woodland gardens

I just snapped this photo of one of my all-time spring garden favorites…the hardy orchid, Calanthe sieboldii.  These easy-to-grow woodland orchids prefer average to slightly moist soil.  We’re just a the tip of peak orchid season in the woodland gardens here at Juniper Level.

It’s always exciting when you find a variegated plant in the wild, so here is one of our discoveries…a variegated sport on Cynoglossum virginicum…our native woodland Hound’s tonuge.

Another great spring perennial is this variegated form of the native woodland Jacob’s Ladder, Polemonium ‘Touch of Class’.  Average to moist woodland soils are perfect for this easy-to-grow shade perennial.

As an experiment, we planted some of the native, woodland-growing Cardamine douglassii ‘Southern Lady’ in full sun last year to see if it would survive.  We figured since it goes summer dormant, it should work fine.  Well, here is a photo from the gardens yesterday…a smashing success.  It is interesting and unexpected that it started

While cutting back winter damaged cast iron plants in the garden, we discovered a nice seed crop on Aspidistra elatior ‘Asahi’.  We expect the white leaf pattern to come true from seed, but we’ll see.  Have you ever sown seed from your aspidistra?

Here is the wonderful woodland wild ginger, Asarum forbesii ‘Mercury’ in full flower here at Juniper Level Botanic Garden.  We’ve grown this since the early 1990’s and this is the first year we’ve had enough to divide and share.

Although it’s three weeks later than normal, one of our favorite winter-flowering native perennials is at peak now…Cardamine douglasii ‘Southern Lady’.  Enjoy it now since it goes dormant by mid-spring…great in the light shade garden with hellebores!  http://www.plantdelights.com/Cardamine-for-sale/buy-Toothwort/Woodland-Garden/

Another of my favorite plants of winter are the toothworts.  Here is Dentaria diphylla aka: Cardamine diphylla in the garden yesterday.  The foliage emerges in winter, making a lovely groundcover.  We’ll see the short stalks of small, but cute flowers in a few more weeks, before most species go summer dormant.  Dentaria diphylla has a

Here’s a photo of a clump of Cyclamen coum in the garden today.  These have been in full flower for over a month now, despite the snow and ice.  I can’t imagine a woodland garden without these gems…the key is to keep the soil fairly dry when they are summer dormant.  http://www.plantdelights.com/Cyclamen-for-sale/buy-Cyclamen/Perennial/