It is with a heavy heart that we share news of the passing of our friend Richard Dufresne (pronounced Doofrane), 75, who passed away this month at his home in Candor, North Carolina. Rich was truly a one of a … Continue reading
Salvia leucantha has had quite a run in the garden this fall…we do love this plant. Dry soils in winter are the key to overwintering it in the ground in marginal climates like here in Zone 7b.
We’ve trialed many variegated forms of the lovely fall-flowering Salvia leucantha, and the only one we felt was good enough to share is Salvia leucantha ‘Eder’, which we’re pleased to offer this summer/fall for the first time. Where it isn’t … Continue reading
Salvia ‘Phyllis Fancy’ is simply stunning in the garden now. This giant can reach 6′ tall x 10′ wide in one season…a great way to impress the neighbors. This wonderful salvia thrives despite moist soil and single digit F winter … Continue reading
Two new salvias that stood out in side by side trials with industry standards are these new 2015 introductions. The first is Salvia x sylvestris ‘Violet Riot’. This full sun salvia has an incredible number of flowers and a longer … Continue reading
The garden is ablaze with perennial salvias now, including several with blue or near blue flowers. Above is Salvia ‘Amistad’…a flowering machine that continues at the same pace all summer. Unlike Salvia guaranitca, Salvia ‘Amistad’ does not spread via … Continue reading
We’ve reached the end of a rather warm week here in NC, but recent rains have given us a nice respite, so I’ll be heading out into the garden today for some planting time. There’s lots going on now including … Continue reading
Our clump of Salvia ‘Amistad‘ in the garden is finally starting to flower. This was a real test winter for this new introduction, and only 1 of our 4 garden clumps survived the winter, so we’ve changed our preliminary hardiness … Continue reading
I just snapped this photo of the lovely Salvia ‘Madeline‘…a very cool bicolor-flowered salvia. Salvia ‘Madeline’ is very easy to grow in a sunny, well-drained site.
Looking lovely now at JLBG are two species of Texas blue bonnets; Lupinus subcarnosus (top) and Lupinus texensis ‘Abbott PInk’ (bottom). Both are winter annual species that dot the Texas highways in spring. These are on of a very short … Continue reading
The spring garden at JLBG has a number of phallic moments if you’re lucky enough to catch them. Here are a few of our favorites. Below is a color echo we created, using Pig’s Butt Arum (Helicodiceros muscivorus) and Salvia … Continue reading
A couple of years ago, we were thrilled to acquire seed of Euphorbia ‘Rubicund’ from the Hardy Plant Society seed exchange. That little-known clone is a selection from a cross of Euphorbia myrsinites x E. rigida made by Rhode Island’s … Continue reading
Here’s a garden shot just prior to our expected first freeze of the year. Foreground to back: Muhlenbergia lindheimeri, Salvia darcyi, Juniperus conferta ‘All Gold’, Cuphea micropetala, Salvia ‘Phyllis Fancy’.
History is replete with examples of new plant species that are first encountered by intrepid plant explorers, yet described later by taxonomists. Salvia darcyi was discovered and introduced into cultivation by Carl Schoenfeld and John Fairey of Yucca Do Nursery. … Continue reading
The shrubby North American native salvias including Salvia greggii and Salvia microphylla are spectacular plants in the fall garden. The same goes form the hybrids between the two species, known as Salvia x jamensis. Here is our clump of Salvia … Continue reading
We’ve had Salvia ‘Rockin’ Deep Purple’ on trial since 2018, and it’s now headed for our January Plant Delights catalog. Although we love the Argentinian Salvia guaranitica, it spreads far too fast to be useful in many of our garden … Continue reading
Looking fabulous in the garden now is the perennial Salvia ‘Big Blue’. This amazing sage has been in flower since spring, and has yet to slow down. It’s also a favorite of the native bumblebees.
The splendid, giant-growing Salvia madrensis ‘Redneck Girl’ is a JLBG introduction and has been at peak the last few weeks. This is so superb for climates where you can avoid an early fall frost.
