Tony Avent

Sinister Arum

We love the foliage of the winter growing arums. Here’s an image we just captured of the beautiful Arum sintensii ‘Sinister’. This selection is from the collection of the late Alan Galloway. Native to damp shade as well as open woodland conditions on Cyprus, Arum sintenisii is named after German botanist Paul Ernst Emil Sintenis.

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It only takes a Leaf

With all the odd plants we grow, we are constantly experimenting with new propagation techniques. An idea we’ve played around with for years is being able to root agaves from leaf cuttings. Below is our latest success rooting a variegated selection of Agave ghiesbrichtii from a single leaf. The leaf was stuck right at 12

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Peshman’s Snowdrop

One of the stars of the fall garden at JLBG is the little-known Peshman’s Snowdrop, Galanthus peshmanii. This amazing Greek and Turkish species, named after the late Turkish botanist, Hasan PeÅŸmen (1939-1980), was only officially recognized in 1994. It’s closely related to the better-known Galanthus reginae-olgae. Our nine year-old clump has been an absolutely wonderful

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Winter Magnolia

Just beginning to open outside our nursery office is the lovely Magnolia platypetala. Our specimen of this amazing Chinese native is now 24 years old. The fuzzy brown buds, which are beautiful in their own right, open to large, fragrant white flowers. When night temperatures drop below freezing, the petals melt, but are replaced the

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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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Grass of Parnassus

In flower now at JLBG is the rarely seen, Southeast native, Parnassia caroliniana. This amazing, but difficult to grow bog perennial begins flowering for us in mid-November. Even more odd than the plant itself, are it’s relatives. It’s a member of the Celastraceae, meaning its cousins include the genus, Euonymus, and the bittersweet vine, Celastrus.

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Foghorn Stinkhorn

Greeting me on a recent foggy winter morning garden walk was a specimen of the fascinating Clathus columnatus, better known as column stinkhorn. It lives on dead and decaying organic matter, so is often seen growing in mulched areas. In the US, it’s typically seen East of the Mississippi, but many mycologists theorize it was

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Tongue Caught in the Crack

We’ve struggled for years to grow some of the exceptional forms of Hart’s Tongue fern, Asplenium scolopendrium in our hot, humid climate. One cultivar that we’d long been enamored with is Asplenium ‘Keratoides’. After killing nearly everything we had, we stuck one in the crevice garden, where, to our amazement, it has performed marvelously. It

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To Breed or Not to Breed

We make crosses on our flowering agaves during the early summer, then in some cases, must wait until fall to see if we were successful. If we don’t get pods formed within a few weeks, we know that the particular cross was a failure, but in some cases, the cross forms pods, but there is

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