Favorite Plants of the Moment

From the ridiculous to the sublime, this is a list of plants I’m working with at the moment;  we’ll have these and other almost=impossible-to-find plants  at our next farm field day!  Of course the findings will include the very rare and new to us, Crinum ‘Pink Perfume’ from Texas and Crinum ‘Canoelands’ from Australia.

Jack Bean (Canavalia ensiformis)  Fun with giant beans! A great conversation plant when it’s foot long pods split open to show off giant pink beans.  And a fun fast screen for summer.  We also use this to cut back in summer to supply extra green for compost or to use as chop and drop mulch, laying the dead leaves like hay in the garden.  Grown from seed by my Momma! $10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dwarf Spider Lily (Hymenocallis harrisiana)  Too often overlooked because he’s short, this little bulb is tough as nails.  Handsome upright gray-green leaves stand straight up.  Delicate white flowers unfurl in early June.

Great to mix in with other ground covers to add seasonal interest.  Also a perfect pot plant as it loves going totally dry and dormant. $10 per bulb.

 

 

 

 

 

Mexican Marigold (Tagetes lemonnii)  Repels deer!  And fills the late November garden with tumbling masses of yellow flowers.   Smells intensely of citrus.  Easy to root– so get one and make yourself a hedge of it! 1 gallon plants $10

Pineapple Guava (Acca sellowiana) Excellent plant for bringing edible fruit and elegant silver foliage into small gardens.  In my city garden, I used this as a shorn hedge.  And I can pick the edible flowers in summer and the fruit in fall. 7 gallon, 4 foot tall plants, $60  (only ten of these, send an email if you want to reserve one)

Perennial Peanut

Cute little yellow flowers all summer and soft, mat forming leaves that you can walk on barefoot.  We used this little ground cover in crinum fields to reduce weeds and to build the soil — it has a symbiotic relationship with bacteria and together, they grab nitrogen from the air.  Also a nice trailer for containers and (is this a plus) rabbits love it!  It’s been perennial for me for years here but is slow to return in the late spring.

And I’m excited to share a selection of plants from one the most innovated, important nurseries in the state, Naturescapes Beaufort. The owner, Daniel Payne, meticulously selects rare, native plants and grows them out beautifully. We visited Daniel on Coosaw Island, SC last week and brought to share:

1. Incredibly rare, blue Eryngium aquaticum ravenelli (occurs only in 2 places in South Carolina; one in Aiken county) the blue balls are killer with pink crinum lilies.

2. Southern Maiden Hair Fern selected from a vigorous group in Beaufort, SC.

3. Daniel’s own selection of dwarf horsetail called ‘Sheldon Shorties’ from near Old Sheldon Church ruins.

Other treasures too!