Here is one of several clumps of the hardy Sinningia ‘Bananas Foster’ we planted along our patio retaining wall, where we can sit at night and watch the hummingbirds dine. This amazing plant flowers from May through the summer, so there’s no need to refill the red plastic feeders with high fructose water. These are
A Hummingbird Dessert – Bananas Foster Read More »
One of the most amazingly stunning North American native plants we’ve ever had the pleasure to introduce is Saururus cernus ‘Hertford Streaker’. Below is it in the nursery this week. This perennial is found in swampy bogs from Canada south to Texas. In smaller and more intricate gardens, it’s probably not appropriate since it is
Looking lovely in late August is the variegated turmeric ginger, Curcuma longa ‘Snowdrift’. Thriving in light shade, this amazing garden plant is obviously both ornamental and useful. Discovered as a mutation by plantsman Richard O’Brien, this amazing selection is late to emerge, rarely making a garden appearance before mid-June in NC. Our oldest clumps, planted
Snowdrift in Summer Read More »
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 »
(aka: Costus speciosus) Hellenia speciosa ‘Wizard of Oz’ is an amazingly winter hardy form of the typically warm tropical, southeast Asian native crepe ginger. This gem is a 2013 Ozzie Johnson collection from near Yan Ming, Vietnam at 3,900′ elevation. Emerging in mid-June (NC), the thick, fleshy green stalks, quickly rise to 6′ tall. The
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,
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 »
Looking great in the garden now is our clump of Physostegia virginiana ‘Pink Manners’. This offspring to the shorter, white-flowered, Physostegia ‘Miss Manners’, is one of the finest summer-flowering North American (Canada to Florida) native perennials we grow, yet when we offered it for sale, sales were miserable, which leaves us perplexed. The 4′ tall
One of our favorite ginger lilies is the shade-loving, Hedychium densiflorum ‘Stephen’. While it may look similar to the other members of the genus, Hedychium, it’s actually quite different. While most ginger lilies adore heat, this one tolerates heat, but prefers a cooler summer. It was discovered in 1966 in the Dudh Kosi Valley of
Ginger sure is Dense Read More »
It’s that time of year when we open the gardens and nursery once again, so visitors can see what’s possible in the garden during the summer months. From July 11-13 and 18-20, the JLBG and PDN plant experts will be here to answer your garden questions or just talk plants. If you’ve got plants or
Time to Visit…Summer Public Open Garden and Nursery Read More »
