One century plant that had long frustrated us was the exquisite Agave parryi ssp. truncata. This southern form of the species is hugely popular in California and Arizona, where temperatures are milder, but it never would overwinter for us here in Zone 7b/8a. In 2010 we planted a form from Mountain States Nursery in Arizona,
A Truncated Search Read More »
Flowering for the last several week is the South American (Argentina, Uruguay) iris family member, Cypella (Phallocallis) herbertii. The narrow foliage is almost invisible, so this gem can be tucked into any sunny spot for a splash of summer color. We have grown this for over three decades, and it never fails to perform. Hardiness
Our patch of the Chinese, Thelypteris bombadilii is looking quite fabulous, as we wrap up summer at JLBG. We offered this amazing, deciduous groundcover fern in 2021, only three years after the species was published, and as occasionally happens, sales were miserable, despite the purported green mulch movement. Consequently, most of our left over stock
We have really enjoyed the native arborvitae, Thuja occidentalis ‘Congabe’, marketed under the name Fire Chief. This juvenile foliage selection from the late Maryland nurseryman, Joe Cesarini, is a stunning plant year round. It was originally discovered as a compact branch mutation on Thuja ‘Rheingold’, which we stopped growing years ago, due to its tendancy
Falling in Love with the Fire Chief…shhh Read More »
A fascinating botanical hook-up took place in Spartanburg, SC. when a lonely Distyllum myricoides took a liking to a nearby Parrotia persica. The babies were discovered near the Distyllum, by garden director and plant breeder, Dr. Kevin Parris, who quickly realized what had taken place, just outside of the horticulture classroom building. After growing out
In Di Still of the Da Night Read More »
When Bartlett Arboretum plantsman, Adam Black, offered me a pot of Brucea javanica, a few years ago, I quickly turned him down. The last thing we needed was a tender tree from the Indonesia island of Java. Java is located at 6-9 degree latitude, so the idea that anything from Java would have a chance
I was just photographing our 21 year old specimen of Abelia x grandiflora ‘Mardi Gras’, and as we like to do, took measurements, which showed our plant is now 8′ tall x 10′ wide. I should also note that this is growing in an unirrigated part of the garden, without benefit of fertilizer. Just for
A Really Big Mardi Gras Read More »
A splendid new selection, of the little-known, native (Virginia to Texas) Hydrangea barbara, is the gold-foliaged Hydrangea barbara ‘Chattahoochie Sunrise’. If you don’t recognize the name, it was formerly known as Decumaria barbara, before members of the genus hydrangea had an unexpected family reunion. We have grown this amazing discovery from Georgia plantsman, Cliff Brock,
This Woodvamp is Simply Golden Read More »
Big hair comes and goes in fashion, but Panicum virgatum ‘Ledbetter Blues’ takes big hair to a whole new level. This exceptional form is a Wade Roitsch (Yucca Do) selection from Lee County, Texas. This cultivar defies the current trend toward narrow selections, by being yuuuge. Although the size of our 3.5 year old clump
Really big, Texas-sized Hair Read More »
We recently had a taxonomic eureka moment, when our wild collected bulb of Lycoris shaanxiensis came into flower. Although we have grown hundreds of bulbs, we received from the former Kaichen Nursery (Chen Yi) of China as Lycoris shaanxiense, not a single one of those ever turned out to be correctly identified. 99.99 % of
Where does Peppermint Come From? Read More »
