American Gardener Magazine New Plants 2016

Excerpted from "The American Gardener" magazine - Jan/Feb 2016

New Plants for 2016

For Dendranthema fans (otherwise known as Korean mums or Hardy mums – these are the ones that come back every year but can be quite floppy and really should be pinched at least once) there’s a new, lower-maintenance cultivar.  Dendranthema ‘Pumpkin Igloo’ has a “non-fading vibrant orange flower color on a compact branching plant that doesn’t need to be pinched”.  Does well down to Zone 5.  If you’ve not used these, they bring amazing flower power to the late summer/early fall perennial border - plants are covered in orange daisy flowers for over a month.  They attract masses of late-season pollinators and are deer-resistant.

Dendranthemum 'Pumpkin Igloo' flower color really pops with other early-fall flowers and foliage.

'Perovskia atriplicifolia (Russian Sage) is drought-tolerant and deer-resistant but can be a little too wild for some gardens.  ‘Denim ‘n Lace’ is a new cultivar with shorter upright stems that won’t flop over. 

Perovskia atriplicifolia 'Denim 'n Lace' is more compact and makes a bigger flower statement than the species - but it reads more purple catmint-colored than the bluer color of the species.

Heliopsis helianthoides var. scabra (False sunflower or Oxeye Daisy) also has a sturdier new cultivar called ‘Prima Ballerina’.  This is a native perennial for the back of the border with bright yellow daisy-like flowers that attract pollinators.  Heliopsis flowers from July to October and is surprisingly deer-resistant in most locations I’ve used it.  It’s a drought-tolerant native (once established) and can tolerate clay soil.  ‘Prima Ballerina’ tops out at only about 40 inches tall and does well to Zone 3.

Heliopsis is perfect for the back of a border - it even works in front foundation plantings.

If you’re looking for something different to put in annual containers this year, look into Echeveria gibbiflora Wildfire™.  This is a 10-inch tall rosette-forming succulent with ruffled, red-edged foliage serves a dramatic visual punctuation and and would look great with ground-cover sedums in a dry, desert-y full-sun container.

This Echeveria will make the blue-toned varieties pop!

Don’t be afraid to try some of the new roses – they really are much easier to grow and maintain nowadays if you choose the disease-resistant repeat-blooming varieties.  Knock-Out roses are in every median strip nowadays – we need a step up from them in our gardens!  There’s a new David Austin rose in 2016 called Rosa ‘Olivia Rose Austin’ which David Austin has called “possibly the best rose that we have introduced to date.  It is also one of the most disease-resistant roses we know.”  It’s a 3-ft tall shrub rose that blooms prolifically with double/full old-rose style flowers and a strong fruity fragrance.

Rosa 'Olivia Rose Austin'

I hope everyone has discovered the wonderfulness of highbush blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum).  For those without deer, blueberries are practically an ideal shrub.  They stay fairly compact (about the size of boxwood or spirea) with an interesting branching pattern.  They have delicate and beautiful flowers in spring, followed by berries that birds love (you can eat them too if you want) and then show-stopping red-orange-burgundy fall foliage color.  They don’t mind a bit of shade, and they tolerate wet feet.  And they’re native – what’s not to love?!  There’s a new series of compact shrubs called BrazelBerries® that includes blueberry varieties.  The new variety for 2016, ‘Perpetua’, is described as “a true double-cropping blueberry, setting fruit in midsummer and then again in fall.  ’Perpetua’s dark green leaves grow in a twisted form and are flushed deep red in fall, while the new canes turn bright yellow and red”.  Does well to Zone 4. 

Brazelberry 'Perpetua' is a compact blueberry cultivar that is self-pollinating.

The wonderfulness of high bush blueberries! This is the 'Perpetual' Brazelberry cultivar. Here you can see the flowers for the fall berry crop together with the fall-colored foliage.

Good advice for everyone, including Landscape Designers

“Annotated” Words of Wisdom from Better Homes and Gardens Magazine Feb 2016 

The article was about enterpreneurs.  It's headline was:

"HINDSIGHT IS 20/20. Here’s what successful start-ups wish they had known."

1. It gets lonely – not just working by yourself, but making decisions alone.

…

So make sure you cherish your network of friends and colleagues and meet up with them in person regularly.  It can be at the Mamaroneck Public Library for a coffee break during the work day, lunch, or a visit to a public garden on the weekend.  Don’t hesitate to share designs, problems and ideas – its not a competition.  Designs are better when they’re talked through – show someone else the design or meet them at the site and brainstorm over the latte that you bring them.  Also make sure you take the time to talk to the people at the nurseries.  Ask about new plants, their favorite plants, why they like a certain cultivar, what they know about a tree, how the growing season has been affected by the weather – just make a connection. 

