The usual common name for Pieris japonica ‘Mountain Fire’ is Japanese Andromeda, which I will not use. I’ve never heard a homeowner call it “Andromeda”. I’ve heard pieris, I’ve heard japonica – that one’s fun, since there are a gazillion plants that are blahblah japonica – but never andromeda. Now you kids get off my […]

When I say “holly” it probably puts a very specific image in your mind: bright green, shiny leaves with lots of jagged edges, and bright red berries too. Compact Inkberry Holly (Ilex glabra ‘Compacta’) is different, with its dark green leaves and dark bluish purple berries. Inkberries are American native shrubs. They also tolerate wet […]

St Johns Wort (Hypericum ‘Hidcote’) is a plant I didn’t use a lot initially. Then we were asked to quote a landscape installation for a client in Great Falls. They had just completed a major addition, and the county required that they add a LOT of plants to offset the construction. The engineering firm’s drawings […]