminoides ‘Screech Owl’. This previously un-named gem was passed around by plant collectors for years, before we put on our hound dog gear and traced it’s origin back to Texas
Screaming Gardenia Read More »
We have a ridiculously large collection of Solomon’s Seal species and cultivars from around the world, and flowering now is one of our many favorites, Polygonatum stenophyllum, whose epithet means narrow leaves and hails from Korea into the Russian Far East. This belongs to the group of whorled-leaf species, where the leaves are attached all
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Putting on its version of a flowering show now, is our native rattlesnake fern, Botrypus virginianus. This widespread fern is native to all continental states except New Mexico. Not to be confined to a single country, it’s also native throughout South American, Central Europe, and throughout Asia. The rattlesnake fern has has dimorphic fronds, where
Rattlesnake Ferns in flower Read More »
Looking great in the woodland garden now is the amazing Asian (China, Korea, Manchuria) native Solomon’s Seal, Disporum flavens. This species is probably the showiest of the genus, putting on a tremendous show in spring garden. While there are both running and clumping species in the genus, Disporum, this gem remains in a nice clump.
Here are two exceptional fairy wing cultivars that are in peak bloom today. The top is our introduction, Epimedium ‘Rise and Shine’. The floriferous nature of many of the recently introduced epimediums puts many of the older cultivars to shame. Epimedium ‘Woodland Elf’ will be a 2026 introduction of a plant developed by plant breeder,
Floating Fairy Wings Read More »
Carpeting the woodland garden now is the North American native spring ephemeral, Sanguinaria canadensis. This widespread wildflower is native to virtually the entire Eastern US. The common name, bloodroot, comes from the red pigment, Sanguinarine, which can be found in all plant parts, especially the underground rhizomes. The red pigment has long been used for
Red Roots and White Flowers Read More »
Looking good in the winter garden is the dwarf cast iron plant, Aspidistra zongbayi ‘Old Glory’. This cast iron plant never grows taller than 1′, but makes a lovely 3-4′ wide evergreen groundcover. This is our 2002 introduction of a 1996 Darrell Probst collection from Sichuan, China. This has been fine for us for over
While most gardeners are quite familiar with boxwoods of the genus, Buxus, far less are familiar with their close cousins, sweet box of the genus Sarcococca. Sarcococca is a small genus of only 15 species of small woody evergreen shrubs, ranging from the Western Himalayas to Thailand, with one long lost family member that resides
Christmas boxes through the Garden Read More »
Looking lovely in the garden now is the woodland perennial, Actaea pachypoda, commonly known as doll’s eyes. Most of the commercial material available in the trade comes from much colder climates, and will not survive our summers. It has a huge native range from Canada south to Louisiana, so it’s surprising that introductions of heat
Hey Doll, love those Eyes Read More »