Salvia regla ‘Jame’ (pronounced Haam-hey) is looking so wonderful this time of year. This amazing North American native (US/Mexico) was originally shared back in 2000, by the late Salvia guru, Rich Dufresne. It has adorned our gardens every year since … Continue reading
For many, autumn is the best time of year to garden. The heat of summer has finally broken and the crisp autumn air is a delight to work in. If you enjoy autumn in the garden, then you should plant … Continue reading
For many, fall is the best time of year to garden. The heat of summer has finally broken and the crisp autumn air is a delight to work in. Fall perennials take over for the summer flowers and keep the … Continue reading
Greetings from Plant Delights and Juniper Level Botanic Garden. Botanical Interest So far, it’s been a great spring at PDN and JLBG. Rains have been pretty regular so far…thanks to two early-season tropical storms. No sign of an imminent summer … Continue reading
Greetings PDNers! From all of us at Plant Delights Nursery and Juniper Level Botanic Garden, we give thanks to you for joining our plant-loving family. Shipping Season Ends Soon We’re wrapping up our 2015 shipping season on November 30, so … Continue reading
It’s been amazing to watch the arrival of Monarch butterflies here at Juniper Level over the last few weeks, where they seem particularly attracted to the array of perennial salvias in flower. Here’s one of several I photographed that … Continue reading
Greetings PDNers! It’s hard to believe, but September is here and it’s time for our final Open Nursery and Garden for 2015. We hope you’ll join us to see all the gems that look great this time of year and … Continue reading
Greetings and Happy Holidays from all of us to you! We hope your holiday season is merry and bright, and those of you in climates where winter gardening is possible are enjoying time in the garden. Now that the new … Continue reading
Greetings PDN’ers! PDN Fall Nursery News We hope you’ve received your copy of the Fall 2014 Plant Delights Nursery catalog. Kudos to our graphic designer Shari Sasser at Sasser Studios for the catalog redesign and new look. Among other things, the fall … Continue reading
Dear PDN’ers! Greetings and Happy Spring! The Perfect Storm As we mentioned in an earlier email, we experienced the perfect storm of events which impacted our order processing and shipping operations this spring. The combination of delayed ordering due to … Continue reading
Greetings PDN’ers! It looks like we’ve finally moved past our persistent winter at Plant Delights, as have many of you in much of the country. Yes, we feel for those of you living in more northerly climates who still have … Continue reading
February 2013 Dear PDN’ers, I don’t know about you, but I’ve about enjoyed this winter long enough…and winter megastorm Nemo missed us. While we’ve only had a low temperature of 18 degrees F in Raleigh, very mild by our norms, … Continue reading
Dear PDN’ers Early fall greetings from Plant Delights, where the spring 2013 catalog writing heads into the home stretch. As always, there are lots of exciting new plants for 2013, which is really what makes the whole effort worthwhile for … Continue reading
Greetings from Plant Delights! We hope everyone has made it through another summer garden season in good shape. We’re wrapping up the open houses for 2012 with our final three days, Friday through Sunday this weekend. If you’re in the … Continue reading
It’s been great to connect with so many folks as they discover our Facebook site, although we have a long way to go to catch up with mail order nurseries that have been using it for several years. Facebook allows … Continue reading
Unlike many gardeners in the upper states of the country who are still having winter, we’ve turned the corner and have been enjoying several days of spring-like temperatures. Hopefully, we won’t have too many of these days until the danger … Continue reading
Dear PDN’ers: Here at PDN, the year is winding down as shipping ceases at the end of November…except for horticultural emergencies. We’ve spent the last month selecting plants for the new catalog, writing catalog descriptions, and choosing the catalog images. … Continue reading
Dear PDN’ers: Who turned on the heat? While we’ve had really good rains in June, they have been accompanied by abnormally high temperatures which arrived much too early in the season. Because of the hot weather, we have put all … Continue reading
Dear PDN’ers: Greetings from Plant Delights to gardeners around the world. I’d like to begin by thanking everyone for their patience during the busiest part of the spring shipping season, and for your understanding about our large plant losses due … Continue reading
Dear PDN’ers: This winter season sure started off with a bang as one cold front followed another throughout most of the country. While we only dropped to 16 degrees F twice, we had several consecutive weeks of high temperatures around … Continue reading
