103 plants in this collection
A brilliant dark orange-red selection of Rhododendron flammeum (which see). A Woodlanders'introduction selected by George Mitchell. .
The Oconee azalea is the flame azalea of the lowlands, and for a Southern gardener that difference matters. Where the mountain flame azalea pines for cool Appalachian summers, this Piedmont cousin was born to the heat, thriving in the clay hills and stream bluffs of middle Georgia and South Carolina and taking the humidity of the Deep South in stride. The reward is the same fire in the flower: bright orange to orange-red trusses, sometimes shading to salmon or gold, opening in mid-spring.
This native deciduous azalea is considered one of the finest of the American Azaleas. It has orange-red to red flowers in July and August, much later than most native azaleas. It is a rare species found only in western Georgia and eastern Alabama where it grows along sandy ravines and along stream banks. It is the logo plant for the famous Callaway Gardens at Pine Mountain, Georgia which has done much to preserve and popularize this species. Culture as for other native azaleas that prefer well-drained acid soil and light shade.
'Koromo Shikibu' is the spider azalea, and there is nothing else in the genus quite like the flower. Instead of the usual funnel, each bloom splits into narrow, strap-like petals that spread apart like the legs of a starfish or a spider, lavender to purplish-pink, spotted darker at the base, and carried in such profusion in spring that the whole shrub seems to shimmer. Once seen, the flower is not forgotten.
The lesser-known of the two Hong Kong roses in the Woodlanders collection, Rhodoleia henryi is a handsome evergreen shrub or small tree from southern China and Taiwan, still little grown in the United States and, like much of the genus, occasionally muddled in the naming. Set beside the sister species Rhodoleia championii, this plant carries narrower, more pointed leaves, and the species is reckoned the more cold hardy of the two, a useful distinction for gardeners testing the edge of the range.
Fragrant sumac is a versatile deciduous shrub native across much of the eastern and central United States, where the plant threads scattered woodlands, rocky slopes, and open banks. The trifoliate leaves, often mistaken at a glance for poison oak, are entirely harmless, and a crushed leaf releases the clean, lemony-resinous scent that gives the plant every one of the common names, from fragrant sumac to skunkbush, depending on the nose. The genus name Rhus is the old Greek and Latin word for the sumacs, and the epithet aromatica names the scent directly.
Littleleaf sumac is a big, bushy deciduous shrub of west Texas, the Southwest, and adjoining Mexico, built for heat, sun, and drought. The compound leaves are made up of tiny leaflets that give a fine, almost feathery texture, and they turn rose to purple in fall, an unusual and lovely tone among the sumacs. Tough and dryland-hardy, the plant is well worth trying in the South and any hot, well-drained garden.
Vigorous spreading, deciduous hybrid rose climber also known as 'Spanish Beauty'. It has large pink flowers that are red in bud. It blooms in the spring. Its foliage is dark green and relatively free of common rose problems. I can grow in full sun or on a north wall. Heavy petal flowers tend to nod which is advantage in roses usually seen from below. This hybrid by Pedro Dot of Spain was introduced in 1927.
Ruellia coccinea belongs to the acanthus family and comes from the Caribbean, native to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, where the plant grows as a scarlet-flowered subshrub in warm, humid woodland. The Spanish common name, Yerba Maravilla, reads roughly as marvel herb, a fitting nod to the near-constant show. Through the whole of summer R. coccinea produces slender tubular flowers about an inch long, each opening into five spreading scarlet lobes, borne in clusters from the upper leaf axils and unfurling in succession from early summer until the first frost.
Ruscus aculeatus, Butcher's Broom, is a low evergreen shrub of the asparagus family, native to the woodlands of southern Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East, and reaching north into the milder parts of the British Isles. What look like glossy, spine-tipped leaves are not leaves at all but flattened stems called cladodes, which take over the work of photosynthesis while the true leaves are reduced to tiny scales. The generic name comes from the Latin ruscum, the old word for a butcher's broom, and the epithet aculeatus means prickled, for the sharp point that tips each cladode.
