Johann's Garden

The following three variegated forms of comfrey all have this in common; the portions of their leaves lacking in chlorophyll are sensitive to sunburn if they do not have constant access to moisture during the summer and so will likely be best grown in very moist soil or in a location sheltered from direct mid-day sun during summer.  Additionally, none of these selections appear to have virally induced variegation, but rather appear to be a chimera variegation in that they contain a mix of both normal and albino tissue variously distributed through their above ground parts. Symphytum × uplandicum 'Axminster Gold'  I'm not sure the origin of this clone, but appears to be the only available variegated clone of Russian comfrey at this time.  The green portions of the foliage have a slight haze giving them an attractively silvery haze.  I don't see this in green leaf forms of comfrey so I suspect it may be possible that the surface cell layer is lacking chlorophyll even...

 If it's one thing I know, horticulturists love to hybridize plants to create uniquely new and never before seen genetic combinations.  Que the "Mukgenia", a relatively new plant developed by hybridizing Mukdenia with Bergenia .  At first glance this being an intergeneric hybrid makes it rather impressive as these crosses between very distantly related plants are often not easily made.  The developer has also not publicly provided many details regarding how they were able to achieve this cross.  They did however leave some clues such as indicating this was made with good old fashioned cross pollination (no laboratory needed) and the single "Mukgenia" hybrid clone which they have released for sale was not the result of their first cross.  This indicates they may have repeated the same cross multiple times while searching for the "perfect" (according to their goals) plant, or this plant may have originated from back crossing or otherwise line breeding o...

I've been eyeing a feral apple pippin for the past few years.  It *had been growing on the edge of a small grove of trees bordering an on-ramp to I-5 a little south of Seattle, WA.  While I've long noticed the plethora of feral apples/crabapples growing along the roads here, this one caught my eye for a few reasons: It appeared to be a natural dwarf with a single short main trunk with all branches emerging rather lax and semi-droopy.  As it grew on a slope some of the branches ended up being lower in elevation than the lowest point where the trunk touches the ground! All fruit can therefore be picked from the ground without a ladder or pole picker.  No reaching up either!  This is a very utilitarian habit as it would allow this tree to be grown on its own roots in gardens where there is not space for a larger tree (own root apples have a reputation for living longer than trees grafted to dwarf rootstocks).   It was growing in a very dry location; a mou...

This post has been created to document my observations with the following four Saccharum × Miscanthus  hybrids (aka "miscanes"): Plant Name USDA-ARS Accession # USDA-ARS Inventory # Pedigree MIA 36952 MIA 36952 MIA 36952 PL * POJ 2725 x ** Miscanthus 'Walluca' MIA 36958 MIA 36958 PL ** Miscanthus x *** Saccharum 'Fiji 59' PI 268061   MIA 35497 PL ** Miscanthus x Saccharum officinarum 'Fiji 53' PI 271853 MIA 35492 PL ** Miscanthus x Saccharum officinarum *POJ 2725 is male sterile hybrid Saccharum or "noble cane" derived from S. officinarum introgressed with S. spontaneum (to add various disease resistance traits). **Unspecified  Miscanthus  species ***Unspecified  Saccharum  species, but due to the fact that this was a hybrid developed for sugar cane breeding it is almost certainly either  S. officinarum or a hybrid thereof.  Miscanes are interesting in that they are able to photosynthesize at ...

Many fruit tree hobbyists have heard that the 'Winter Banana' cultivar of apple is unique in its ability to be graft compatible with pear.  To this end, the majority of references I've found are anecdotal.  While a fair number of people have claimed success, many appear to have created these intergeneric grafts no more than a couple of years prior to sharing their findings with the internet.  This leaves me wondering what the long term survivability rate is with these unions.   I was able to find one long term study spanning 11 years ( https://eurekamag.com/research/007/637/007637340.php ) which covered using 'Winter Banana' as an interstem between pear scions and clonal apple rootstocks.  For pears two different cultivars were trialed, while five (or six?) clonal apple rootstock selections were used as a base in all possible combinations.  Of note is that the survival rates differed according to pear variety, but what was consistent was that there was...

The following are my comparative observations of the various myoga ginger ( Zingiber mioga ) cultivars currently available in the United States. Clones currently found in the United States: 'Japanese Cream' - This was long circulated without a cultivar name, being simply sold and traded as myoga.  This appears to be the old (mostly) sterile pentaploid Japanese form of myoga ginger.  At my nursery I designate this plant as 'Japanese Cream' due to the cream color of it's flowers and to distinguish it from the other cultivars which are now available.  Since it seems to be one of the most widely circulated clones in the United States I will use it as a reference point when comparing the others. 'Crûg's Zing' buds developing 'Crûg's Zing' - This is a clonally propagated selection which was brought back from Je-ju Island in South Korea.  In this region the  Zingiber mioga  population is tetraploid and fertile which means that they reproduce both b...