The Weird and the Wonderful
Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a retail nursery located in Bryn Mawr, PA, specializing in showy, colorful, and unusual plants for shade. The only plants that we ship are snowdrops and miniature hostas. For catalogues and announcements of events, please send your full name, location, and phone number (for back up use only) to carolyn@carolynsshadegardens.com. Click here to get to the home page of our website for catalogues and information about our nursery and to subscribe to our blog.
The flowers of Farges’s cobra lily (Asian jack-in-the-pulpit), Arisaema fargesii, are spectacular.
Our recent trip to North Carolina for my son’s college graduation (see North Carolina and Duke Gardens) included a visit to Plant Delights Nursery just south of Raleigh. Plant Delights is a mail order nursery started in 1988 and specializing in new and rare perennials, including many shade plants like jack-in-the-pulpits, wild ginger, mayapples, and toad-lilies. The sales area is quite large and well laid out and, of course, purchases were made. But the real reason I visited was to spend time in what Plant Delights calls the Juniper Level Botanic Gardens, a five acre display garden featuring the weird and wonderful plants they sell plus additional plants that are being trialed.
Golden variegated bush ivy, x Fatshedera lizei ‘Annemieke’, which I have never seen before, evidently resulted from a cross between a houseplant and ivy (not hardy in zone 6 unfortunately).
Michael and I spent over two hours in the shade section of the gardens (we never made it to the sunny side) admiring and photographing all the amazing plants displayed there. I have to thank Michael who was by my side the whole time viewing (with suitable comments) every plant I pointed out and patiently recording the botanical name of every plant I photographed. He even pointed out some of his own and never said don’t you think we should be going. That’s dedication.
This lacecap hydrangea, H. serrata ‘Burgundy Edge’, was growing literally in the dark.
I love jack-in-the-pulpits, both native and Asian, and Plant Delights must have the best collection in the U.S. Here are some of my favorites:
I didn’t realize that there were variegated forms of our native jack-in-the-pulpit, Arisaema triphyllum, but I saw two at Plant Delights: ‘Black Jack’ above and a white variegated cultivar called ‘Starburst’.
Taiwan cobra lily, Arisaema taiwanense
Jack-in-the-pulpit cross, Arisaema formosanum x consanguineum
Pinellia tripartita ‘Atropurpurea’
.
Arisaema thunbergii
Arisaema thunbergii ‘Wakayama’
Farges’s cobra lily, Arisaema fargesii, a close up of the flower appears at the beginning of the article.
The leaves of Japanese cobra lily, Arisaema ringens, are immense.
Here is Michael standing next to Arisaema ringens for scale.
I can’t imagine that Plant Delights’ collection of another of my favorites, mayapples, Podophyllum sp., can be surpassed:
Chinese mayapple, Podophyllum delavayi
Chinese mayapple, Podophyllum versipelle
I had never seen the flowers of Podophyllum ‘Spotty Dotty’.
Chinese mayapple, Podophyllum pleianthum
Chinese mayapple, Podophyllum difforme, looks like it should be growing on Mars.
Plant Delights also has a comprehensive collection of wild gingers:
I wish my ‘Galaxy’ wild ginger, Asarum takaoi ‘Galaxy’, would grow like this.
Asarum takaoi ‘Sekkyo’
Asarum kumageanum
The flower of Asarum nobilissimum
Asarum maximum ‘Shell Shocked’
I found a number of other weird and wonderful shade plants that I would like to add to my gardens:
Barrenwort, Epimedium fargesii
Toad-lily, Tricyrtis ‘Lunar Eclipse’
Very rare Paris species labeled “Wavy Leaf”
Native bloodroot, Sanguinaria canadensis “Deep Lobes”
Rosa ‘Verdun’ was covered with flowers in full shade.
Toad-lily, Tricyrtis ‘Lemon Twist’
I was finally able to purchase a shredded umbrella plant, Syneilesis aconitifolia, which I have been coveting for years!
If you are in the area, I highly recommend that you visit the Juniper Level Botanic Gardens. Plant Delights is open eight weekends a year for garden visits. Their website lists the dates. If you can’t visit then, you can always make an appointment.
