Doug snapped this photo of a mixed-up clump of a Gentiana angustifolia hybrid, flowering in the crevice garden in mid-January. We asked why was it blooming in mid-January? The lack of an intelligible answer was similar to what you’d get trying to interview former Patriot’s coach Bill Bellicheck. This alpine/sub-alpine native of the Alps isn’t
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Colchicum autumnale ‘The Giant’ is in full flower in our alpine rock garden this week. This widespread Central European species bursts out of the ground for us in mid-late October with a stunning show. The cultivar, ‘The Giant’ has abnormally Y-U-G-E flowers. Hardiness Zone 5a-8b.
Land of the Giants Read More »
Raise your hand if you’ve grown the Southeast native perennial, piriqueta. Piriqueta caroliniana is a little-known Southeast US native that hails from NC, south to Florida. Botanically, it’s a member of the Turneraceae family, after being unceremoniously booted from its previous home in the passiflora family, Passifloraceae. We had never heard of the genus before
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We were thrilled to have a great flower show this year on the most winter hardy honey myrtle we grow, Melaleuca ‘Wetland’s Challenged Mutant’. This introduction from Desert Northwest, is either a selection of Melaleuca paludicola, or a hybrid with that species. Most of the other “hardy” melaleucas (formerly, Callistemon) died to the ground this
A Healthy Melaleuca Read More »
It’s hard to imagine a plant more obscure that the Southeast coastal native Houstonia procumbens. You may recognize the name houstonia as belonging to one of the many more common bluets. Instead, this is a creeping white-et. We’ve had this in our alpine rock garden for a couple of decades, but barely notice it until
In celebration of the obscure Read More »
