Looking great in the woodland garden now is the amazing Asian (China, Korea, Manchuria) native Solomon’s Seal, Disporum flavens. This species is probably the showiest of the genus, putting on a tremendous show in spring garden. While there are both running and clumping species in the genus, Disporum, this gem remains in a nice clump.
Is anyone other than us growing, the Japanese woodland perennial, Ainsliaea cordifolia? This odd member of the aster family has strikingly patterned foliage, but for us, has been painfully slow to grow. The plant below is all we have after 18 years of cultivation of a plant we purchased originally from Barry Yinger’s Asiatica Nursery.
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The genus Asarum are primarily late winter flowering woodland perennials in the pipevine (Aristolochiaceae) family, that have long been a focus of our collection efforts. Asarum includes the former genus, Hexastylis, that Southeast US botanists still struggle emotionally to give up. We trim the previous years foliage away as the flowers emerge, so we can
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Carpeting the woodland garden now is the North American native spring ephemeral, Sanguinaria canadensis. This widespread wildflower is native to virtually the entire Eastern US. The common name, bloodroot, comes from the red pigment, Sanguinarine, which can be found in all plant parts, especially the underground rhizomes. The red pigment has long been used for
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Flowering season for the southeastern US native trilliums is just beginning, with many running up to a month behind normal. The first to open each year is the north Florida population of Trillium maculatum, represented here by Trillium maculatum ‘Kanapaha Giant’. We will have trilliums flowering from now through April. The key to success is
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Looking wonderful in the garden in mid-February is Aspidistra retusa ‘Nanjing Green’. This little-known cast iron plant species was shared with us in 2000, by the late plantsman, Greg Speichert. The specific epithet “retusa” is a Latin word meaning blunt (adj.), and not blunt (noun), despite it also being pretty smoking hot. We like the
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Anyone who has visited JLBG knows that we are passionate about the genus Aucuba, which is one of the finest woody evergreens for shade. The forms, sizes, and leaf patterns are incredibly diverse. Here are a couple of our brightest spotted clones, Aucuba japonica ‘Lemon Flare’ and ‘Merced’. If you live in Zone 7, and
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The cast iron plant, Aspidistra elatior ‘Morning Frost’ is looking particularly dapper in the winter garden. We think the variegated cultivars of cast iron plants provide a lovely touch of brightness in the winter woodland. Typically, cast iron plant foliage lasts for 2-3 years, and by year three, it begins to look ragged. Every spring,
In our search for the worlds’ most esoteric perennials, we’ve managed to grow enough of the hardy monotypic aroid, Ambrosinia bassii, to share in the new 2025 catalog, that launches at year end. This miniature oddity from Europe’s Mediterranean region, prefers to hang out in woodlands, growing in humus over the top of limestone rocks.
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While many woodland ferns go dormant in fall, there are actually quite a few that remain evergreen through the winter months. One of our favorites is the compact Asian (China, Japan, Korea) native, Dryopteris uniformis ‘Cristata’, with each pinnae ending in a ruffled petticoat. Below is our 20″ tall x 2′ wide clump in early
Winter Petticoats Read More »
