Here are the first of the ever expanding group of Helleborus x glandorfensis, opening this week. The Glandorf roses are made from crosses of Helleborus niger and Helleborus x ericsmthii. Unlike Helleborus x hybridus, these all have outfacing flowers, and are completely sterile. These are just a few of the hundreds of hellebores that will
The Glandorf Roses Read More »
Starting to flower in late January is the little-known, Iris tuberosa. This Mediterranean species hails from Southern France all the way to Turkey. It’s so unusual, that for decades it was put in an entirely different genus, Hermodactylus. It’s a rather easy plant to grow, thriving in dry conditions from full to light shade. Hardiness
How are your gerbil-pollinated plants doing this winter? Ours is doing just fine. The flowers of this hedgehog lily, Massonia depressa, were unfazed by several nights down in the high teens here at Juniper Level Botanic Garden and has survived 5 previous winters as well. It is a bulbous plant native to South Africa where
The latest new group of lenten roses are the Helleborus x lemperii hybrids. These are crosses, long thought to be impossible, between Helleborus niger and Helleborus x hybridus. The first variety, H. ‘Walberton’s Rosemary’ was introduced in 2012 as Helleborus x lemonnierae, but the name was too confusing with the cultivar, Helleborus ‘Madame Lemonnier’, so
Narcissus romieuxii ssp. romieuxii (Romieux Hoop Petticoat Daffodil) The low temperature on the morning of January 17, 2024, was 19 degrees. The open flowers of this hoop petticoat daffodil were unfazed as you can see in this photo taken at 10:00 am when the temperature had risen to 23 degrees. The Alpine Garden Society’s website
Cold Blooded and Narcissistic Read More »
Looking out our home window this week, I shrieked that the Persian ironwood, Parrotia persica was in flower, while Anita looked on as though I’d lost my mind- which isn’t a rare occurence. I grant you, most folks probably don’t get as excited as I do, over flowers that normal folks can barely see, but
Persian Ironwood Ablaze with Color Read More »
Coming in second place to the Helleborus niger we posted earlier is Helleborus x ballardiae ‘Mahogany Snow’. This is a cross of the Christmas rose, Helleborus niger and Helleborus lividus. The flowers emerge white, then age to a lovely salmon pink. We find this hellebore hybrid much easier to grow than either parent.
The Christmas Rose Bowl Read More »
Late December marks our first flowering of Iris planifolia. This odd native to Southern Europe and Northern Africa has a similar distribution to the better-known Iris unguicularis, but this Iris belongs to the group, known as Juno or bulbous iris. These deciduous iris are extremely sensitive to summer moisture, which is why this resides in
First Flowers of Flat Iris Read More »
It’s time for the start of Christmas rose/snow rose season to begin. We were delighted to find our clump of the Balkan native, Helleborus niger ‘Jesko’ in full flower. These are always exceptional honeybee favorites, as well as being great evergreen perennials for the winter season. We find that light shade to a couple of
It’s time for snow….roses Read More »
Flowering in early December, this is our first time to see blooms on a cast iron plant collected for us in 2018, by the late Alan Galloway in northern Vietnam. It didn’t take but a glance to realize that it represents another new, undescribed cast iron plant species. Our taxonomist, Zac Hill, has already been
A Cast of Hundreds Read More »
