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.
September 2023 Plant of the Month – Buttonbush
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
July 2023 Plant of the Month – Gladiolus murielae
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
June 2023 Plant of the Month – Spigelia Marilandica
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
May 2023 Plant of the Month – Osmunda
Antiquity in our Midst
Plant blindness is a term J. H. Wandersee and E. E. Schussler coined in 1999, defining how people do not recognize the importance of plants due to their lack of mobility and motion. I suspect this issue would be even more problematic if the plant did not offer attractive and colorful flowers to beckon pollinators. This is an underlying problem with the appreciation of ferns. They provide wonderful textures and design solutions for the garden and certainly offer a sense of permanence. For ferns, permanence is not measured in mere years or decades of living in a garden, but an incomprehensible 300 million years as some genera of ferns are among the most ancient plants on earth. Interestingly, one of the oldest fern families contains a NJ native many people have yet to ‘recognize’ – Osmundastrum cinnamomeum, commonly known as Cinnamon Fern.
Bruce Crawford
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