2. You wear lots of hats – customer service, accounting, marketing, production, PR – it’s all up to you.

…

But of course you can’t really do it all, so you’ll probably outsource.  You may be able to barter if you’re a fairly small operation – trade planting seasonal containers for a tutorial in Quickbooks.  The only thing you can be is yourself – if you play to your strengths you’ll be the most effective and the least frustrated.

3. Don’t compare – every business grows differently. Try not to compare yourself with others.

…When you look at other people’s beautiful pictures or visit award-winning landscapes, appreciate the talent and creativity and find out what plants they used and why, what their inspiration was.  Don’t be jealous, and don’t despair.

4. Hire slow, fire fast – the people you work with are an extension of your brand. Make sure they’re good at it.

…

This is especially true about the contractors you use.  Its not worth hitching your wagon to someone who doesn’t share your standards or doesn’t know what they’re doing.  Cutting corners really doesn’t work in the long run.

5. Be patient – overnight sensations are the exceptions, not the rule. Persistence, hard work and believing in what you do pay off in the long run.

…

And I would add to that, being good at what you do will pay off in the long run.  That means never stop learning.  Luckily for us landscapes are a long-lasting work product that can continue to evolve and be tweaked (and be learned from!) over time.  

6. Pivot and problem-solve – when you hit an obstacle, don’t let it stop you. Adjust and work it out.

…Mistakes will be made.  We’re human.  Its all about what you do next.  If you make a mistake, ‘fess up and make it right.

Flight 93 Memorial

The Visitor's Center at the Flight 93 Memorial will officially be dedicated tomorrow.  I remember that morning hearing that one of the planes had crashed in Pittsburgh.  Of course no one knew what was happening - it was all unfolding in terrifying real time.  The plane crashed near Shanksville, PA, not too far from the PA turnpike.  Since I travelled the PA turnpike quite often in those years, I figured out with Dad where Shanksville was and on one trip I went to see the site, though the park had not been developed at that point.  Western PA is the place that feels like home to me.  It's peaceful and beautiful and vast, with rolling hills and farmland and spectacular fall foliage.  Hopefully a peaceful resting place.  

Here's what Paul Murdoch, the architect of the memorial said about it:

“In its raw severity, we acknowledge their sacrifice. In its solemn darkness, we acknowledge their loss. In its calm serenity, we offer solace at their final resting place. And in its monumental scale, we praise their heroic deeds.”

'Soaring Spirit' climbing rose planted in the 'Remember Me' memorial rose gardens and also in my backyard in remembrance of those who lost their lives on 9/11

Some Plants you should try

Try these plants in your garden - you will be rewarded with long-lasting and beautiful flowers.  And we all know there can never be enough flowers!

Hydrangea macrophylla Everlasting Revolution - Many different colors of blooms on the same plant

Hydrangea Everlasting Revolution with green tinge as blooms ageThe plant grows to about 3 ft X 3 ft with sturdy stems and deeply-toothed leaves  Hydrangea macrophylla  Cultivar name: 'Hokomarevo'.  The color changes on a single Revolution shrub are incredible.  You will see combinations of deep pink, maroon and blue blooms, all with green highlights as the flowers mature.  Every color can be present at once on this heavily re-blooming shrub.  It's as if all the colors and combinations possible in the Hydrangea family have come together in a single shrub.

"Everlasting™" is a Dutch series, and it was originally bred for the cut-flower market, so the emphasis is entirely on the blooms. The flower stems are stronger and straighter than those of many other Hydrangeas, ensuring that the blooms won't flop or twist.  The flowers are ultra long-lasting and quite large, especially when seen on the plant, which is just 3 to 4 feet high and wide.

It needs consistently moist soil and a bit of shade. Do not allow it to dry out completely, but make sure the soil drainage is good.  Zones 5-9.

Rosa X 'Citrus Burst'

Rosa X 'Citrus Burst'

This climbing rose has flowers with soft pink and yellow stripes that repeat steadily all summer.  It has a light green apple fragrance and a vigorious grower, reaching up to 12 feet.  It has excellent disease resistance and with dark green, very glossy foliage.  Bloom Season: spring to fall. 

Clematis Still Waters

Clematis Still Waters™ - "Dependable performance and soothing lavender tones." Cultivar Name: 'Zostiwa'.

Still Waters™ produces pale lavender-blue 4-inch blooms with maroon centers.  It starts blooming in June and flowers freely, reblooming all summer.  The pale blooms hold their color beautifully - a long-lasting play of light against warmer colors.  It is a Group 3 Clematis, meaning that it blooms primarily on new wood (making it "easy" to grow because you can cut it back each year).  Every spring you should prune it back to about 2 feet from the ground.  