Carolyn
Notes: Click on any photo to enlarge. Every word that appears in orange on my blog is a link that you can click for more information. If you want to return to my blog’s homepage to access the sidebar information (catalogues, previous articles, etc.), just click here.
Nursery Happenings: The nursery is closed until it cools off in the fall around the middle of September. If you are on my customer email list, look for an email. If not, sign up by sending an email to carolynsshadegardens@verizon.net with your name and phone number.
CAROLYN'S SHADE GARDENS 
July 5, 2011 at 3:16 pm
I’m rather envious – trying not to be jealous! You visited what I would envision (and you prove) to be a wonderful place!!! I think the “j-in-the-p” you couldn’t identify Might be Tripartita?
July 5, 2011 at 3:45 pm
SG, It was a very fun visit. I will look into Tripartita. Carolyn
July 5, 2011 at 10:38 pm
I agree about this…..but it’s not an Arisaema but a Pinellia tripartita or pedatisecta, a close relative of the Arisaemas.
I visited PDN last March and had a blast! Came home with Trillium underwoodii, Hellebores and lots of other goodies. I would love to get some of those Podophyllums some time!
July 7, 2011 at 2:16 pm
Amy, In the back of my mind, I seem to remember that the plants you mentioned are very invasive. I looked at Google images and neither of them have a red flower. Glad you had a chance to visit Plant Delights and thought it was worth the trip. Carolyn
July 5, 2011 at 3:27 pm
Nurseries with display gardens are such a bonus all the way around–it sounds like this one was a real shot in the arm for you. All those wonderful patterns in the variegation are really astonishing. To think that people lament the limitations of shade gardening…
By the way, three cheers for Michael!
July 5, 2011 at 3:47 pm
Stacy, Since I run a nursery specializing in perennials for shade, I always scratch my head when gardeners say that unfortunately all they have is shade. I think it’s an advantage. Carolyn
July 5, 2011 at 3:39 pm
Happy Fourth!
Very quiet in blogland.
That striped Jack in the Pulpit would partner well with snakeshead fritillary. Pinstripes and checks. Could be two characters in a children’s book.
July 5, 2011 at 3:48 pm
Diana, You are right about the fritillary. Too bad they bloom at different times. Carolyn
July 5, 2011 at 4:33 pm
I really enjoyed the tour of this garden. The plants are absolutely amazing–so unique, lovely, and mesmerizing. You took wonderful photos to illustrate these interesting plants.
July 7, 2011 at 1:56 pm
Thanks, SB–they had all my favorite plant types. Carolyn
July 5, 2011 at 5:37 pm
I’ve bought a number of plants from Plant Delights over the past ten years and even though the plants are a bit expensive, they’re always very well rooted and do well. They have the only hardy begonia (Begonia grandis) I’ve found that’s hardy in our zone 6 garden, so I buy a few more every year, and now they’re trying to take over my garden! Plus their catalog covers are hilarious.
Louise
July 7, 2011 at 2:02 pm
Louise, The plants I got from Plant Delights were very nice. I sell hardy begonia, both the species and white, and have since I opened in 1992. They are fully hardy. Caraolyn
July 5, 2011 at 5:40 pm
fun for you I’m sure. love the comment about Michael staying around when your browsing. on my trip to the xeriscape garden, I had to twist arms and legs just to do a walk through, and still had to hurry. sad but true. your comment on the existing landscape was unique. the front range (east side of the rockies) has such a rich natural landscape and many who live there bring there own idiosyncrasies. mainly kentucky bluegrass and landscape fabirc with gravel. the soil is pretty pathetic in areas(clay which bakes). it is a desert with 11″ of precip. mainly snow. I think with time there will me more integration into the natural landscape.
July 7, 2011 at 2:05 pm
Greggo, Michael is a very good sport when it comes to visiting nurseries and gardens. He actually enjoys it but I can be immersed in it forever. Carolyn
July 5, 2011 at 5:41 pm
Btw, what would be a good may apple vairiety for me in kansas. 6a hot and windy.
July 5, 2011 at 7:01 pm
So many interesting plants! Love the bloom of the cobra lily, but the leaves are spectacular too! I’m glad you got a plant you have wanted for a while. It’s pretty.