September was a busy month at Plant Delights, not only with our Fall Open House, but also with a visit from 655 of America’s top garden writers as the group descended upon the Raleigh-Durham area for their annual convention. It … Continue reading
Greetings from Juniper Level, NC where the weather has simply been wonderful for gardening this spring. Overall, most of the country has enjoyed a good gardening spring, except for the terrible drought still persisting in southeast Texas. Florida had been … Continue reading
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year’s greetings from Plant Delights. We hope you’re having a great holiday season and are already anticipating the upcoming spring season. Much of the country has experienced an early blast of winter, unseen in some … Continue reading
Happy fall greetings from Plant Delights to all of you out there in gardening land! We hope you’re enjoying your fall garden as much as we are, unless of course, you’re in a region that has already seen the arrival … Continue reading
Greetings from PDN and we hope all is well in your garden. It’s been a challenging time since we last wrote, from Hurricane Ike to the stock market dropping like a hot potato. Our thoughts go out to the people … Continue reading
Greetings from soggy NC, where we have had over 13″ of rain during the last couple of weeks and are badly in need of a drying out period…sort of like our friends in much of the Gulf Coast region. Overall, … Continue reading
Greetings from Plant Delights, we hope your spring has been as beautiful as ours…realizing, of course, that some of you in the colder climates are just starting the spring season. We have had wonderful rains and no temperatures in the … Continue reading
When we last talked, we were discussing drought, which is still an issue in many states, particularly in the southeast US. In our part of NC, we have been blessed with two major rains, a 3.5″ storm in mid-September and … Continue reading
It’s been quite a month since we last talked. August at the Raleigh-Durham airport was the hottest month here since records have been kept… some 60+ years. As part of our 3-week heat binge, our 105 degree F temperature also … Continue reading
The 2007 Plant Delights Nursery catalog is in the mail! If you just can’t wait, the Plant Delights Nursery website has already been updated to the new catalog, so click away at www.plantdelights.com. With 160 new offerings as well as … Continue reading
It’s starting out to be a great fall at PDN. It’s actually hard to believe that it’s already fall…especially since we still haven’t seen those major hurricanes that we’ve been promised! Not only has the weather been superb, but fall … Continue reading
Well, our Spring Open House is over and we’d like to thank those who attended. We didn’t have as many visitors as normal, but this was in part thanks to many folks who did their spring shopping at our winter … Continue reading
The 2005 shipping season is drawing to a close at the end of November, so if you’ve procrastinated until now, time is running out. If you need to purchase Christmas or holiday gifts for that special gardener, remember that a … Continue reading
It’s December, which means only a few more weeks remain before the new 2002 Plant Delights Nursery Catalog will hit the mail. All of the plants have been selected, the text has been written, and the photographs have been selected. … Continue reading
It’s hard to believe, but the year is coming to a close…and without a hurricane to hit the US! Fall has been beautiful and consequently lots of folks have been planting in their gardens. Frankly, with all that’s gone on … Continue reading
I hope everyone now has received their fall catalog by now. Response to the larger color photos has been wonderful, which is really good because they were really expensive. The catalog is filled with many choice new items, so don’t … Continue reading
We have finished our mid-summer inventory and our fall catalog, which is back from the printer and in the mail. We hope you enjoy many of the new treasures as well as the return of several old favorites Our top … Continue reading
Hi folks..it’s us again. We have finished a very successful spring open house. It’s always great to see so many folks indulging in their favorite addiction…plants. We have been busy propagating and hope to have most items that were out … Continue reading
Where has the year gone? It’s May already and so many garden chores remain to be done. The gardens here at Juniper Level have been spectacular this spring. The cold spring has worked to compress the season, so that combinations … Continue reading
Well, we thought spring had arrived, but after a week of nights in the mid’s 20’s, those plants that peeked out too early have been reminded to wait a while longer. For us, this is the most agonizing time of … Continue reading
The 2001 catalogs were mailed on Wednesday January 3. If you don’t receive your catalog before too long, let us know and we will try again. Local catalogs will be recieved first (usually 2-4 days). After this, customers along the … Continue reading