Bred in the Netherlands, Still Waters™ is a Proven Winners® ColorChoice® plant chosen for its exceptional beauty and performance.  To be selected for this group, it was thoroughly tested in trial gardens all around the world, and found to have superb health, vigor, and color.

You commonly read that Clematis prefer light shade, especially on their roots.  But I've also learned from experts that this "preference" is because many people don't plant Clematis correctly.  Just like tomato plants, they should be planted with their crowns 2 – 3 inches deeper in the ground compared to the pot-dirt-level to encourage robust root growth.  The first set of true leaves should be under the soil surface.  This allows the plant to grow a strong root system – critical for a vigorous vine.

I know, I know.  This goes against everything we’ve ever heard about “don’t plant too deeply or you’ll kill the plant.”  Tomatoes and Clematis break that rule.  They sprout roots from nodes along the buried stem, and these extra roots strengthen the plants so that they can support more fruit (tomato) or climb more vigorously and produce more flowers (clematis).  With proper planting, watering until establishment (and during periods of drought) and mulch to conserve soil moisture, Clematis should do just fine without "cool" or "shaded" roots.  Remember to keep the mulch several inches away from the crown, where the vines emerge from the soil.

Old habits die hard, but I've tried it a number of times and it really does work work.  Clematis is "finnicky" no longer!  You can get Clematis Still Waters™ and a great selection of other Clematis and other types of vines and climbers mail-order from Brushwood Nursery.  They propagate from cuttings, and ship again starting Sept through Nov (although last I checked they are out of stock for Still Waters™).  I've been very pleased with their quality and I've tried small-flowered Clematis and non-vining Clematis varieties as well – both turn out to be unusual and beautiful (and low-maintenance as well).  It’s a cheap and easy way to add flowers to your landscape, especially if you have trellises, gazebos, garden arches or stone walls for the vines to grow on.

Zones 5 to 9.

The food web - what is the role of fungi?

Disclaimer:  Before you read further, this may be the product of a science nerd.  I learned several new terms during the research for this entry, including my new favorite "phyllosphere" - which I will be using in sentences as much as possible from now on!

Someone asked me recently what powdery mildew was and if it harmed the tree.

Before I could answer the question, I had to understand the role of fungus in the food web, since powdery mildew is caused by a fungus.  It turns out that it's all about the disposition of energy and nutrients in the food web.

• A food web is a graphic concept describing "who eats whom" in an ecosystem.  Every living thing—from single-celled algae to giant blue whales—needs food to survive.  How that living thing gets its food is part of a complex pathway that energy and nutrients follow through the ecosystem.

Organisms within an ecosystem are generally divided into categories called "trophic levels" – referring to whether they produce their own food ("producers"), eat other organic matter that is living or recently killed ("consumers") or eat non-living plant and animal remains ("detritivores, saprotrophs, decomposers").

• Producers, also known as "autotrophs", make their own food.  Autotrophs are usually plants or single-celled organisms.  Nearly all autotrophs use a process called photosynthesis to create “food” (glucose) from sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water. 

Primary consumers, or herbivores, eat plants.  Secondary consumers eat the herbivores.  Tertiary consumers eat the secondary consumers.  Consumers can be carnivores (animals that eat other animals) or omnivores (animals that eat both plants and animals).  

• Detritivores feed on any dead or organic biomass including animals, plants, and feces.  They ingest the decomposing biological matter, digest it internally, and shed nutrients in simple forms that plants can easily absorb from the soil.  The earthworm is a classic example of a terrestrial detritivore, but slugs, woodlice, dung flies, millipedes, and most of the worms are some of the other examples. 

• Saprotrophs feed on decaying or dead plant matter.  Fungi species predominate among saprotrophs due to their ability to digest lignin in the xylem tissues of plants.  Saprotrophs don't have an internal digestive system.  Instead, they secrete digestive enzymes such as proteases, lipases, or amylases onto the substrates.  This type of extracellular digestion transforms lipids into fatty acids and glycerol; proteins into amino acids, and polysaccharides (e.g. lignin, starch) into glucose and fructose.  These simplified nutrients are absorbed into the fungi through an active transport means called endocytosis – this is how they get their nutrition.  

The ecological role of the saprotrophs is vital for nutrient cycling and energy flow since they consume matter that is difficult for others to break down.