Sapium japonicum is a medium size deciduous shrub or small tree. The oval leaves suggestive of a Magnolia are unlike the widely naturalized (and invasive!) Chinese Tallowtree (Sapium sebiferum) which was introduced by Thomas Jefferson. The Japanese tallowtree is little-known in the U.S. but is an attractive ornamental notable for attractive foliage and good orange-red fall color. It should be planted in well-drained but moist soil in a sunny location. Native to eastern Asia.
Sarcococca ruscifolia, the fragrant sweet box, is an evergreen shrub of the boxwood family, native to China and East Asia, grown for a winter perfume that belies the tiny flowers that carry it. In late winter and early spring the small, creamy white flowers open along the glossy stems, easy to overlook by eye but powerfully sweet on the air, and unlike the black-fruited sweet boxes, this species follows the flowers with glowing red berries.
Pitcher Plants are unusual carnivirous plants in which the leaves are modified into tall, usually upright hooded cylinders. Small insects are attracted to and are trapped in liquid that is in the base of these tubes. These plants grow in damp to wet acid, nutrient poor soils in sunny to slightly shady locations. They derive nutrients from the trapped and digested insects Sweet Pitcher Plant is one of a number of species that occur in the southeastern U.S. Dark red umbrella like flowers on tall stems are followed by rounded seed pods. These plants are widely propagated, grown, and hybridized by carnivirous plant enthusiasts but they do require special cultural conditions. Growing Pitcher Plants is covered in detail on many websites. Most Pitcher Plants are becomming rare and some are endangered through loss of habitat.
Few native trees announce themselves as cheerfully as Sassafras albidum, whose leaves come in three shapes on the same branch: an unlobed oval, a two-lobed mitten, and a three-lobed silhouette like a splayed hand. A member of the laurel family, Lauraceae, and kin to bay, cinnamon, and spicebush, sassafras carries aromatic oils in every part, so that a snapped twig or crushed leaf releases a warm, root-beer sweetness. The common name traces back through Spanish to the colonial Southeast, where the tree was among the first American plants shipped to Europe as a marketable medicine.
Seemannia (Gloxinia) nematanthodes which we originally (and mistakenly) offered as Achimenes heterophylla, produces very showy bright red inflated flowers in late summer above dark velvety green leaves. A somewhat succulent perennial, forming colonies to about one foot tall from tubers that look like little pinecones. This plant will over winter in the South but should have a winter mulch. As weather warms, remove this covering to allow new shoots to emerge. Given rich soil and ample water, these plants will thrive during hot summers. Plant in semi-shady site with good drainage but with irrigation. We originally obtained this special little plant from a private garden in Beaufort, South Carolina. Our friends at Plant Delights Nursery offer a very similar plant with perhaps more yellow in the throat of the flower. They collected it in Argentina and offer it by the variety name 'Evita'.
Senecio confusus, commonly known as the Mexican Flame Vine, hails from the warm, sun-soaked regions of Mexico and Central America. This vibrant climbing vine has been cherished for generations, not only for a striking appearance but also for resilience and versatility in various landscapes.
Mexican Catchfly is a low herbaceous perennial with spathulate leaves and showy red-orange starry flowers on stems held well above the foliage. It is native to mountains and canyons in the southwestern U.S. and adjacent Mexico. We grew these from seed we collected in the Davis Mountains in west Texas. A good rock garden plant for sun or semi shade.
Dwarf greenbrier is the gentlest member of a prickly clan. Where most of the greenbriers, the Smilax vines, arm themselves with vicious hooks, Smilax pumila comes up soft and unarmed, a low, scrambling, evergreen groundcover of the Southeastern coastal plain, safe to handle and easy to place. The mottled, arrow-shaped leaves hold a quiet, marbled green through the year, and on female plants clusters of bright orange to red berries glow in the winter undergrowth like drops of fire.
Indian Pink is a choice perennial for semishaded rich woodland sites with neutral soils. The flowers are borne on the ends of 2 foot stems. Flowers are tubular bright red with yellow throat. A much sought after plant which is not readily available. Native to the southeastern U.S. north to southern Illinois and Missouri.
A large leaf (3 to 4 inches wide) form with light green leaves with prominent red veination. Nice foamy white clusters of flowers in spring. Rich, moist, woodland soil with shade to semishade. (See ARM)
