Many of the finest ornamentals for the southern garden come from the deserts of the Southwest, and this Chihuahuan legume is a quietly handsome example. Acacia neovernicosa is an upright, spreading, thorny shrub clothed in twice-compound leaves so finely divided that the whole plant takes on a soft, smoky texture. The foliage carries a faint varnish, sticky to the touch, which gives the species both its botanical name and its common one, viscid acacia. In spring the branches are studded with small golden puffballs of bloom, abundant and sweetly fragrant, loud with bees on a warm morning.
Espino is the thorn tree of the South American dry country, the signature shrub of central Chile's espinal, where it grows so thickly alongside the Chilean wine palm that it gives whole landscapes their character. Its range runs on through Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Spiny and twiggy, armed with stiff, pale, almost-white thorns, it is handsome from a distance and best handled with gloves. Botanists now file it under Vachellia, though the gardening world still knows it as Acacia caven.
Set aside the family reputation. Acacia angustissima is the polite, thornless cousin in a clan better known for its armament, a soft green presence where you might brace for spines. Botanists have since moved it to its own genus, Acaciella, but in the trade it keeps the old familiar name. It grows wild across the dry grasslands and open woods of the south-central United States down into Mexico and Central America, carrying itself like a small green fountain of fine, ferny, twice-divided foliage that filters the light rather than blocking it.
Hardiness
Zones 7–9
Light
Full Sun
Height
4–5 ft.
Spread
4–5 ft.
Bloom
White
Plant type
Shrub
Traditional use
digestive health, pain relief, topical applications, general wellness
Large growing perennial salvia with relatively large leaves and bushy habit of growth. Pretty terminal racemes of blue flowers. From sunny rocky streamside location. Tucuman Province.
Medium size deciduous tree with clusters of persistent golden 1/2 inch diameter fruits and good yellow fall color. The hardiest of the genus and good for well-drained soils either acid or limestone. (See DIR, WTX)
Woodlander's George Mitchell found, named, and propogated. This is brightly varigated form of this large leaf growing sage. It holds up well in sun and produces the same deep violet flowers just before frost.
Very choice double flowered form of the Bloodroot. Colony forming woodland wildflower for rich moist, but well-drained soil in shade or semi-shade. Unusual rounded lobed foliage is attractive. Very early spring flowers are pure white and showy. Especially this rare double flowered form with abundant flowers like small water lilies which last longer than the single form as they are sterile. Zone 4-8.
This attractive small-medium deciduous tree has compound leaves dark green leaves, and white spring flowers that are followed by clusters of marble-sized yellow fruits. The fruits are rich in saponin and can lather like soap in water. This rare tree with golden fall foliage is found in woodlands on calcareous soils at widely scattered sites in southern Georgia and Florida. It is rare in cultivation and almost unknown in the nursery trade.
Evergreen shrub with milk-white flowers and dark red fruits. Prefers warmer climates and shade. Leaves are suggestive of Ruscus and are glossy. Related to Boxwood.
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.
A Wodlanders introduction collected by Frank Bell in Yunnan, China, this sweet box appears much like Sarcococca hookerana and may be S. hookeriana digyna. We are giving you an opportunity to test and evaluate it along with us. Related to Boxwood, glossy leafed, shade-demanding evergreens.
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.
Upright wide spreading.evergreen shrub with distinctive willow-like narrow leaves. Unlike but related to Boxwood. Dark purple to black fruit. This species from the western Himalayas is very little known and seldom available from nurseries in the U.S. Perhaps a bit less cold hardy than some of the other Sarcococca species but a good plant for shady garden areas in the Deep South.
A number of trees in the genus Schima are native to the Far East and their taxonomy is confused. A number of different ones have been introduced in recent years but they are still little-known in the U.S. These evergreen trees are in the Tea family and have white flowers suggestive of the related Stewartia, Gordonia, Polyspora, etc. Schima argentea has relatively thin simple leaves which are rather long pointed. The leaf undersides are quite glaucous with a gray to white color. These we offer are propagated from a specimen we have in the Aiken Citywide Arboretum which has proven hardy here through recent winters. Dr. Ranney at NC State University Horticultural Experiment Station has produced hybrids between this plant and Franklinia which are called "Schimlinia" Plant in good soil that is moist but well-drained in a semi shady site.
Medium sized tree with persistent compound leaves and winged seeds very much like a maple. May be a good candidate for dry rocky slopes in mild areas which resemble collection site in Sierra de Cordoba, Argentina.
Schima superba is a beautiful evergreen Asian tree with no English common name. It is in the Tea family so related to Camellia, Gordonia, Stewartia, etc. It has lanceolate leaves 5-6 inches long. The new growth is red-bronze. Flowers are white and several inches in diameter. Our trees were grown from seed collected in Taiwan by our freind Mark Krautmann of Heritage Seedlings. We have seen several thriving specimens of this tree in the southeastern U.S. and expect it to become much more well-known and widely grown here.
Little Bluestem is a relatively tall perennial bunch grass native to most of the U.S and southern Canada. It thrives in hot dry areas and is relatively common as a prairie grass. This selection called 'Prairie Blues' is described by North Creek Nurseries as: " Consistant grey-blue, ribbon-like foliage takes on hues of orange and red as the season transitions to autumn. Sturdy, narrow stems and an upright habit." Plant in a sunny site with well-drained soil and keep free of competing vegetation.