• Detritivores are mostly animals while saprotrophs are mostly fungi.
• Detritivores consume lumps of dead organic matter separately, while saprotrophs absorb chemically digested food.
• Saprotrophs digest their food externally, whereas detritivores do it internally in the digestive system.
• Detritivores shed most of the digested matter unabsorbed, whereas saprotrophs absorb the entire digested matter to use for their own growth, repair, and reproduction.

Decomposers - fungi and bacteria - turn organic wastes into inorganic materials, such as nutrient-rich soil.  

Detritivores, saprotrophs and decomposers function to complete the cycle of life, returning nutrients to the soil or oceans for use by autotrophs.

• Different habitats and ecosystems provide many possible food chains that make up a food web.  As an example, a grazing food web has plants or other photosynthetic organisms at its base, followed by herbivores and various carnivores.  A detrital food web, mostly bacteria or fungi, recycles organic material back into the biotic part of the ecosystem.  Since all ecosystems require a method to recycle material from dead organisms, most grazing food webs have an associated detrital food web.  For example, in a meadow ecosystem, plants may support a grazing food web of different consumers, while at the same time supporting a detrital food web of bacteria, fungi, and detrivorous invertebrates feeding off dead plants and animals.

• Producers receive their energy from light by means of photosynthesis.  After this, the energy in organic matter flows from producers to the different levels of consumers.  However, at each trophic level, energy is always lost.  All of the trophic levels lose energy as heat through cell respiration.  Also, as the organic matter passes from one trophic level to the next, not all of it is digested and energy from organic matter is lost through feces.  This energy then passes on to the detritivores and saprotrophs.  Another energy loss occurs through tissue loss and death which can happen at any trophic level.  Once again, this energy would be passed on to detritivores and saprotrophs as they digest these.  Detritivores and saprotrophs, in turn, lose energy as heat through cell respiration. 

Energy is not recycled.  Since the energy in organic matter is continually being lost as it flows through the ecosystem, energy in the form of sunlight must be constantly re-supplied.  Nutrients on the other hand have to be recycled.  There is only a finite supply of them - they are absorbed from the environment, used by living organisms and then returned to the environment.

• Fungi that act as decomposers are essential recyclers of nutrients in an ecosystem.  Without these fungi, forest floors would be covered in plant debris and animal carcasses; similarly other ecosystems would have a vast amount of waste piled up.  Without fungal decomposition, nutrients in the soil would be used up, and plants would not have food and couldn’t survive.  If plants don’t survive, the animals that depend on plants for food would also suffer, and the whole food chain would collapse. 

Since transferring nutrients from fungi to the soil is such an integral part of the food chain, some organisms team up with fungi to form symbiotic relationships.  Mycorrhizal fungi, for example, form a symbiotic relationship with plant roots; the plant provides the fungi with carbohydrates, and the fungi in return transfer nutrients like phosphorus to the plant.

• Endophytic fungus lives within a plant for at least part of its life without causing apparent disease.‪   Endophytes are ubiquitous and have been found in all the species of plants studied to date, but most of these endophyte/plant relationships are not well understood.  Many economically important grasses (e.g., Festuca spp. [Fescue], Lolium spp. [Ryegrass], Zea [Maize]) carry fungal endophytes that are believed to enhance host growth‪ and improve the plant's ability to tolerate abiotic stresses, such as drought, and resistance to insects and mammalian herbivores.‬‬‬‬   For example, endophyte-containing tall fescue is now being planted in areas where people want to deter geese from eating the grass, since it seems to be unpalatable to them.‬‬

While most fungi aid the function of the ecosystem and contribute positively to the food chain, some fungi are harmful to and can even destroy plant life.  An epiphytic fungus is a fungus that grows upon, or attached to, a living plant.  Ephiphytic fungi are part of the mycobiota infesting the plant's phyllosphere, or leaf surface, along with other species of fungus and other organisms.  If cultural conditions (temperature, humidity, soil moisture etc ) result in a disturbance of the equilibrium between "good" and "pathogenic" organisms in the phyllospere, a pathogenic epiphyte like the fungus causing powdery mildew can precipitate plant disease.

• Powdery mildew fungi are obligate, biotrophic parasites.  Infection by the fungus is favored by high humidity but not by free water.  During the growing season, hyphae are produced on leaf surfaces and specialized absorption cells, termed "haustoria", extend into the plant epidermal cells to obtain nutrition - this can eventually kill a heavily infected leaf.  "Conidia" (asexual spores) are also produced on plant surfaces during the growing season.  They develop on specialized hyphae called conidiophores that are frost-resistant and can overwinter in leaf litter. 

