If you’re a member of the clipped hedge crowd, you can stop reading this blog now. Because we enjoy a more naturalistic look, we never shear any woody plants at JLBG. We find the diversity of shapes and forms of plants to be fascinating, and worthy of embracing, instead of making them conform to a
Take a Walk on the Wild Side Read More »
It’s the time of year, we all hopefully stop and take time to thank those who are so important in our lives. I (Tony) am incredibly blessed to be embarking on our 40th year in business in 2026. No sane person thought our model of building a private, ex-situ conservation botanical garden, and mail order
We often mention our horticultural mentor, the late Dr. J.C. Raulston, but sadly, most young, and even middle age gardeners, are not familiar with his life story, despite his influence still strongly being felt throughout the horticultural world. To commemorate the 30th anniversary of his death in 2026, UNC Press is reprinting Bobby Ward’s original
Chlorophyll in his Veins Read More »
Kit Kat and I were having a heart to heart conversation in my office last week. As hard as we’ve tried to encourage her to strike out on her own innovative life path, she’s opted to take the simpler, less stressful route of just being a copy cat.
I thought I’d share the view from our home kitchen table, where Anita and I enjoy dinner. The house was designed so that the garden view was integrated into the home. Our JLBG staff do an amazing job of keeping the garden maintained. As is the case throughout our entire property, plants are installed on
Hello friends of JLBG! Alycia Thornton here—Director of Philanthropy, occasional plant punner, and your guest narrator for a very special blog takeover. I’m commandeering the JLBG blog today with some exciting news that’s as rare as an Amorphophallus titanum blooming on a Tuesday. Tony Avent—yes, our Tony Avent—has been awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal by
JLBG Blog Takeover: 🌿 Holy Hosta! Tony Avent Wins Big—Come Celebrate With Us! Read More »
Here are a few photos from the front garden, around Anita and I’s home this week. There’s nothing quite like waking up and watching the garden wake up as well. Below is a photo of the same spot, ten years earlier, when it was a horse farm. The Cryptomeria japonica ‘Yoshino’ is the only plant
There’s No Place like Home, There’s No Place like Home Read More »
I’m just back from speaking to a couple of North American Rock Garden Society Chapters in Massachusetts, an area I hadn’t visited in over two decades. My journey began at the Berkshire Botanic Gardens in Stockbridge, a venue I last spoke at in 1999. Over 50 folks showed up on a cold, drizzly day, as
Hanging with a Mass of Rockers Read More »
In late January, I was handed a small stack of mail, and on top was an envelope from the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), which I assumed to be a journal renewal notice. Upon opening the letter below, I sat stunned, unable to even fall from my chair, which would have been the appropriate response. After
We were recently checking some surprising winter damage on one of our Schefflera delavayi specimens in the garden, and when we sliced open a stem, we found a lovely example of a chambered pith arrangement. Pith is a lightweight polystyrene like material, composed of parenchyma cells, and found in the center of stems of dicot
