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Notes from 2023
4" bloom
Season Early
FFO 9 May
Rebloomed 16 Jun
Prev year notes at same location
2022 FFO 5/12; 2021 FFO 5/20 [year of the Great Freeze in TX]
2020 FFO 5/6 4.5" bloom 2019 FFO 5/15

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2024: available from at least the following sellers
Oakes
Ogden Station
both sources cite a 6" bloom
Garden notes:
blooms every year, has minimal increase, pod fertile as I have 4 unregistered seedlings, at least 1 of which is dormant.
blooms are only 5" when I measure early morning...maybe they open more later
5" blooms are typical here when I measure
season is early-mid: FFO dates--5/20/19, 5/13/20, 5/18/21, 5/12/22, 5/19/23 all in same location.
Bought in 2001, apparent year of introduction.

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Aechmea 'Rakate' is a very recognizable 1947 Aechmea hybrid by W. Richter of Germany.
Seed parent: A. fulgens v. discolor
Pollen parent: A. nudicaulis

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What a lovely plant! I have it in two places in my garden and it is an early bloomer, pure white with golden stamens. Prolific bloomer. Highly recommend!

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I find the best way to start Bupleurum indoors is to start in seed starting mix. Any one will do. Sprinkle seeds and cover with a good sprinkling of vermiculite. I find they need cool and dark to germinate. Don't give up. They take a while to germinate. Sorry no pictures. Happy planting 😁😁

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I will be growing the orange butterfly milk weed this year for winter sowing.

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Dr. Carl Whitcomb, in Know It and Grow It III, summed up 'Nellie R. Stevens' holly quite nicely: "An amazingly durable and tolerant holly that thrives under a wide range of conditions. Especially drought-tolerant and a prolific producer of bright red berries."

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This small, prostrate plant from Europe is usually a lawn companion plant or weed in eastern North America. It is common in many lawns but not all over the place in the lawn, just in some spots. Not the same as the sort of similar Creeping Charlie that is much more widespread and aggressive. It can be a small weed in a planting border also.

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Neoregelia 'Gespacho' was introduced by H. Bullis of Florida without breeder or cross information.
It is believed to be a cross of Neoregelia chlorostica x Neoregelia 'Fireball' by Florida hybridizer Dennis Bryant.
'Gespacho' prefers brite filtered sun reaching 12"-16" across with 2" wide leaves. Grown in the preferred lighting conditions 'Gespacho' will have nice red leaves with yellow green blotches, bands and speckled areas often forming concentric bands.

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Neoregelia 'Sweet Vibrations' is a Chester Skotak hybrid from the cross of Neoregelia carolinae 'Red Variegated' x Neoregelia 'Gespacho'.

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The stem is a darker red. The color of the flower has little to no yellow, compared to the Chasmanthe floribunda.

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My first look at this small tree was in the Van Dusen Botanic Garden in Vancouver, British Columbia in the early 1990's. It is good looking... with a dense branch structure that eventually forms a loosely round crown . The leaves are willow like, 1-3 inches long and covered in woolly gray-green. The blooms in spring are white and attractive, but the form and foliage is the highlight of this tree.
One serious caveat... this tree has a serious problem with fireblight. Pacific Northwest gardeners seem to have the greatest success with this particular tree.
I say that regrettably... I'd love one in my garden.

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Recently (2002) described Pachyphytum with fat, glaucous leaves; rosettes to 2-3 inches; and stems to about 12 inches, often branching at the base. Flowers have a red spot inside each petal. As with other members of the genus, beefy sepals obscure the petals.

From east-central Michoacán. Similar to P. machucae, from northwestern Michoacán, which has bigger leaves and different colored flowers.

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An early, almost heatless cultivar developed by Texas A & M. Grows well here and is great for uses where regular Jalapenos are too hot.

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This strain is a taller selection of the species and can behave as a short-lived perennial according to some Australian growers, flowering for 2-3 years before expiring.

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A well-behaved yet durable evergreen ground cover in our zone 7a yard. It does particularly well on steep slopes (or perhaps few other things do well!) Some of it is in full sun, which does result in moderately bleached foliage. It also grows in full (and dry) shade, though even more slowly than its normally slow rate. The flowers, which bloom in late winter-early spring, are unremarkable, but they have a lovely, honey-like scent.

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It's been over 10 years since I first planted this bulb, and they'd spread into a large clump. After they bloomed last summer, I dug and divided them, spreading them into all 3 "pocket beds" behind the sitting rocks around the back patio. I'm not expecting blooms this year since they can take a year to settle in, but I'm happy to see leaf tips poking up!

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Chinaberries are attractive trees and give a dense shade, but they are invasive and a nuisance here. Their berries are also toxic to livestock.

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This small ornamental crabapple was introduced to the trade in 1947 by Carl Sax. It is considered his finest crabapple introduction. It developed as a triploid... allowing it to breed true from open pollinated seed. The tree was named to honor the daughter of Charles Sargent, first Director of the Arnold Arboretum.
'Mary Potter' is a beautiful crabapple that grows 6-8 feet wide and spreads to as much as 18 feet. Pink buds open to snow white blooms that develop into purple red fruits that are persistent. That is, they stay on the tree into winter... providing food for birds.
Father John Fiala, in Flowering Crabapples, The Genus Malus... notes that 'Mary Potter' deserves to be grown more as a specimen tree. It has a very attractive form, white blooms and red fruit smother the tree with color in spring and again in fall, the fall color is a good, clear yellow and the silhouette of the tree in winter is striking and handsome.

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Heuchera villosa 'Autumn Bride' is a star in my zone 7a garden. It withstands Maryland's heat and humidity beautifully. Other coral bells (not of villosa descent) have not performed as well (and I've tried quite a few). It particularly flourishes in part shade, though it's growing well in full shade. Even in full sun it only has mild scorching. It appreciates being divided every couple of years, though it copes when neglected. Best of all, it attracts bees of all sorts.

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