Certain fungal species that cause wood rot are also epiphytic and gain access to wood at a wound site where the bark is breached.  Although trees have mechanisms to compartmentalize the spread of fungi, if large areas of dead tissue spread through the tree, its nutrient supply is cut off and its structural integrity is compromised.  

• But even as pathogens, the role of fungi can be seen as beneficial to the ecosystem as a whole.  Tree death is a natural and necessary aspect of the forest ecosystem.  The death of large old trees is necessary for the regeneration of new trees and the continuation of the forest.  Death is necessary for life.  Tree diseases that attack especially weak trees can improve the overall vigor of a stand.  In addition, the death of a large tree in the forest creates a gap in the canopy, letting sunlight reach the forest floor and allowing the regeneration of species that would not otherwise grow in the shade of the tree.  Therefore, tree death can improve the diversity of the forest.  This is important because diversity confers resilience to a system.  Pathogens often have some degree of host specificity, meaning they only attack certain species of trees.  A forest that contains only one type of tree is in danger of being completely obliterated by a single pathogen, whereas the damage would be more confined in a forest with greater species diversity.

Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Richmond VA

My smart and sweet niece is going to start at the University of Richmond this fall, and it just so happens that Richmond has a Botanical Garden - can't wait to see it!  There are some stunning pictures on line - I've added a few below - including a treehouse that is part of the children's garden.

Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden overviewThe water feature in the sunken gardenAutumn colors surround the treehouseIt looks like a lovely place to take a walk if you need a break.  

US National Arboretum Tree and Shrub Introductions

I ran across the US National Arboretum website again recently, and my attention was caught by the information on introductions to the Nursery trade that have come from there.  There are some we all use and might be surprised came from the National Arboretum (like 'Green Giant' arborvitae, who knew?!), and others that are worth looking out for this coming season, like 'Sun Valley' red maple.  Here are the descriptions of a few of them.

Malus 'Adirondack' (Crabapple) Five hundred open-pollinated seedlings of Malus halliana were artificially inoculated with fire blight under controlled conditions.  Of the sixty surviving seedlings, several showed field resistance to scab, cedar-apple rust, and powdery mildew when exposed to natural inoculum from heavily infected, susceptible plants during eleven years of field trial.  'Adirondack' was selected from this seedling population in 1974 by Donald R. Egolf and released in 1987.  'Adirondack' has a narrow, upright-branched growth habit, abundant, small, persistent fruit, a slow to moderate growth rate, and multiple disease tolerance. This is one for confined spaces, an allee, or next to a walkway.  Even the front border if there's anough space.

• Height and Width: 18 feet tall and 16 feet crown width at 20 years.
• Habit: Narrow obovate, upright-branched small tree. Maintains upright form with age.
• Foliage: Leathery dark green leaves. The foliage is highly tolerant to cedar apple rust, apple scab, and powdery mildew.
• Flowers: Dark carmine buds mature to a lighter red and open to white, waxy, heavy-textured, wide-spreading flowers with traces of red; slightly fragrant.
• Fruit: Abundant, bright orange-red, hard, small (1/2-inch) fruit persist until early winter. Relished by birds after softened by freezing.
• Adaptable to diverse soil, moisture, and climatic conditions. Requires virtually no pruning to maintain its shape nor chemical controls for the common crabapple diseases.

Viburnum X burkwoodii 'Conoy' U.S.D.A. Zones 5b - 8; reliably evergreen in U.S.D.A. Zones 7 - 8.

'Conoy' is a selection from the cross of V. utile with V. x burkwoodii 'Park Farm Hybrid' made in 1968 by Dr. Donald Egolf at the U.S. National Arboretum. Selected for field trial and propagation in 1976, 'Conoy' was named and released in 1988.

'Conoy' is distinguished from other Burkwood viburnum cultivars by its compact growth habit, fine-textured, evergreen foliage, and persistent, abundant, glossy red fruit for approximately 6-8 weeks in the fall.

• Height and width: 4-5 feet tall and 7-8 feet wide.
• Habit: Spreading, dense-branched, evergreen shrub.
• Foliage: Extremely glossy, small, dark green leaves in summer with dark maroon tinge in winter.
• Flowers: Dark pink buds open to slightly fragrant, cream-white flowers in late April.
• Fruit: Slightly pendulous clusters of fruit ripen in mid-August to bright red before turning black in October.
• Grows best in full sun to partial shade in a heavy loam with an adequate moisture supply. Tolerates drought and drier soils extremely well.

