evergreen shrub

Mahonia gracilis

Winter Mahonias

Here are a couple of our favorite winter-flowering mahonias currently in bloom at JLBG. The first is the North American native, Mahonia gracillis, which is virtually unknown in cultivation. Without several collections from the former Yucca Do Nursery, this probably wouldn’t even be known by US gardeners. The 8′ tall, unkempt form is adorned, starting

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Daphniphyllum macropodum

Looks like a Daphne, but…

When people first hear the name, Daphniphyllum, they immediately think, Daphne, and obviously, when this was named by Blume in 1826, he thought the same. Daphniphyllum, however, couldn’t be more different. First, it’s completely unrelated. Daphne is in the Thymelaeaceae family, while Daphniphyllum sits alone in its own family, Daphniphyllaceae. Daphniphyllum is a small genus

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Danae racemosa in fruit

A Laurel and Hardy Garden Addition

Looking lovely in the garden during the Christmas holiday season is a plant that hails from around the world, most notably Iran, and into the surrounding Caucuses. Despite this disparate climatic origin, Danae racemosa has thrived in much of the country as a pass-along plant for over a century. Danae is one of many plants,

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Zhejiang Wintersweet

Here’s a winter-flowering shrub that few people have grown. Flowering now in the garden is the evergreen Chimonanthus zhejiangensis, a little-known relative to the more popular, deciduous Chimonanthus praecox. This is a small genus of only six species in the Calycanthaceae family, all native to China. Our plants originated from seed from the Shanghai Botanical

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Indianola Silver

Flowering now in the garden is Dan Hinkley’s Mahonia eurybracteata ‘Indianola Silver’. This incredible plant is one of Dan’s collection with pewter foliage, that just glows in the fall garden. Mature size is 4′ tall. I picked this up on a 2006 visit to Heronswood, just before the nursery was shuttered by George Ball. Because

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The Foil of Fall Foliage

Here’s an October shot from the garden, showing the textural possibilities of foliage. Front to back are Heuchera ‘Grande Amethyst’, Microbiota decussata ‘Prides’, Rhododendron ‘Elizabeth Ard’, Athyrium angustum, Cephalotaxus harringtonia ‘Brooklyn Gardens’, and Metasequoia glyptostroibes ‘Shirmin’s Nordlicht’ in the rear.

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