Rooted in the annals of ancient cultivation, the jujube tree (Ziziphus jujuba) is a storied specimen—an upright, deciduous tree prized for its glossy foliage, graceful form, and richly flavored, edible fruit. Cultivated in China for more than 4,000 years, the jujube has earned its rightful place in both orchard and legend, where its fruit—often likened to a date in taste and texture, though botanically unrelated—has been cherished for its nutritive and medicinal value.
A modern Franklin tree with year-round presence and late-summer perfume. ×Schimlinia 'Schima Lina Ding Dong' is a rare intergeneric hybrid bred to capture the romance of the lost Franklin tree while adding real garden durability. Raised by the Mountain Crop Improvement Lab at NC State, the selection crosses Franklinia alatamaha, the legendary Georgia native long gone from the wild and famous for luminous white flowers, with Schima remotiserrata, a broadleaf evergreen of the tea family from Asia. The result is an elegant evergreen carrying fragrant, white, camellia-like blooms in late summer, just when the garden most wants a fresh highlight.
A cold-hardy citrus with a Woodlanders pedigree. Woodlanders has long led in offering citrus and citrus hybrids that stand outdoors beyond the usual citrus belt, and the calamandarin is one of the toughest. Likely a hybrid of a mandarin, Citrus reticulata, and a calamondin, the calamandarin blends easy-peeling, tangerine-like fruit with the cold tolerance that calamondin brings to the cross.