Thuja 'Green Giant'  Thuja (standishii x plicata) 'Green Giant'  U.S.D.A. Zones 5–7

In 1967, a single plant reputed to be Thuja (standishii x plicata)was received from D.T. Poulsen, Kvistgaard, Denmark, and planted at the U.S. National Arboretum. This plant exhibited exceptional landscape quality and propagations were distributed. In the distribution process, the name and identity of this clone became confused with that of another arborvitae from the same source, T. occidentalis 'Giganteoides'. The identity of the exceptional clone as the T. (standishii x plicata) hybrid was resolved by Susan Martin, USNA, Kim Trip, New York Botanic Garden, and Robert Marquard, Holden Arboretum, through extensive records searches, nursery inspections, and isozyme analysis. The name Thuja 'Green Giant' was selected to identify and promote this clone.

'Green Giant' is a vigorously growing, pyramidal evergreen with rich green color that remains outstanding throughout hardiness range. It has no serious pest or disease problems and has been widely grown and tested in commercial nursery production. 

• Height and width: To 60 feet tall with a 12–20 foot spread at maturity; 30 feet at 30 years.
• Growth rate: Rapid.
• Habit: Tightly pyramidal to conical evergreen tree; uniform appearance.
• Foliage: Dense, rich green, scalelike foliage in flattened sprays borne on horizontal to ascending branches; good winter color.
• Fruit: Persistent, oblong cones, approximately 1/2 inch length. Cones emerge green and mature to brown.
• Adaptable; grows in soil types from sandy loams to heavy clays. Requires little to no pruning.

The "Girl" Magnolias U.S.D.A. Zones 3 - 8

• Magnolia (liliflora 'Nigra' x stellata 'Rosea') 'Ann', 'Betty', 'Judy', 'Randy', 'Ricki', 'Susan'
• Magnolia (liliflora 'Reflorescens' x stellata 'Waterlily') 'Jane' 
• Magnolia (liliflora 'Reflorescens' x stellata 'Rosea') 'Pinkie' 

'The "Girl Magnolias'' are selections resulting from controlled pollinations of Magnolia liliflora 'Nigra' by M. stellata 'Rosea'; M. liliflora 'Reflorescens' by M. stellata 'Rosea'; and M. liliflora 'Reflorescens' by M. stellata 'Waterlily'.  The crosses were made at the U.S. National Arboretum in 1955 and 1956 by William F. Kosar and Dr. Francis de Vos. All are F1 hybrids and reported to be sterile triploid selections.

These magnolia selections bloom two to four weeks later than M. stellata and M. x soulangiana, reducing the possibility of late spring frost damage. Plants produce flowers with a variety of colors from reddish-purple to pink on white. The unexpected sporadic summer bloom adds landscape interest.  Plants grow best in full sun to light shade; prefer loam soil with adequate moisture; tolerate poorly drained, heavy clay soils or dry areas.

Magnolia 'Jane'Magnolia 'Ann'

Viburnum X burkwoodii 'Mohawk' U.S.D.A. Zones 5b - 8  A backcross of Viburnum x burkwoodii to V. carlesii was made in 1953 by Dr. Donald Egolf.  Seed produced from this cross was embryo-cultured to expedite seedling production.  The cultivar 'Mohawk' was selected from this population in 1960 and released in 1966.

'Mohawk' is distinguished from related cultivars by abundant clusters of glossy, dark red flower buds that are ornamental for several weeks prior to full bloom.  The waxy white flowers with red blotches on the reverse side of the petals have a strong, spicy, clove fragrance.  'Mohawk' has a fairly compact growth habit and foliage resistant to bacterial leaf spot and powdery mildew.  Definitely choose this as your fragrant viburnum if you see it in the Nursery!

• Height and width: 8 feet tall and 10 feet wide.
• Habit: Deciduous shrub with spreading branches.
• Foliage: Glossy, dark green leaves turn a brilliant orange-red in autumn. The foliage is highly tolerant to bacterial leaf spot and powdery mildew.
• Flowers: Brilliant, glossy red flower buds appear several weeks before the flowers begin to open in late April, extending the effective ornamental period by several weeks. The red of the flower buds contrasts well with the white of the opened flowers and is retained on the reverse of the flower. Flowers have a strong, spicy, clove fragrance. 
• Fruit: A black drupe.
• 'Mohawk' grows well in many exposures and soils, but performs best in sun with moderate moisture and well-drained soils.

Acer rubrum 'Sun Valley' U.S.D.A. Zones 4–7 'Sun Valley' resulted from a controlled cross made in 1982 by A.M. Townsend as part of a tree genetics research project examining the inheritance of fall color and leafhopper resistance.  'Sun Valley' is a cross of A.rubrum 'Red Sunset' and A.rubrum 'Autumn Flame'. Released December, 1994.  I saw a whole row of these about 2 years ago at Prospero Nursery in full color, and they were so beautiful.  Completely symmetrical shape and some hints of orange in their red color.  They really looked like a sunset.  Unfortunately, at the time I didn't know anything about this hybrid, so we didn't end up buying one, to my eternal regret!

