At the lowest levels of the horticultural world are those plants that naturally carpet the forest floor. One of our favorites belongs to the genus Aspidistra, commonly known as cast iron plants. During the spring and summer, they are barely noticed in the garden, but as everything else around them goes dormant in fall, their
Our patch of Ajuga ‘Tropical Toucan’ is certainly lighting up the fall garden. There aren’t many groundcovers that can give a garden this kind of color and not try to take over the garden. Hardiness Zone 4a-8b.
A Tropical Toucan Read More »
We’ve played around with growing cast iron plants from seed, curious if the white-tipped pattern of Aspidistra elatior ‘Asahi’ was heritable. Turns out that it is. Aspidistra ‘Blizzard’ is our seedling with well over half of the leaf being white. That makes it both beautiful, but insanely slow growing. The plant below has been in
Looking great in the summer garden is the stunning cast iron plant, Aspidistra elatior ‘Asahi’. This amazing woodland evergreen is a plant we can’t imagine gardening without. The leaf patterning is brightest as the new leaves emerge in June/July. Grown as a house plant, it needs to get some size before you will see the
Sunlight in the Woodland Read More »
The lovely Lysimachia ‘Persian Chocolate’ is looking scrumptious in the garden this week. This amazing 2004 Darrell Probst introduction is 20 years old this year. Here is one of our original patches, still thriving. We have found slightly moist soils and part sun produce the best specimens. It also makes a great hanging basket/container specimen.
Good Enough to Eat – Persian Chocolate Read More »
Here’s a recent garden vignette with Ajuga ‘Cordial Canary’, living happily with Alstroemeria ‘Princess Fabiana’.
Most plants are a bit like bell-bottom jeans–one minute they’re the hottest fashion, and the next minute, you can’t give them away. In 2000, when Persicaria microcephala ‘Red Dragon’ hit the market, it was the hottest perennial in the country. You couldn’t visit a garden center or nursery that didn’t carry it. Fast forward 23
Fashion Statement Read More »
We have long admired the clumping Japanese hakone grass, Hakonechloa macra, but struggled to make them happy in our heat and humidity. We could get them to barely survive, but never look as lovely as they do in cooler climates. Unfortunately, there are very few plants with the texture, form, and shade tolerance of hakone
Looking really lovely in the garden now is Juniperus x pfitzeriana ‘Daub’s Frosted’. This selection of the hybrid between Juniperus sabina and Juniperus chinensis was introduced by Oregon’s Mitsch Nursery in 1987. Our 18″ tall patch has spread to 10′ wide in less than 5 years. All of those trusted on-line sources say it matures
A Little Daub will do you Read More »
One of the newest discovered species of our native asarum (formerly Hexastylis) is Asarum finzelii, from northeastern Alabama. In foliage, the plant resembles both Asarum arifolium and Asarum speciosum. The flowers, however, are quite different from both, as you can see below. It is our hope to get this propagated before too long, so we
