We love fall anemones, but don't allow them in our garden. Well, we did once upon a time, and after 20 years of trying to exterminate it, we're almost ready to negotiate the rental of a small nuclear device to handle what we've been unable to accomplish with traditional garden weaponry In the garden, fall anemones are like extroverts on a sugar IV drip...they run around and socialize with everyone nearby, never seeming to slow down. Consequently, it always fascinated us that most nurseries and catalogs fail to mention that these will run rampant through your garden.  Every time we see a new anemone enter the market, we inquire if it runs, and as you can imagine, we've been given incorrect information quite often as we discovered after our on-site trials. We had almost given up our quest for a well-behaved fall anemone, when up popped the "Swan Series". In our trials, these gems absolutely refused to run, while still putting on an amazing show. The most popular of the "Swans" Read more [...]

We're always on the search for new ornamental grasses, and especially those with good blue foliage, since many of the more cold loving grasses aren't exactly thrilled with our summers. Well, back in 2003, we were botanizing in Liberty County, Florida...just west of Tallahassee, when we ran across this grass growing in a sandy roadside ditch. Despite fantastic performance in our trials, it took us 15 years to finally get around to dividing it for propagation, and christening it Andropogon glaucopsis 'Liberty Blue'. This little-known species ranges in the wild from North Carolina to East Texas.  For us, the foliage of Andropogon 'Liberty Blue' reaches 18" tall x 30" wide, while the late summer flower stalks reach 42". We've rated it as hardy to Zone 7b, because we're not aware of anyone whose tried it in colder zone yet, but we hope you'll give it a try.  Read more [...]

As we approach our first open garden and nursery day of the 2018, we wanted to share some Helleborus x hybridus photos we took in the garden this week...even though you'll see them when you visit.  These are all our own seedlings raised here. In addition to all the named varieties we offer, we'll have a selection of our own seedlings for sale during our open days, and if any remain, they'll be added on-line.  We hope to see you this weekend and next.  Read more [...]

The late Helen Ballard of England was one of the early pioneers in developing what we know today as hybrid hellebores. It was only fitting, when one of the breakthrough crosses, a hybrid between the Balkan native Christmas Rose, Helleborus niger, and  the Majorca endemic, Helleborus lividus, that was formerly known as Helleborus x nigerliv, was renamed Helleborus x ballardiae. The offspring from this cross combine the lovely veined foliage from Helleborus lividus with the outfacing flowers of Helleborus niger.  Once the cross was first made, plant breeders around the world have worked to develop new and improved varieties of Helleborus x ballardiae.  Unfortunately for plant breeders, Helleborus x ballardiae is sterile, so you won't find the hybrids typically producing seedlings. This means that each named variety is a division from an original selection, propagated by cloning (division or tissue culture). We planted the first one in our garden in 1996, and in the 22 Read more [...]

It won't belong before spring woodlanders begin to pop, and one of the first out of the ground for us is the amazing Disporum flavens.  This Asian Solomon's Seal emerges already, with yellow, skyward-facing bells.  As the stalk expands upward, the flower orientation changes from upright to horizontal, before becoming pendant.  By mid-April for us, the slowly expanding clump reaches 30" in height, with each stalk laden with clusters of bright yellow bells.  Even after the flowers drop, the plant remains intact and attractive all summer. Disporum flavens is a plant we can seem to keep from photographing every spring, and certainly one we wouldn't garden without. Sadly, it's rarely offered commercially because it just doesn't offset fast enough for most nurseries to find it financially viable. Finally, as fall approaches, the leaves change to a parchment yellow, with each stem terminating with a cluster of small blue fruit. Disporum flavens is quite easy to Read more [...]