• Height and Width: 21 feet tall, 10 feet wide at 10 years.
• Habit: Medium-sized deciduous tree.  Symmetrical ovate crown.
• Foliage: Brilliant red, exceptionally long- lasting (2 weeks or more) with peak color in the 3rd to 4th week of October, about 1 week before 'October Glory'.  Medium green leaves in summer. 
• Bark: Light grey and smooth when young; turning dark grey with age. 
• Flowers: Male, early spring.
• Adaptable to a wide range of soil conditions. Prefer slightly acid, moist soils.  

2015 Perennial Plant of the Year - Geranium x cantabrigiense 'Biokovo'

Geranium X cantabrigiense 'Biokovo' in flower

The Perennial Plant Association membership has voted and the 2015 Perennial Plant of the Year™ is  Geranium X cantabrigiense ‘Biokovo’.

 ’Biokovo’ is a naturally occurring hybrid of Geranium dalmaticum and Geranium macrorrhizum found in the Dalmatia region of present-day Croatia.  It blooms in late spring with masses of 5-petaled white flowers, about ¾” diameter, that are tinged pink at the base of each petal and have darker pink center stamens.  An interesting feature is that the sepals that are redder than the petals, so that when the flower opens the lightly tinged pink flowers provide a nice contrast to the sepals and stamens.  It blooms from mid-May to late July.

G. X cantabrigiense has aromatic foliage and rounded leaf edges and is semi-evergreen in most climates.  It has a spreading habit and is rhizomatous, i.e. it spreads by sending out runners.  It grows to 6-10 inches high, with a spread of about 2 feet.  It can be used as a ground cover that spreads fairly rapidly through the perennial bed or as an edger in the front of the border.  It also does well in rock gardens.  It tolerates full sun to part-shade conditions.  Its foliage turns scarlet and orange in the fall. 

Another G. X cantabrigiense variety is 'Karmina', because sometimes it matters what color the flowers are!

Geranium X cantabrigiense 'Karmina', seen below, has carmine-red flowers.

The general qualities of Geranium species (commone name "cranesbill") include: 

• Deer Resistant (OK, yes, nothing is completely deer-resistant; it is in many places I've planted it)
• Many varieties tolerate some shade
• Bloom for 4 weeks or more 
• Rabbit Resistant (again, it depends, but in general they leave it alone)
• Flowers attract butterflies
• Can be used as groundcovers (low spreaders) or bed-fillers (taller varieties)
• Need little care and no division
• Excellent mounding habit as they first start in spring, and some varieties maintain that habit.  
• Deeply cut foliage; flowers with interesting veining patterns. 
• They can be deadheaded after blooming, or the tops of the plants can be sheared back to new growth to stimulate re-bloom and freshen foliage.  
• Many varieties have beautiful red, burgundy or orange fall color that is a stand-out if the plant has been allowed to weave intself throught the garden bed.

Other types of geranium that are useful in different garden contexts, are hardy and fairly care-free include:

• Geranium macrorrhizum (Bigroot Geranium), Z 3-8, 15-18" in height, native to southern Europe, large laromatic leaves.  Varieties include 'Bevan's Variety' and 'Ingwersen's Variety', seen in the series of pictures below:

G. macrorrhizum 'Bevan's Variety'

G. macrorrhizhum 'Ingwersen's Variety'

G. macrorrhizum fall foliage color

• Geranium pratense (Meadow Cranesbill), Z 5-7, 24-36" tall, purple flowers from reddish veins on dark blue petals, native to northern Europe, may need staking.  Some cultivars have dark foliage; need sun for optimal foliage color.   Clump-former; blooms May – July.  Cultivars include 'Dark Reiter',  'Midnight Reiter', 'Summer Skies', 'Purple Haze', 'Mrs. Kendall Clark', 'Splish Splash'.  G. praetense does spread by seed, so it can pop up here and there throughout the garden - that may be a desirable trait if you're trying to get it to fill in, or an undesirable trait if you only want it in a certain place.

G. praetense 'Midnight Reiter'

• Geranium sanguineum (Bloody Cranesbill) Z 3-8, 9-12", magenta flowers in spring, native to Europe and Asia, tolerates heat and drought; deeply divided leaves, bright red fall color, blooms in spring.  Varieties include 'Striatum', 'Max Frei', 'Ankum's Pride'.

