We’ve long lusted to grow the US West Coast native, Chamaecyparis lawsoniana, but our summer rains cause root disease that take them out at a far too young age. Several years ago, I was thrilled to find a West Coast wholesaler who was grafting these on a disease resistant Lawson cypress root stock. Adhering to
Longing for Lawsons Read More »
We were late wading into the epimedium craze, and without the assistance of epimedium guru, Darrell Probst, still might not have done so. Up until the mid 2000s, we had avoided epimediums, due to both their confusing taxonomy as well as the lack of many showy garden forms. Early introductions such as Epimedium x rubrum,
A Fluttering of Fairy Wings Read More »
Our extensive collection of loropetalums are looking great this spring. Loropetalum ‘GrifCRL‘, marketed as Little Rose Dawn, is especially stunning this week. The main problem with loropetalums is that when people plant them, either they don’t pay attention to the mature sizes, or they believe the lies that persist on far too many nursery plant
Lots of petals on the Loropetalums Read More »
Looking lovely in the garden this week is Daphne sericea (aka, D. collina). Unlike the more commonly grown Chinese native, Daphne odora, this gem hails from the Mediterranean region of Italy, Crete, and a disjunct population in southern Asia Minor. While Daphne odora prefers woodland conditions with only a small amount of sun, this gem
A Different Daphne Read More »
Flowering this week at JLBG is the lovely Taiwanese lady slipper, Cypripedium formosanum. This is the earliest flowering of all the lady slipper orchids that we’ve grown, with most others not making an appearance for another month. Our plants are happy in rich, compost amended native soil with a pH near neutral. A couple of
Taiwan Lady’s Slipper Read More »
Norfolk Island Pines (Araucaria heterophylla) are popular house plants, but we always longed for being able to grow araucarias outdoors in central NC. Since this native of the region around Australia/New Zealand has poor winter hardiness, our obsession focused in on the more winter hardy, South American species, in particular, Araucaria araucana, known as Monkey
The Monkey’s Puzzle Read More »
One of the wild gingers that consistently sails through our winters without a blemish is the shockingly hardy, Asarum crassum. Asarum crassum is endemic to two small uninhabited islands off the south coast of Japan, Ucchima and Ujimukaeshima. Where they grow in the wild, the temperature never freezes, so, why are they so winter hardy? The
Two of the earliest flowering arum species are currently in flower. Arum orientale (Central Europe to the Western Caucuses), and Arum palaestinum (Syria, Lebanon, Jordan), are both in flower this week. These are both native to hot, dry summer climates, but adapt well to cultivation in both colder and wetter climates.
Arum have arrived Read More »
NC State University is hosting their annual Day of Giving on Wednesday, March 20, 2024. Please consider donating in support of Juniper Level Botanic Garden to preserve this world-class resource for future generations. You can help preserve and shape the future of horticulture! Please consider making your tax-deductible donation today. Here is a bit of the garden’s history
NCSU Day of Giving March 20 Read More »
The first of the cobra lilies are up and flowering already. Arisaema ringens is already in full flower at JLBG, sporting its diabolical-looking inflorescences, tucked among the tropical looking foliage. This is one of the easiest arisaema species to grow over a wide range of climates. Hardiness is Zone 5a-9b.
Cobras are Active Read More »
