Supporting Our Local Garden Clubs
Ceratostigma – Practical and Beautiful
I am a huge proponent of ground covers. They are very practical plants providing color and texture for the ground plan while also helping to reduce or in a few cases, eliminate weeding – an attribute every gardener can appreciate! Surprisingly, or at least to me, there appears to be a diminished interest in groundcovers with more homeowners preferring mulch over plants.
Blackberry Lily – An Iris for Many Seasons
One of the botanical issues I have recently begun to struggle over is the seemingly endless number of plants undergoing a name change. The changes are certainly understandable since science now allows botanists to evaluate genomes and better align plants with the proper family or genera. Yet, learning new plant names is always a challenge and leads to confusion for both nurseries and gardeners. One plant that has proven to be particularly troublesome is Iris domestica, commonly called Blackberry Lily.
Buttonbush – A Plant in Need of Respect
To borrow and slightly adjust a phrase from Mr. Rodney Dangerfield’s comedic repertoire: “Some plants get no respect”! The irony for these belittled or overlooked plants is how many are easily grown, even under challenging conditions and how many are native! Part of the problem lies in the timing of the floral display. Plants blooming outside of the spring rush to garden centers usually do not garner their duly deserved respect.
Bruce Crawford
Gladiolus murielae – Without Doubt a Beautiful Flower
Tender or nonhardy bulbs for summer display are a group of plants many gardeners appear to avoid. The reasons I can only speculate, but perhaps the effort of digging the plants come autumn and overwintering the bulbs indoors is perceived as too much work? Or, are many of these plants simply unknown? This knowledge barrier is often compounded by changes in the botanical names or the marketing of the plants under incorrect names. A case in point is Gladiolus murielae or the Abyssinian Gladiolus.
Bruce Crawford
Spigelia marilandica – a Plant with Tropical Flair
The topic of tropical plants often conjures up lush images to gardeners. These images may include large and bold foliage or perhaps flowers with dramatic shapes or brilliant colors. When I first saw Indian Pink at Longwood Gardens many years ago, the bold red and yellow flowers gave the impression of a tropical plant, heralding from far warmer regions (as seen at right). Little did I know that this plant, botanically known as Spigelia marilandica was native to regions throughout central and southeastern North America and not the Caribbean!
Bruce Crawford