July 7, 2011 at 2:58 pm
Holley, The leaves on the cobra lily are very interesting, especially the big ones. The whole plant is very unusual and makes quite a statement in the garden, like a punctuation mark. Carolyn
July 5, 2011 at 7:57 pm
Wow, C! This is your most interesting post yet!
July 7, 2011 at 2:06 pm
Thanks, Joan. I was actually wondering if people would be interested in all the weird plants that fascinate me. Carolyn
July 5, 2011 at 7:57 pm
Wonderful plants, Carolyn. Thanks for sharing your finds with us.
July 7, 2011 at 2:07 pm
Jean, Glad you enjoyed it. Carolyn
July 5, 2011 at 8:42 pm
What a wonderful selection of plants. I love the Jack-in-the Pulpit in the first photo. I liked how you showed the whole plat too. It gives some scale to the flower with the huge leaves. Also, Micheal makes a good prop.
July 7, 2011 at 2:09 pm
Donna, I will pass on your compliment to Michael–not sure what he will make of being a prop! Carolyn
July 5, 2011 at 9:28 pm
I’ve never heard of a rose that blooms in shade!! I’ve ordered from them before but have never visited their nursery since it’s a state away. I bought my hardy snapdragons from them. Definitely some cool plants in your pix!!
July 7, 2011 at 2:10 pm
CM, I was amazed by the rose too. I meant to look for it in their sales area and forgot. Carolyn
July 5, 2011 at 11:38 pm
The cobra lilies are fascinating and beautiful! They are so mysterious.
Congratulations to your son! Quite an accomplishment!
July 7, 2011 at 2:17 pm
Cat, The cobra lilies really are rather strange and mysterious. Carolyn
July 6, 2011 at 12:17 am
Your photos are so visually arresting! I especially like the wild ginger series.
Congrats on your son’s graduation!
July 7, 2011 at 2:28 pm
GS, I am happy you liked the photos. I really have no photography experience–it helps to really know the plants, and digital cameras are a godsend. Carolyn
July 6, 2011 at 10:36 am
Carolyn,,
Re the Arisema you need to I.D. Try Pinellia ternata. It is a terrific ground cover for me.
Clara
July 7, 2011 at 2:36 pm
Clara, I gather you don’t consider it invasive. I have customers whose gardens are overrun with it. Carolyn
July 6, 2011 at 12:07 pm
Wow! Weird and wonderful indeed! Some of these plants, like the Taiwan Cobra Lily, look like they came straight out of a Dr. Suess storybook! (Or, like you said, MARS.) Actually, Tim Burton comes to mind when looking at that Farge’s cobra lily close up. Great pictures!
Love that Chinese Mayapple foliage and the ‘Lemon Twist’ Toad Lily. I’m in awe that any rose can and is blooming in full shade – amazing!
Thanks for sharing these plants with us, Carolyn!
July 7, 2011 at 2:38 pm
Aimee, I will be looking to add that rose to my garden if I can find it. Dr. Seuss or Tim Burton would be writers who would invent these kind of plants. That’s why I like them. Carolyn
July 6, 2011 at 1:45 pm
Carolyn – Sounds like you struck gold when you met Michael. Some of those plants look a bit scary to me (maybe it’s because of the names). I like the Galaxy ginger too.
July 7, 2011 at 2:42 pm
Bag, The plants are scary–that’s what I like about them. Carolyn
July 6, 2011 at 3:02 pm
Beautiful plants! I think I want them all. I am sure I need a bigger garden.
July 7, 2011 at 2:44 pm
Denise, Luckily I was very overheated and dehydrated when I got to the hot and sunny sales area so I only bought three plants. Carolyn
July 6, 2011 at 3:52 pm
What an amazing nursery and garden! Isn’t that Rosa ‘Verdun’ something! Thanks for sharing this garden with us!
July 7, 2011 at 2:44 pm
Christine, Glad to have you share the adventure from South Africa. Carolyn
July 6, 2011 at 5:56 pm
What an interesting post! I’d only heard of May Apples last year, and I agree Podophyllum difforme does look rather alien.
