Looking quite lovely atop our crevice garden is Osmanthus heterophyllus ‘Hariyama’. This incredibly heavily-spined seedling of Osmanthus ‘Sasaba’ was brought to the US by plantsman Ted Stephens, who acquired it from Ishiguro Nursery in Japan. Our 15 year old plant has topped 10′ in height. Earlier in the fall, it was adorned with small, fragrant white flowers. Despite the small congested foliage, this is not a small plant, but where an oriental specimen plant is needed, this is very special.
We love Sundays in late fall and early winter when we can observe brilliant performances from both Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, as well as his plantsake, Mahonia x media ‘Winter Sun’. Here’s a 6 year-old clump in full bloom now in the JLBG gardens. This is a superb way for honeybees to get needed nectar in an otherwise difficult time of year. Hardiness is Zone 6a-9b.
I’ve heard asparagus called lot of things, especially by young kids, but here’s one that really lives up to the name, Asparagus horridus. The large spines on this subshrub do a great job protecting the fruit from predators. We’ve long sought to collect as many asparagus species as can be grown in our climate and this is a collection from Majorca, Spain, thanks to the late plant explorer, Alan Galloway. Two years in the ground and so far, so good.
