I vividly remember the first time I saw an on-line photograph of ‘Ippongi’, both due to the amazing foliage, but also the 12,000 USD price tag. That was 2017. Soon after, we would acquire a small plant in a trade with another agave collector. Although it’s a tropical plant that has no frost tolerance, this
For years, Raleigh botanist, and retired NC Museum of Natural Sciences, Education Director, Jesse Perry, has been sharing several of the amazing botanical curiosities, that he’s run across in his 70+ years of traipsing through the natural areas across the state. Just a few of Jesse’s excellent introductions that we’ve had the pleasure of introducing,
Rescuing a Bunch of Ferners Read More »
The summer surprise lily season kicks into full gear around July 15, so it’s time to share those who graced us with their presence from July 15-July 31. Because we grow over 1,100 cultivars of lycoris, we have an abundance in flower every day from early July until early October. Flowering time for each stem
Summer Surprise Lilies – Part I Read More »
With a tribute to the Frankie Laine theme song for the 1950/1960s television western, the cast iron plant that bears the same name is equally as tough and long lasting. We offered this amazing, compact selection of Aspidistra sichuanensis for several years, but sadly, it never sold very well, possibly due to its slow growth
Rollin’, Rollin’, Rollin’…Rawhide Read More »
Over the years, we’ve grown tens of thousands of Japanese sacred lily (Rohdea japonica) from seed. While the variegated leaf edges don’t come true from seed, the general form of the parent usually shows up in a majority of the offspring. Our goal has been to see how far we can push the outer limits
While the peak season for crinum lilies is May-July, there’s always quite a few blooms in late summer and even into early fall, before our first frost turns the foliage and remaining flowers into green slime. Here are a couple of clones that stood out in the garden this week. The first is Crinum ‘Bright
The final surprise lily to flower in our collection is Lycoris x lajolla (pronounced La Hoya). This Sam Caldwell cross of Lycoris aurea x Lycoris traubii was first published by the late Hamilton Traub in 1958, but sadly has never made it into cultivation. We are fortunate to have acquired several clones, of which we
In 2024, I happened to check out one of the plant auction sites, and was shocked to see a listing for an edged form of Agave utahensis ssp. utahensis var. nevadensis. I had only seen one listed twice before, and each time, the price for a tiny, unrooted division topped $10,000 USD. Both times, the
Gambling with Liberty and Death Read More »
We’re just wrappping up the midseason of the Lycoris (Surprise Lily) flowering season, that runs from August 11-August 25. This typically wraps up the last of the spring-foliage species and hybrids, and takes us through the middle part of the fall-leaved species and hybrids. Lycoris aurea is one of the most tender of the Lycoris
Midsummer Surprises Read More »
It’s lycoris time at JLBG, as we’re just wrapping up the early part of the flowering season (July 15-August 10). Most of the early blooming surprise lilies are the spring-foliaged species and hybrids. Typically, there are only a few of the fall-foliaged selections that flower during this early period. Sadly, most gardeners have only grown
The Season of Surprises Read More »