July 7, 2011 at 2:47 pm
Clare, We have a native mayapple that grows all over in the east (it seems to be able to stand up to invasive plants) so I guess I take it for granted. I do want to collect all the other species though. I guess there isn’t a mayapple native to California. Carolyn
July 6, 2011 at 10:15 pm
Dear Carolyn, These plants are indeed Weird and Wonderful, especially the first toadlily picture. I was given a mayapple this year, but I am not sure if it survived. I can see why you wanted a shredded umbrella plant — now I want one, too. P. x
July 7, 2011 at 2:49 pm
Pam, I had seen the shredded umbrella plant in some collector’s gardens over the years and really wanted one. Instead of seeking it out, I just have a life list of plants that I want and when I run into one of them a t a nursery, I buy it. Carolyn
July 7, 2011 at 9:01 am
Between you and Pam at Digging, Mr. Avent should have sent you home with some freebies due to all the blog publicity. It is a marvelous place and for people who garden in the land of hazy hot and humid, we appreciate all his efforts to bring new plants to the table that thrive in our climate. BTW, Fatshedra is a cross between Hedera helix and Fatsia japonica. It will not run rampant like Ivy, but it is vinier than Fatsia.
July 7, 2011 at 2:51 pm
Les, I didn’t even get a discount. Tony was too busy to talk to me, but I loved his nursery and his botanic gardens. Carolyn
July 7, 2011 at 9:48 am
Wow! The first photo really looked like anaconda than a cobra..very unusual and exotic! In fact the first time Ive seen it! Such interesting pattern of different types of foliage, who needs flowers!
July 7, 2011 at 2:53 pm
P3, I agree about the first photo, and I bought that jack-in-the-pulpit for my garden so hopefully next year I will have my own snake like flowers to show here. Carolyn
July 7, 2011 at 5:08 pm
You found lots of great plants there, but the picture of the cobra lily really took my breath away!
July 9, 2011 at 12:51 pm
Masha, I was so amazed by it that I bought one. We will see how it does. Carolyn
July 7, 2011 at 5:10 pm
Carolyn,
I wonder if your customers who are overrun with Pinellia have the purple throated variety or the plain green throated which I’ve heard called Green Dragon? Green Dragon is one of the most invasive plants I’ve ever seen but the purple throated one has been very well behaved here.
I agree with all the comments about what a great article this is.
Keep up the good work.
Clara
July 9, 2011 at 12:53 pm
Clara, The one they are complaining about is the plain green one. Does the purple flowered plant have a different name? I tried to Google it but couldn’t find it. Carolyn
July 7, 2011 at 5:44 pm
Very envious of your tour here Carolyn. Would be hard to tear myself away. Thank you for showing us so many diverse plants that grow in shade. I have a H. serrata i but it’s flagging a little without the moist soil it prefers. Breathtaking 1st shot – I would like to hang in on my wall. You’ve picked up some great plants from here for your own magnificent garden.
July 9, 2011 at 12:54 pm
Laura, It was hard to leave, but I don’t do well in the heat, and North Carolina is very hot, even in May. That’s why I missed the sunny display gardens. Carolyn
July 7, 2011 at 8:30 pm
This post is amazing! What a fantastic resource for all of us. I wish us New England folk could grow bush ivy-amazing!!! Thanks for sharing your adventure Carolyn.
July 9, 2011 at 1:11 pm
Jay, So nice to hear from you. Love your post on planting shrubs. I tried to leave a comment but I don’t think it worked. I just mentioned you this morning to a very qualified person who is looking for a landscaping job sales outside Boston. He may contact you. Carolyn
July 8, 2011 at 2:40 pm
What a fabulous collection of plants – I am a sucker for stylish foliage at the best of times, but that has to be the best selection I have ever seen gathered together. I am in love with Sanguinaria canadensis “Deep Lobes”, but that feels unfair, as until I saw it I had lost my heart to the Asian jack-in-the-pulpit, and then there is that wonderful Chinese mayapple… I’m not surprised you never made it to the sunny section! What a great place to visit.
