We had a delightful morning this week, welcoming the staff of Montrose Gardens to JLBG. Plantswoman Nancy Goodwin, Magnolia breeder and plantsman, Tom Krenitsky, and Nancy’s staff all joined us, as we spent the morning walking through the garden collections. Although the Montrose mailorder nursery (1984 -1993) has been closed for a while, the amazing
A Montrosian Morning Read More »
For those who have joined us as a Founding member of JLBG, our quarterly members only newsletter is now available for your reading pleasure. Below is a teaser from our Founder’s message to members. Summer 2024 has been an interesting one from a weather perspective. As of August 5, we had recorded 48 days above
Summer Member Newsletter now on-line Read More »
We have long been fascinated with tissue culture, and it’s ability to produce a large number of difficult to propagate plants in a short time. Without tissue culture, many of the plants we grow in our gardens today, simply wouldn’t be available. New hostas, that we all enjoy, would still be priced north of $200
The Great Lab Experiment Read More »
Last weekend, Anita and I watched as one of our indoor cats, Jake, was glued to the glass door as a common box turtle sauntered, seemingly purposely down our 50′ long sidewalk and toward the door. It (he?/she?) finally stopped just a few feet short of the door, where it just sat and stared, with
Only 20 spaces remain for our first JLBG Endowment fundraiser on June 14 from 3-8pm. This is a first opportunity for visitors to tour Tony and Anita’s private home garden, located adjacent to JLBG. This link takes you on a short walking tour of some of the garden highlights. Below are a few images from
Private Garden Fundraiser Read More »
Twenty years ago this year, we published this hypothetical catalog piece about what it would be like if airlines sold plants, which is still pertinent today. IF AIRLINES SOLD PLANTS Customer: Hi. How much are your plants? Clerk: Well, ma’am, that all depends on a lot of things. Customer: Is there an average plant price?
If Airlines Sold Plants Read More »
I was lucky enough to catch the winter fruit show on our clump of Iris foetidissima last weekend. This little-known, evergreen, woodland iris from southern Europe, suffers because of its specific epithet “foetidissima”, which means stinking. That’s probably a bit much coming from someone with hundreds of amorphophallus clones. The name reportedly was given because
Starting off the new year is our flowering clump of the Taiwanese endemic wild ginger, Asarum hypogynum. The huge, glossy, evergreen patterned foliage is enough reason to grow this gem, but through most of the winter, the incredible floral display silently sits virtually unnoticed by most human visitors. JLBG currently houses one of the largest
Coming in second place to the Helleborus niger we posted earlier is Helleborus x ballardiae ‘Mahogany Snow’. This is a cross of the Christmas rose, Helleborus niger and Helleborus lividus. The flowers emerge white, then age to a lovely salmon pink. We find this hellebore hybrid much easier to grow than either parent.
The Christmas Rose Bowl Read More »
We’re preparing for the release of a new cast of characters for 2024, through our current funding arm, Plant Delights Nursery. One of the “cast” that we’ve been trialing for six years is a new cast iron plant hybrid from Japan, Aspidistra ‘Hanado Raku’ PPAF. This is one of those plants that elicits all kind
A New Cast of Characters Read More »
