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 »
We have long loved the North American native, dawn redwoods. Yes, you read it correctly…North American natives. As I always try to explain to the scientifically challenged, native is not a place in location, but instead only a place in time. Metasequoia went extinct in North America, a mere 7.5 million years ago, primarily because
Shining the Night Light on a Dawn Redwood Read More »
We’re all familiar with maple trees, but one of our favorite smaller maples in the garden is the little-known, single-lobed, evergreen Acer cordatum. This fascinating group of maples have foliage that looks nothing like what most people know as a maple. This Chinese species was formerly considered a form of Acer laevigatum, before being elevated
A nice surprise has been our unexpected success with growing the Bhutan cypress, Cupressus torulosa. This conifer, which can reach 100′ in the wild is generally considered not reliably winter hardy here in Zone 7b/8a. Despite this, our seven year old plant is still thriving, with no winter issues so far, even at a low
Bhutanning in the Sun Read More »
We were recently bushhogging an overflow nursery parking area, which is a fallow field, that includes quite a few tree seedlings, primarily Liquidambar styraciflua. During the six-hour mowing exercise, I discovered three different variegated clones of our native sweet gum, each growing about 100 feet apart. Recent research has documented that mowing off woody plants
Our New Gums Make us Smile Read More »
We’ve grown Pink Mist calla lily for decades, and have rarely seen a flower, so a couple of years ago, we transplanted one to a much more moist site, where the species, Zantedeschia aethiopica grows in the wilds of South Africa. While it persisted for years in our garden, in average moisture garden soil, it’s
Can’t Miss Pink Mist Read More »
While most folks from Zone 7 and north are quite familiar the English, Japanese, and European boxwoods of the genus, Buxus, gardeners in hotter climates had to turn to a substitue plant with similar traits for their climate. That plant is Myrsine africana, a woody member of the Primula family, which gained the common name,
Ten months ago, we wrote about our purchase of a special, one of a kind, variegated form of Agave utahensis, that we named Agave ‘Liberty’. Because of its size, we knew it would be flowering soon, and as such, permanently lost. Before it initiated flower buds, we beheaded it, which in theory, should cause it
An update on our Liberty Read More »
One of the oddest, and consequenty, coolest ferns we grow in the garden is Lepisorus palmatopedatus, which translates in to palm-foot, scaly-sori fern. We’ve grown this Chinese (Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou) oddity for over three years, and it justs gets better each year, spreading slowly, via an underground rhizome. For us, it’s been mostly evergreen
Our oldest clumps of Heuchera ‘Smoke and Mirrors’ are still looking great after nine years in the garden. Most modern coral bells have a garden life expectancy about as long as an unwatered and unplanted cell pack of annuals. We’re thrilled to have such amazing clones, such as this Walters Gardens introduction, to share.