July 9, 2011 at 1:13 pm
Janet, It was interesting because when I visited the Duke Gardens on the same trip I saw wild bloodroot also with deep lobes. I wonder if it is a local population all with that showy configuration. Glad you liked the plants. Carolyn
July 8, 2011 at 4:21 pm
I was drooling all the way through this post. My wish list is growing ever longer: Rosa ‘Verdun’, shredded umbrella plant, those beautiful mayapples and asarums… If anyone thinks gardening in the shade is boring, that person hasn’t seen your blog!
July 9, 2011 at 1:16 pm
Deb, Many gardeners approach shade as a liability, and most nurseries perpetuate that fallacy by not selling a very good selection of plants for shade. I, of course think that full sun is a liability. Carolyn
July 9, 2011 at 8:44 am
Carolyn, so many weird and wonderful plants you show us, non more so than the Farges’s cobra lily, Arisaema fargesii. We do have a form of the Tricyrtis which has purple flowers in Autumn.
July 9, 2011 at 1:17 pm
Alistair, I love toad-lilies in all their many interesting forms, but my favorite is ‘Sinonome’ with orchid-like purple flowers in October. Carolyn
July 9, 2011 at 5:21 pm
Thanks for taking us on a virtual tour of this fabulous place. I have been coveting a jack in the pulpit for years… hard to get around here, and although there are supposed to be some native varieties I have yet to see one in the wild. You have me drooling!
July 11, 2011 at 10:54 am
Cathy, We do have native jacks,A. triphyllum, but they are few and far between in my area now due to invasive plants. Carolyn
July 10, 2011 at 4:05 pm
Quite the show Carolyn. A fabulous place to visit and is now on my list. I am enamored with the deep lobes bloodroot, I did a double -take on that photo.
July 11, 2011 at 11:04 am
Patty, The deep lobes may be quite common in the south, but i have never seen bloodroot like that before. Carolyn
July 10, 2011 at 9:51 pm
Hi Carolyn,
I’m back again concerning the Pinellia. I found it under Pinellia ternata this spring. (Googled it and hit images.) I do think there’s a world of difference between the purple and Green Dragon and I know Tony well enough to know he wouldn’t grow it if it were terribly invasive.
BTW, if you find a source for Rosa Verdun I do hope you will share with all of us.
Thanks.
July 11, 2011 at 11:05 am
Clara, Thanks for coming back to clear that up. Carolyn
July 11, 2011 at 5:42 pm
Wow, that first image is certainly a show-stopper. It looks like a liquorice allsort ! I also loved the Galaxy wild ginger. The epimedium fargesii is surprising too, with its narrow leaves: you have to look really hard to see even a hint of the traditional heart shape. All in all, a great haul of unusual plants.
July 14, 2011 at 10:15 am
Jill, You may know already that there are probably over a hundred cultivars of epimediums, some like E. fargesii with really amazing leaves. Carolyn
July 13, 2011 at 9:32 pm
Wish I had the climate for ‘Galaxy’ wild ginger, those leaves are fab.
July 14, 2011 at 10:16 am
Cathy, Glad you liked the collection. Carolyn
September 21, 2011 at 8:45 pm
That is impressive how different posts about the same place can be! I love seeing all the shade plants you focused on – it’s not a subject I know much about! It was great to see your take on the botanical garden – there’s something for everyone there!
December 19, 2012 at 3:39 pm
Hi Carolyn, I ran across this posting while doing a search for Podophyllums. Glad to see all the pictures of Plant Delights a little later in the season than I usually go. I’m wondering about the picture for Podophyllum delavayi. The pictures I’ve usually seen have marvelously variegated foliage.
December 19, 2012 at 4:38 pm
John, The captions are directly from the Plant Delights label. Perhaps it is like our native mayapples which are usually fairly green but can have wonderful markings. Breeders would choose the more marked forms and the available photos and specimens would reflect that. Just a guess. Carolyn
March 14, 2017 at 6:20 pm
The Arisaema you couldn’t identify is Pinellia tripartita — be afraid, be very afraid. I got one from Tony. I thought I might grow it in a pot if it made a good cut flower, it doesn’t, but I have been digging them out ever since. It and it’s less attractive brothers, are very invasive.
March 14, 2017 at 6:26 pm
Oops, Pinellia ternata — still beware.
March 14, 2017 at 6:27 pm
Thanks for the info. Carolyn