Through the years, we have grown 21 of the 35 North American native species of bear grass species. Nolinas currently reside in the Asparagaceae family, with the likes of Agave, Dasylrion, Yucca, and of course, Asparagus. One Nolilna species we didn’t expect to be winter hardy is the Sonoran bear grass, Nolina matapensis. This very
Cozying up to a Sonoran Bear Grass Read More »
I snapped this photo of Agave geminiflora ‘Leaping Lizards’ last week, as we were bringing our tender, potted agaves in for the winter. When I gaze at this, I get the feeling that I’m either looking down on one of those three dimensional pinwheels, or an M.C. Escher drawing. The green form of this unusual
2025 sets a record as we welcomed 22 different century plants into flower. We’ve set up our ladders for the pollination ritual, where we hike to the top with pollen we forcefully extracted from potential suitors and do our best to impregnate the moms. Then, we wait and hope for viable seed. This is Agave
The End of the Century is Approaching Read More »
Spiking over the last few weeks before finally opening is the crazy agave relative, Beschorneria ‘Ding Dong’. All of us who have crazy relatives, can relate to family members that are somewhat off of the bell curve. Beschorneria has thick, evergreen, spineless leaves, and flower stalks that look like Christmas lights on LSD. Beschorneria ‘Ding
Ding Dong…Who’s There? Beschor-who? Read More »
We’re preparing for another crazy year of century plant breeding, with fourteen agaves in spike so far. After flowering 34 clones over the last two years, we expected less this year, but now, that doesn’t appear to be the case. From the initial spike appearance to the first flowers opening is generally 6-7 weeks, so
Below is our clump of Yucca ‘Southern Twist’ in the garden this month. This is a plant we discovered in 2011, near Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and have also found as far south as the Florida panhandle. The only problem is that this plant doesn’t technically exist, according to the botanical literature. It’s possible that it has
The Mystery Soapwort Read More »
I was just admiring one of our clumps of the amazing Yucca linearifolia in the garden…truly one of the stars of the genus. This North American native, named as recently as 1995, can be found naturally around the Nuevo Leon region in Northern Mexico. The plant below is now 18 years old and 5′ tall.
We’ve written several times about our collection of the Southwest North American native sotols, which we love for their year round interest. While their appearance is consistent through the season, they really shine in the winter, when other plants that take attention from them become dormant. Here is our clump of the northern Mexican native,
Mikkie Wanna Sotol Read More »
Just over a month remains before the 2023 Southeastern Plant Symposium kicks off in Raleigh, NC. This joint symposium between the JC Raulston Arboretum and Juniper Level Botanic Garden will be held on June 16, 17 at Raleigh’s North Raleigh Hilton Hotel. We’ve got thirteen of the world’s top speakers, as our 2023 symposium focuses
Plants, Plants, and more Plants – Southeastern Plant Symposium Read More »
We’ve long been enamored with the Southwest native genus of slow-growing woody lilies belonging to the genus, Dasylirion. Since the early 1990s, we’ve been growing these, trialing as many species as we could obtain to see how well they adapted to our climate here in the colder, wetter Southeast. So, far, we have grown 16
So Long Sotols…In the Spirit of Plant Extinction Read More »
