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…
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…
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…
I can only assume that there’s a clever link between Sixteen Candles Sweet Pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia ‘Sixteen Candles’) and the Molly Ringwold movie, but I’m an embarrassment to Gen X. I’ve never seen it. Haven’t even caught the movie between…
Why do I love spreading Japanese plum yew (Cephalotaxus harringtonia ‘Prostrata’)? I grew up with the sandy soils of southeastern New England. That freely draining soil meant that yew bushes (Taxus spp.) did phenomenally well. The house I grew up…
Maybe I watched too many cartoons as a kid (not possible), but I have a thing for weird looking plants. Shaggy, weepy, contorted, twisted, it’s all good to me. Hinoki cypress (Chamecyparis obtusa ‘Gracilis’) scratches that itch, but it still…