As I was walking through the gardens last week, I noticed a large, glossy-leaved plant with big, yellow-green fruit hanging from underneath the leaves. There were probably 20-30 of these egg-shaped fruits hanging in clusters under the leaves. It really was a cool sight to see. As I got closer, I realized this was the […]

In the list of “top plants that have been around for too long not to be popular,” Syneilesis aconitifolia or “shredded umbrella plant”  (common name) should be near the top. I first came across Syneilesis in 1998, growing extremely well in Raleigh, North Carolina. I saw it again in 2000 in Pennsylvania, growing like gang-busters. Now that […]

I bet if you were to make a list of the Latin plant names that were easy to remember, Daphne would be up near the top of the list. Daphne is a name you just don’t forget. Whether it was Fred’s “friend” from Scooby Doo or Marty Crane’s nurse on Frasier, Daphne is commonly associated with being attractive and […]

Update From Rochelle (fall 2023) – It is rare that a plant catches the zeitgeist, and when you look back at a time, you can see that it was uniquely of an era.  The fluffy blooms of cafe au lait dahlia is a zeitgeist flower of the late 20teens and into the pandemic times.   […]

Our horticulture team at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens is working on a new vertical wall idea for the summer (of 2014). Today, we were brainstorming which plants to use in the vertical panels. Someone mentioned Sedum ‘Angelina,’ another idea was Lysmachia nummularia ‘Aurea,’ and then I remembered Joseph’s Coat or Alternanthera ficoidea.  Alternanthera is a tender perennial (hardy to USDA zone 10) native from Mexico to […]