One of many incredible plants discovered by our garden staff, is an amazing selection of the native (NC to Arkansas and south to Florida) Hymenocallis occidentalis var. occidentalis, found by Jeremy Schmidt on a 2012 botanizing trip through Alabama. We’ve always loved this August-flowered spider lily, but the extraordinary floriferous nature of this discovery outshines
The Queen of Flowers 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 »
I doubt that even most native plant enthusiasts have grown the amazing spring-run spider lily. Hymenocallis rotata hails from only a few counties in north to central Florida, yet has thrived in our garden. The narrow leaves emerge alongside the 18″ tall flower stalk in mid July, which terminates in 2-4, pure white, large, nocturnally
Spring-run Spider Lily Read More »
In flower in mid-July is the rare, woodland crinum lily, Crinum moorei ‘Moore Stripes’. This is the only striped leaf crinum lily that we’ve found to be stable. Our only regret is that it doesn’t offset faster.
This Crinum earns its Stripes Read More »
One of the early surprise lilies to start off the summer flowering season is Lycoris x incarnata ‘Blue Pearl’, in flower now at JLBG. This cross from Japanese bulb breeder, Dr. Shuichi Hirao, is a hybrid of two of the most winter hardy species, Lycoris longituba and Lycoris sprengeri. After flowering, the plant will remain
In full flower now is our patch of Agapanthus ‘Ever Amethyst’, from the agapanthus kings, De Wet agapanthus breeders in South Africa. This has been an exceptional performer in our trials. For us, agapanthus flower after the spring floral flush, and before the summer flowering plants begin, providing a great early summer filler. We will
Amazingly Amethyst Read More »
Here is a photo of one our many superb rain lily selections, Zephyranthes ‘Summer Snow’. This is Not an exceptional display but a perfectly typical display that follows most every rain event in the summer. The rain lilies do not flower continuously but burst forth periodically over the many frost-free months of the year. One
Room for One More? No way! Read More »
Flowering in the garden this week is the virtually unknown geophyte, we fondly refer to as the Milli Vanilli lily, aka. Milla magnifica. Native from the Mexican states of Guerrero and Morelos, this unusual member of the onion family grows from a bulb that remains dormant until mid-June. Once the bulb breaks dormancy, the long,
The procession of Lycoris (Surprise lilies) continues as we pass mid-August. Here are some recent images. So far, this year, we have flowered over 300 different taxa. Below is Lycoris aurea, which has the widest natural range of any lycoris, from India to Africa, south to Indonesia. Winter hardiness of this fall-leaf species is dependent
A Summer of Surprises Read More »
In 2017, we blogged about our first white-flowered seedling of the South American oxblood lily, that we christened Rhodophiala bifida ‘White Surprise’. Fast forward seven years later, our original still lives, and we now have babies. Five years ago, we self-pollinated the original plant to see if the white trait would come true from seed.
