In flower this week is the amazing evergreen Magnolia ‘Inspiration’. This extremely floriferous hybrid is a cross of Magnolia doltsopa x laevifolia, often sold incorrectly as a selection of the latter. Very few nurserymen still grow it because it grew too fast in containers…what an odd problem. Our ten year-old specimen is now 15′ tall
One of our favorite small trees for summer interest in the garden is the purple-leaf peach, Prunus persica ‘Bonfire’. Although the fruit is edible, it wasn’t selected for fruit quality, so don’t expect grocery store quality. We’re far more interested in the amazing foliage, which remains looking great during the summer. The other highlight is
The purple-leaf eldeberry, Sambucus ‘Chocolate Marzipan’ is looking quite stunning in the garden. This is the first purple-foliage selection to thrive in our hot, humid climate. Envious of the English garden magazine photos, we have searched for over three decades to find one that would perform for us–Eureka!
Chocolate Marzipan Read More »
The lovely Aesculus pavia, native from Illinois south to Texas, and east to Florida, has been absolutely glorious over the last few weeks. This easy-to-grow small tree typically tops out between 15-20′ tall.
Pavia is a Fav-ia Read More »
Just over a month remains before the 2023 Southeastern Plant Symposium kicks off in Raleigh, NC. This joint symposium between the JC Raulston Arboretum and Juniper Level Botanic Garden will be held on June 16, 17 at Raleigh’s North Raleigh Hilton Hotel. We’ve got thirteen of the world’s top speakers, as our 2023 symposium focuses
Plants, Plants, and more Plants – Southeastern Plant Symposium Read More »
Our garden specimen of Acer palmatum ‘Geisha Gone Wild’ is looking quite fabulous. Not only is it great from a distance, but a closeup of the foliage is simply amazing. Our 10 year-old plant has reached 10′ in height.
Last weekend, we were thrilled to host a bus tour from the International Maple Society, that was meeting in North Carolina. As you can imagine, it was fascinating to walk the gardens with such an amazing and diverse group from around the world. Here are a few of our visitors: Tim (l) and Matt (r)
Tree-ted to the Maple Clan Read More »
If you’re like us, you never have enough purple-foliage plants in your landscape, so we’re always on the lookout for something new. One of our finds a few years back is this purple-leaf plum from our friend Dr. Dave Creech in Texas. Prunus ‘Purple Pride’, which Dave and his staff at Stephen F. Austin State
Betula nigra ‘Summer Cascade’ is a selection of our native river birch from our friends at Shiloh Nursery in NC, that I can’t imagine gardening without. This is our 19 year old specimen looking absolutely fabulous this week. The plant patent expired last week, so now this amazing plant can be propagated by anyone. Hardiness
A Cascade of Summer Branches Read More »
Our mountain camellia (aka: Stewartia ovata) is in full flower this week at JLBG. Despite its reputation as being difficult to grow, our plant has reached 12′ tall after a decade in the ground. This native deciduous small tree can be found from Virginia south to Alabama, centered on the spine of the Appalachian mountains.
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