native perennials

Winter is a good time to be Hairy

Looking exceptional in the garden is the selection of the North American native Yucca flaccida ‘Hairy’. Yucca ‘Hairy’ is a Tom Foley selection that we feel is probably the finest clone of Yucca flaccida that we’ve ever seen. It’s truly puzzling why this isn’t an industry staple. Below is a photo of our 20 year

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Falling for Sarracenia

Many of our sarracenia (pitcher plants) have started to go dormant by now, but that’s not the case for Sarracenia leucophylla and any of it’s hybrids. Patrick explained this difference by noting that this species is designed for attaching moths, due it’s white tops that illuminate at night. These moths are prevalent in the fall,

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A Nickel-siae for Your Thoughts

Our oldest clump of the amazing Agave nickelsiae (formerly A. ferdinandi-regis) is now over a decade old, so we’re probably within five years of flowering. Often confused with the similar Agave victoriae-reginae, this North American (Northern Mexico) endemic is somewhat similar, but has more leaves, darker spines, and more prominent leaf markings. Some seedlings offset,

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Tressing Up for the Fall Dance

Here is one of our bog gardens showing off the lovely native Spiranthes bightensis ‘Chadd’s Ford’, wrapping up its flowering in early November. This easy-to-grow native orchid is right at home with sarracenias (pitcher plants) in very moist soils. Despite its popularity in gardens, Spiranthes bightensis has a global rarity rank of G1, meaning it

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An aster by any other name

Looking great in our trials in early November is Symphotrichium dumosum ‘HillandSchmidtii’. Also, known as Aster dumosus before its name change, this fascinating 2018 Zac Hill/Jeremy Schmidt collection from Wilkes County, Georgia has proven to be quite a winner, so it will certainly be slated for a future Plant Delights catalog. We initially though this

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Oh, Berkeley!

In full flower now is Patrick’s selection of the native Helianthus angustifolius from Berkeley County, SC. This widespread wetland, often shaded species can be found from New Jersey to Texas. As is the case for most species, each population varies in one or more traits. Most Helianthus angustifolius usually reaches 5′ in height, but this

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Dalliances with Daleas

We have a number of favorite legumes in the garden, but most flower in the spring or early summer. The star of the fall garden is undoubtedly Dalea bicolor var. argyaea, which starts flowering in mid-October. All summer, we get to enjoy the silver foliage, which thrives in our summers, only to be further rewarded

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A Grape Sensation

The beautiful Gaillardia aestivalis var. winkleri ‘Grape Sensation’ is still in full flower as we approach the end of October. This amazing, but quite rare blanket flower is only found in a small area of the East Texas pineywoods region. Although it’s currently listed as a variety of Gaillardia aestivalis, we feel it deserves to

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Endless Stares

Solidago mexicana ‘Endless Stares’, in flower at JLBG, is a wild, but almost unknown Southeast US native, which ranges in coastal settings from Maryland south into Mexico. This goldenrod is Patrick’s SC native selection, with stunning purple red stems all summer. We love the large size, but this probably freaks out most gardeners.

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