For years, I assumed olives would not be winter hardy in our formerly Zone 7b garden, but after killing several clones in our attempts to confirm this, we finally found success in 2006 with the self-fertile, Olea ‘Arbequina’. The name Arbequina, comes from the Spanish village Arbeca, where this hardy olive cultivar originated in the
The Color of Olive Read More »
On October 17, JLBG is excited to welcome the International Oak Society as part of their seven-day tour of the Carolinas. If you have an Oak fetish, these are your people. The event follows the International Oak Symposium in Knoxville, Tennessee from October 7-10. You’d hope that Raleigh, as the City of Oaks, would have
On a recent trip to Asheville, I made a long overdue stop at Hefner’s Nursery in Conover, NC. I have known about Hefner’s Nursery for decades, and always admired their plants at our state nursery trade show, but had never managed to visit. I was prompted to finally stop after running into current president, Randy
Hefner’s Centerfolds Read More »
One of the trees that the late J.C. Raulston cherished, and hoped to see become more widely planted is the Asian (China, Japan, Korea) native, Euscaphis japonica, commonly called the Korean sweetheart tree. This little-known genus consists of only two species, and in 2017, one taxonomist proposed eliminating the genus altogether, and moving it into
In flower now at JLBG is the fascinating tree, Firmiana simplex. This odd Chinese/Taiwan/Japan native, with smooth green-striped bark, produces these fascinating flowers that mature to seed receptacles which resemble three-part umbrellas with lots of heads (seed) underneath. This odd tree is currently a member of the Malvaceae family, making it a cousin to hibiscus,
The Tree of Parasols Read More »
Flowering now at JLBG is the handsome Jack tree, Sinojackia xylocarpa ‘La Grima’. Sinojackia, named after the late Arnold Arboretum staffer with three first names, John George Jack, is a Chinese native that is quite rare in the wild. In cultivation, this styrax relative matures at a compact 20′ tall. The cultivar ‘La Grima’ is
You don’t know Jack Read More »
In flower this week is the amazing evergreen Magnolia ‘Inspiration’. This extremely floriferous hybrid is a cross of Magnolia doltsopa x laevifolia, often sold incorrectly as a selection of the latter. Very few nurserymen still grow it because it grew too fast in containers…what an odd problem. Our ten year-old specimen is now 15′ tall
One of our favorite small trees for summer interest in the garden is the purple-leaf peach, Prunus persica ‘Bonfire’. Although the fruit is edible, it wasn’t selected for fruit quality, so don’t expect grocery store quality. We’re far more interested in the amazing foliage, which remains looking great during the summer. The other highlight is
The purple-leaf eldeberry, Sambucus ‘Chocolate Marzipan’ is looking quite stunning in the garden. This is the first purple-foliage selection to thrive in our hot, humid climate. Envious of the English garden magazine photos, we have searched for over three decades to find one that would perform for us–Eureka!
Chocolate Marzipan Read More »
The lovely Aesculus pavia, native from Illinois south to Texas, and east to Florida, has been absolutely glorious over the last few weeks. This easy-to-grow small tree typically tops out between 15-20′ tall.
Pavia is a Fav-ia Read More »
