Classic Perennial Gardens 1. Columbia Eryngium pandanifolium – evergreen, soft yucca like Scilla peruviana – cobalt blue flowers, spring bulb Yucca rostrata & orange Crocosmia Verbascum ‘Southern Charm’ Spring white, pastel spires. Crinum ‘Peachblow’ Styrax japonicus Small tree, tons of white or pink bells in spring. Cordyline australis (Cabbage Tree) Nicotiana mutabilis 2.North Augusta Salvia… Read More
Author Archive | Jenks Farmer
Rayless Sunflower Needs A Sexy Name
Black flowers always seduce us. I’m not sure why but there’s a mystery to them. This one is a seductive garden plant for so many reasons. It also has sway. It bends and bounces and moves like a pendulum but it always stands right back up. Rub your hand across it and it bends down. … Read More
Tiny Passion for Passiflora lutea
Tiny lime green flowers on this slender, summer growing perennial vine make me smile. Sure it’s kind of weedy. It scrambles over shrubs and comes everywhere around here. But it’s a lovely olive green leaf with silver mottling. And it has a strong root system. I don’t know how you’d get rid of it if… Read More
Winter-flowering Southern Native Sedge
The Earliest of Flower Gardens
There’s a patch of paper whites and snow drops in our pasture that’s older than I am. Just behind the little shed that’s been pony shed, goat shed and now donkey shed. Those are the kinds of bulbs I want in my gardens. From a practical stand point, because they come back, they thrive and… Read More
Things Still Made From Plants…
Not so long ago plants were our tool cabinet, medicine cabinet, pantry, clothing and art. Industry slowly changed that. And today ladies tell me about making dolls from holly hock flowers. And a few of my buddies remember using magnolia cones to play war — those cones are perfect grenades. You might make a cocktail… Read More
The Orange River Lily…
Isn’t orange. The name comes from the Orange River, the longest river in South Africa. This species of Crinum grows along it’s banks. Like most wild things, each one is different. We grow big flowering strains as well as our own selection, ‘Aurora Glorialis’ which opens green, fades to lite pink and then to rich… Read More
A New Years Resoilution
In this year, when we walk let’s walk walk with big, amazing steps. Considering every every cell and bone and where each foot falls. Connect to the life below each step. Feel the the tiny creatures in their universe below ground. When we garden this year, let’s weed, kneel, dig, spray in ways that make… Read More
Crinum List for AZH
C. x eboracii in graveyard C. x herbertii (Tulsa Collection) in field. Milk and Wine Lily Crinum ‘Bradley’ C. species in Madagascar swamp C. Bradley close up & in meadow C. procerum C. asiaticum C. ‘Queen Emma’ purple leaf with Tom, in container & wrapped for winter. PROPAGATION C. bulbispermum seed C. americanum seed floating… Read More
Moving Big Palms
Most people have a really bad sense of design when it comes to placing palm trees. That or they like the look of a putt putt course. Palms too often add the air of mini-golf or cheesy resort. Palms should fit into gardens as they do in the wild. They’re not just for the beach… Read More