Rigid Rods
We’ve really enjoyed the show of the native rigid golden rod this fall, aka: Solidago virgata ‘Golden Voice’. Our plant is growing in our pitcher plant bog.
The Fragrance of Fall
Perfuming the garden this week are the amazing Osmanthus fragrans. This Chinese native evergreen shrub is unquestionably the most fragrant flowering plant in the garden. When the clusters of small flowers open early October, they emit a sweet fragrance that can easily waft for 200 feet. While we have nine clones in the gardens at
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Fireworks in September
Some new plants are flashes in the proverbial pan, while others become long term industry standards. Here is our patch of Solidago rugosa ‘Fireworks’ in the garden this morning. This 1993 introduction from the NC Botanical Garden and Niche Garden has still not been topped 28 years later…one of the most stunning and best performing
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The Surprises Continue
The parade of Lycoris (surprise lilies) continue into their third consecutive month as we move through September. The key for a succession of flowers is having a large number of cultivars. So far at JLBG, we have flowered 300 different cultivars this summer. Here are a few recent ones. The varieties which form fall foliage
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Old Fashioned, but not out of Fashion
Hemerocallis ‘Autumn Daffodil’ was introduced in 1949, but remains one of the most incredible daylilies we grow here at JLBG. The 3′ tall, branched, sturdy, upright stems are topped with an abundance of amazing highly fragrant yellow flowers starting in July.
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Purple and Gold
If you visit JLBG, it’s hard to miss that we like combinations of purple and gold. Here is a favorite summer combo, planted across from the crevice garden, where we use Rudbeckia speciosa as a foot warmer for Calycanthus ‘Burgundy Spice’…a fun combo using two North American natives.
Big, Bold, and Bodacious
If you’ve got a spot for big, bold, and bodacious in your garden, it’s hard to think of a better choice than Verbesina olsenii. This giant North American (Northern Mexico) native frostweed would be great even if it didn’t flower, which it does in mid-October with giant yellow corymbs that smell like tootsie rolls.
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When it rains, it pours…I mean, flowers
Here’s our reference stock blocks of zephyranthes (rain lilies). Within 3-4 days after a rain, the beds are ablaze with what the late rain lily breeder, Fadjar Marta, called a floral blitz. We concur.
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Surprise…the lycoris have begun
Lycoris (surprise or hurricane lillies) season has begun in earnest. We’ve already had 97 diffrerent clones to flower and the season is young. In a typical year, we usually flower between 300 and 400 different selected clones. Here are a few that have looked good so far. The top three are spring-leaf varieties, and as
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A Sweet Little Hummer
We cannot think of any plant that draws more hummingbirds than the hardy upright sinningias. Most of these are Sinningia selovii hybrids that come in a range of colors from yellow to orange to red. We have them ringing our full sun patio, which results in a non-stop show of hummingbirds.
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