After having the same personalized plate for over 45 years, it was finally time to turn our faded, unreadable tag to the Motor Vehicles office, in exchange for a new one, which recently arrived. In NC, much of the income from personalized plates goes to an array of efforts including highway beautification and plant preservation. […]
Licensed to Garden Read More »
We are thoroughly enchanted by a little-known Southeast native ornamental grass, Schizachyrium divergens, and in particular, a ZZ-Top like, super hairy version, named Schizachyrium divergens ‘The Fuzz’. We say little-known, because it was formerly dumped into the widespread Schizachyrium scoparium, which seems an unconscionable taxonomic stretch. Some taxonomists now consider it a Texas endemic, while
Emmenopterys henryi is a poorly known, but highly-prized, large (150′ tall) tree in the Rubiaceae (coffee) family. It was described by plant explorer, E.H. Wilson, as one of the most beautiful of the Chinese trees, yet, it was a tree, that for years, rarely flowered in cultivation. It’s namesake, Irish botanist, Augustine Henry, first discovered
Emmenopterys – The Need for Heat Read More »
Looking lovely in the late July garden is the rare North American native Allium oxyphyllum. This little-known species hails from the shale barren (eroded, and often baking steep slopes of degraded shale) region of Virginia and West Virginia, where it is extremely rare, with a global G2 rank. The 1′ tall x 1′ wide clump
During our recent Summer Open Nursery and Garden, I was able to spend a good bit of time with former JLBG staffer, Jeremy Schmidt, now of HortCo, to discuss our plans to rework an old rock wall in our Sunken Garden. With our plans now in place, we have already begun to relocate existing plants,
The summer surprise lily season kicks into full gear around July 15, so it’s time to share those who graced us with their presence from July 15-July 31. Because we grow over 1,100 cultivars of lycoris, we have an abundance in flower every day from early July until early October. Flowering time for each stem
Summer Surprise Lilies – Part I Read More »
Looking absolutely dazzling in early August is our plant of Leucophyllum frutescens ‘Silver Spirit’. For decades we tried to grow this Southwestern US (Utah, Arizona, and Texas) native, but failed over and over again with winter survival, until Patrick McMillan shared cuttings of his Uvalde, Texas collection. After five years in the ground, it’s still
Silver Spirit Texas Sage Read More »
We were thrilled to recently welcome two stalwarts of the Southeastern Palm Society to JLBG, on their way to a SPS meeting in nearby High Point, NC. Tom McClendon (l), and Joe LeVert (r), have been two of the folks most responsible for the success of the society over the last few decades. Both gentlemen
Palm Nuts in the Garden Read More »
The flowering season has begun in mid-July for the Angolan native, Crinum fimbriatulum. This distinctive plant produces flower spikes just over 4′ tall, giving it an imposing presence in the sun garden. The dramatic white flowers with red stripes, was named for the slight fringing on the flower petals, although I would certainly have selected
Angolan Fringed Crinum Read More »
One of our favorite toad lilies, is the dazzling Tricyrtis ohsumiensis ‘Nakatsugawa’, which is looking splendid, now, in the summer garden. This specimen is rarely offered, primarily because it produces so few cuttings. Unlike most toad lilies, that need to flower to be noticed be gardeners, such is not the case with Tricyrtis ‘Nakatsugawa’. When
Toad Lily With a Twist Read More »
