Viewing comments posted by scvirginia

I love this native plant, and so do pollinators. There are some little native bees that show up for this flower in droves, and it's great entertainment to watch them crash into each other as they jostle for position on the flowers.

I'm surprised it isn't grown more, it's so attractive and tall, and has a fairly long bloom season here. It isn't weedy here, but looking at its native distribution, it doesn't seem to be a coastal plant, so it might self-sow more generously elsewhere. (I grew my plants from a seed packet from Prairie Moon.)

The Whittallii Group of this species received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit in 1999.

This hybrid was named for its parents. At the time, Syringa sweginzowii and S. reflexa were recognized names. The former is now S. tomentella subsp. sweginzowii while the latter is currently a synonym for S. komarowii. The resulting S. x swegiflexa is a clunky name for a rather lovely hybrid.

The double-flowered form of this plant was awarded the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit in 2002.

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) gave its prestigious Award of Garden Merit (AGM) to Clerodendrum trichotomum var. fargesii, which is botanically synonymous with Clerodendrum trichotomum.

'Fargesii' is apparently a bit more cold hardy, and has a somewhat more compact growing habit, so may be worth seeking out for cold climate gardens.

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) gave their Award of Garden Merit (AGM) to both Weigela 'Florida Variegata' and Weigela 'Praecox Variegata'. These similar-but-distinct cultivars have been confused in commerce with disagreement about what differentiates them, and which is which.

Weigela florida and Weigela praecox are synonyms, but were once considered separate species, so botanically both cultivars are Weigela florida.

When E. H. Wilson named this plant in the 1920's, Anhui Province was known as Anwhei Province to speakers of English, hence the Latin name. Anhui is one of China's eastern provinces.

This variety is a spring favorite at Great Dixter Gardens in East Sussex, England, and the gardeners there gave it the common name Beth's Poppy, in honor of the late garden designer and plantswoman, Beth Chatto, whose nursery was presumably the source of Great Dixter's poppies.

From the 1953 catalog, Charles Klehm & Son Peony and Nursery Farms, Arlington Heights, Illinois:
"OUR 1953 INTRODUCTIONS.
PINK LEMONADE—Breathtakingly different. It is a medium sized, bomb-type peony with a single row of pink guard petals. The bottom half of the bomb itself is pure lemon-yellow which is topped by ruffled pink petals. These colors blend beautifully. It is tall and blooms early midseason. Won Blue Ribbon in 1850 Rockford Show in the not-disbudded class."

This plant is associated with Ellen Wilmott, a famous plantswoman and one of the first women with a leadership position in Britain's Royal Horticultural Society.

In the early 20th Century, she had a habit of visiting other people's gardens, and surreptitiously sowing seeds of this plant, which is a bit of a self-seeding thug (at least in English growing conditions). It's thought that she was trying to introduce a more naturalistic gardening style by sabotaging formal gardens, but I'd like to think she also just liked the effect of this plant in gardens. At any rate, this plant had a way of 'haunting' the gardens she visited, hence the nickname, 'Miss Wilmott's Ghost'.

Botanists disagree about whether Erigeron acris is limited to Eurasia, or whether there are North American populations also. The 'type' of the species is European.

In the last 20 years or so, many botanists have agreed that the species formerly called E. acris in the northern parts of North America should be either called E. acris subsp. kamtschaticus or simply E. kamtschaticus. The latter species name is what the Catalogue of Life now uses to refer to the North American Fleabanes previously called E. acris.

According to CoL, the distribution of Erigeron kamtschaticus is:
China (Gansu, Guangdong, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shanxi); Mongolia; Russian Far East (Amur, Kamchatka, Khabarovsk, Kuril Isl., Magadan, Primorye, Sakhalin); Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Labrador, N.W.T., Nunavut, Ontario, Québec, Saskatchewan, Yukon); USA (Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming)

The plant labeled as Rhododendron 'Jeff Hill' in the US National Arboretum is an Evergreen Azalea with pure white flowers, which is not correct.

It was described by the originator, Polly Hill as being 15" x 4' with lightly ruffled flowers that are light red with a purple blotch. The International Rhododendron Register describes the flower as deep pink to deep yellowish pink with inconspicuous red spotting.

This ancient variety or landrace is the source of controversy about plant patents and biopiracy. This plant is considerably taller than most maize types (16 - 20 feet high), and has aerial roots that produce a kind of bacteria-rich mucus that allows the corn to fix its own nitrogen, thus doing away with the need for fertilizer.

This is apparently an unusual apple in that it can tolerate hot and humid growing conditions, which seems like it should be a useful thing for a warming planet.
http://bighorsecreekfarm.com/t...

As of early 2023, I'm not sure how easy it would be to buy this variety unless you know how to graft your own, because Big Horse Creek Farm is winding down their sales of grafted trees, and will only be offering scions for sale online. Hopefully, other nurseries will be able to offer this foundling variety in the future.

This camellia has a reputation for having an unusually long blooming period.

The Mastic trees of the southern part of the Greek Island of Chios have been cultivated for more than 2500 years for their resin. It is used as a flavoring agent in foods, is used as a chewing gum, and is available in dietary supplements.

Mastic gum (AKA Chios mastiha) was used by Hippocrates to treat digestive diseases, and clinical studies suggest that its anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and anti-microbial properties may make it a safe and effective therapy for a number of disorders.

This is an heirloom cayenne-type variety that starts out a violet color then ages to a dark orange-red with a few color changes along the way. I got my seeds from Farmacie Isolde, and they germinated quite well, but Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. and other cool seed companies also sell it. I purchased and planted my seeds late in the season, and am looking forward to seeing the peppers change colors in the next few months, and, if I can overwinter them on the porch, the next year or so.

From the Correspondence section of The Garden, February 15, 1913:
Iris Vartanii and its White Variety.—We were interested to see figured in your February 8 issue, page 69, the fine pan of Iris Vartanii, and should like to draw attention to the very little known white variety of it which goes under the name of Pearl of Jerusalem or White Pearl. We introduced it a few years back as a variety of Histrio, but it showed itself to be Vartanii as soon as it flowered. Another point worth mentioning with regard to the species is its delightful fragrance, which Sir Michael Foster seems to have overlooked in his invaluable little book on bulbous Irises. It strongly reminds one of Almonds.—R. Wallace and Co.

Description from Daffodils, narcissus, and how to grow them... by Arthur Martin Kirby, 1907, p.202-3:
ORANGE PHOENIX. (C. 17 in...)
Popularly known as Eggs and Bacon and as N. incomparabilis albus aurantius plenus. Robust and free flowering. The large double flowers are composed of white petals with an orange coloured centre.

Description from Daffodils, narcissus, and how to grow them... by Arthur Martin Kirby, 1907, p.203:
SILVER or SULPHUR PHOENIX. (C. 18 in...)
One of the best varieties in the double incomparable section. Botanically it is "N. Pseudo-Narcissus albus plenus sulphureus" but popularly known as Codlins and Cream. A robust grower, bearing very large flowers of white, with sulphur colored centers.