zone 7b

Tom Krenitsky, Nancy Goodwin, Tony Avent

A Montrosian Morning

We had a delightful morning this week, welcoming the staff of Montrose Gardens to JLBG. Plantswoman Nancy Goodwin, Magnolia breeder and plantsman, Tom Krenitsky, and Nancy’s staff all joined us, as we spent the morning walking through the garden collections. Although the Montrose mailorder nursery (1984 -1993) has been closed for a while, the amazing

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Summer garden

Summer Member Newsletter now on-line

For those who have joined us as a Founding member of JLBG, our quarterly members only newsletter is now available for your reading pleasure. Below is a teaser from our Founder’s message to members. Summer 2024 has been an interesting one from a weather perspective. As of August 5, we had recorded 48 days above

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Adiantum poiretii 'Argentine Lace'

Argentine Lace

Juniper Level Botanic Garden has an extensive hardy fern collection, and looking quite amazing for mid-January is Adiantum poiretii ‘Argentine Lace’. This maidenhair fern was grown from our 2002 Argentine spore collection of a little-known and rarely-grown species, native to South America, South Africa, and the Arabian peninsula. It has thrived for us at JLBG

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Aucuba japonica 'Petite Jade'

Petite Jade

Standing out in the garden this month is Aucuba ‘Petite Jade’, a lovely selection of the Asian native evergreen shrub, Aucuba japonica. This release comes from the U.S. National Arboretum, from cuttings originally collected in 1984 at South Korea’s Chollipo Arboretum. This selection is not only slow-growing and dense, but has excellent resistance to foliar

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Neolepisorus fortunei 'Green Ribbons'

Decorate the Woodland with Green Ribbons

Looking lovely in the mid-January winter garden is the fern, Neolepisorus fortunei ‘Green Ribbons’. This fascinating evergreen fern looks nothing like what most gardeners are familiar with, when they think ferns. Neolepisorus is one of several genera of ferns, known as ribbon ferns. These ferns grow epiphytically (on trees) and lithophytically (on rocks), mostly in

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Iris foetidissima in fruit

Fruity Pebbles

I was lucky enough to catch the winter fruit show on our clump of Iris foetidissima last weekend. This little-known, evergreen, woodland iris from southern Europe, suffers because of its specific epithet “foetidissima”, which means stinking. That’s probably a bit much coming from someone with hundreds of amorphophallus clones. The name reportedly was given because

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Asarum hypogynum in flower

Is Ginger Cold?

Starting off the new year is our flowering clump of the Taiwanese endemic wild ginger, Asarum hypogynum. The huge, glossy, evergreen patterned foliage is enough reason to grow this gem, but through most of the winter, the incredible floral display silently sits virtually unnoticed by most human visitors. JLBG currently houses one of the largest

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Helleborus x ballardiae 'Mahogany Snow'

The Christmas Rose Bowl

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.

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Aspidistra 'Hanado Raku'

A New Cast of Characters

We’re preparing for the release of a new cast of characters for 2024, through our current funding arm, Plant Delights Nursery. One of the “cast” that we’ve been trialing for six years is a new cast iron plant hybrid from Japan, Aspidistra ‘Hanado Raku’ PPAF. This is one of those plants that elicits all kind

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