We’ve recently wrapped up our Winter Open Nursery and Garden and would love thank everyone who took time out of their busy lives to attend. Despite the snow just a couple of days before we opened, we were blessed with absolutely beautiful winter weather and plenty of sun. Visitors who attended were able to see
The Plants of the JLBG Winter Open Nursery and Garden Read More »
Flowering this week in the garden is one of our more unusual hardy native aroids, Symplocarpus foetidus, aka: skunk cabbage. Although the floral aroma is barely detectable by humans, it does work well enough to draw in flies for pollination. Since skunk cabbage evolved to flower in the winter, often under snow, it learned to
That Cabbage Smells like Skunk Read More »
Flowering today in our specialty cold frame, where plants live before they are planted in the garden, is Camellia ‘Miss Sally’. This insanely huge flowered Camellia reticulata hybrid has blooms that measure a ridiculous 7″ across. This 2004 introduction was selected by Norfolk, Virginia’s Doug Simon, and shared with us by camellia guru, Mike Chelednik.
The well-endowed Miss Sally Read More »
If you attended the first weekend of our Winter Open Nursery and Garden, you got a chance to see many garden plants still covered with a layer of white, despite the pleasant air temperatures. For our upcoming second weekend, Feb 28, March 1,2, 2025, all of the snow has melted, and the hellebores continue to
Winter Open Nursery and Garden Read More »
Flowering in late February in the rock garden is the tiny bulb, Ornithogalum chionophyllum. This genus of onion relative has both some garden treasures and horrific weeds. This gem is a narrow endemic to the Troodos Mountains of Cyprus between 2,000′ and 6,000′ elevation. If the Troodos Mountain don’t sound familiar, perhaps you’ve heard of
One of the most fascinatingly demure lenten roses is the Bear’s claw, Helleborus foetidus, which is flowering now in the garden. This Western European native is one of the species with an upright stalk, compared to most species which have a horizontal, subterranean stem. The pendent clusters of light green flowers are held atop 18″
Our 25 year old Magnolia platypetala has been spectacular over the last few weeks, until our recent lows in the teens. Not to worry, as the unopened flower buds should be fine. The fuzzy brown buds, which are beautiful in their own right, open to large, fragrant white flowers. Taxonomically, it’s often listed as a
The amazing witch hazel, Hamamaelis x intermedia ‘Orange Peel’ is in full flower at JLBG today, perfuming the cool air. The plant below is 8 years old, and should mature at only 8′ tall.
Nothing signals that winter in trending toward spring in our garden more than the seriously cute, Amana anhuiensis. Most folks have probably never heard of this miniature bulb, since it was only published in 2013. The genus itself, was first published in 1867 as an Orithyia, before becoming a tulip a few years later, and
Not only is Helleborus niger flowering now at JLBG, but many of the hybrid hellebores with it in their parentage are also flowering. While Helleborus niger only comes in white or with a faint pink blush, when it is hybridized in combination with other species, the potential flower color expands, but the out-facing flower trait