G. sanguineum 'Max Frei'

• Geranium wlassovianum Z 5-8, 18-24" tall; One of the first hardy Geraniums to bloom and one of the last to stop. Dusky violet flowers with deeper veining and a white eye. Fall brings outstanding deep red tones. Trails gently.  Will adapt to most soil conditions provided there is good drainage and some moisture. Nice massed as a groundcover, in rock gardens or as an informal edger. Completely carefree.

G. wlassovianumG. wlassovianum fall foliage color

•  And, of course, Geranium X 'Rozeanne' seen below.  Unbelievable quantities of large, violet-blue blooms from June until frost; hardy to Z5; 20" tall with a 2 foot spread; bluish-purple flowers are heightened by black anthers, magenta veins and a radiant white eye. Fiery red leaves in autumn; withstands sunny, hot sites and is happy just about anywhere, from an exposed border to a container.  'Rozeanne' is a naturally occurring sterile hybrid of Geranium himalayense and Geranium wallichianum ‘Buxton’s Variety’.  Lynden Miller says "No garden should be without Geranium 'Rozeanne'."

Winter Dormancy and Cold-Hardiness - How woody plants survive winter

Winter dormancy of woody plants is based on their ability to track photoperiod, air temperature and soil temperature.  Once in a dormant state, the plant goes on to develop cold resistance, also referred to as "cold-hardening" or "cold-hardiness".  Dormancy happens before the cold-hardening process starts, usually in about September for woody plants.  The first stage of dormancy is called "endodormancy" – plants stop growing so that they can reconfigure their gene expression towards the acquisition of cold tolerance.  During endodormancy, internal signals and processes within the plant prevent growth, even if the plant is returned to growth-promoting external conditions.  In other words, during endodormancy buds simply can't grow.  This prevents the initiation of new shoot growth from buds in autumn, when the environment can rapidly fluctuate between growth-promoting and non-promoting conditions – that would be a waste of precious energy for the plant.

Cold-hardening* refers to environmentally- and hormonally-regulated changes in gene expression that lead to changes in metabolism and cellular functioning to protect cells from damage due to dehydration and freezing.  It occurs in two stages over a period of weeks to months.  Stage 1 occurs when temperatures are between 10 - 20 °C (50 – 68 °F) and includes a shift on gene expression towards storage of reserve carbohydrates and lipids.  Stage 2 is promoted by colder temperatures and involves the accumulation of cryoprotectant substances (natural "antifreeze"), as well as changes in membrane lipids and structural changes in bud anatomy.  Because cold-hardening requires energy, a plant may not be able to become fully cold-hardened if it is diseased or stressed such that there are low amounts of reserve carbohydrates.

Bud dormancy is only broken by exposure to cold temperatures – i.e. by a period of chilling.  The plant senses "chill" (temperatures below "biological zero" 41 °F; 5 °C).  Although freezing is not required, freezing temperatures during endodormancy can break dormancy faster.  Likewise, intermittent warm days during endodormancy delay dormancy release.  Between 1000 and 2000 hours of chilling are required for most woody plants in temperate zones, varying by species.  A combination of photoperiod (increasing day length) and adequate chilling leads to dormancy release.  The buds now enter a period referred to as "ecodormancy" – meaning that growth is arrested by environmental conditions that are not conducive to growth.  As soon as conditions become favorable, growth can occur.

The overall process goes something like this:

 • The plant needs to form buds so that it can generate vegetative growth (leaves) next year, because leaves are where photosynthesis occurs – i.e. where food is made by the plant.  Setting buds requires the plant to use energy, and occurs during the plant's active growth period.

• Bud formation is signaled by plant hormones under the control of temperature and photoperiod.   

• As days shorten and temperatures decrease, buds enter a dormant state (endodormancy), during which they stop growing and instead develop cold resistance – a metabolic process that requires the plant to use its energy reserves.  Plants break down proteins and other chemicals that were stored in their leaves during the growing season and store them in buds, bark and wood for growth next spring.  These stored forms of energy will function when temperatures are near-freezing and can survive freezing and thawing in the winter.  

• One consequence of this change in metabolism in many woodies is a change in leaf color – accessory pigments that helped protect chlorophyll from sunlight damage are released and become visible.

• During this period of endodormancy, buds cannot grow, and that's a way that the plant protects itself from expending energy on growth that will more than likely be killed by cold temperatures.

• Buds need extended both exposure to cold temperatures ("chilling") and increasing day length to break dormancy and re-establish their growth competence.

• On fruit trees, if the buds do not receive adequate chilling, there will be no flowers and no fruit.  Fruit tree breeders are developing low-chill-requiring cultivars so that as global warming progresses fruit can still be grown in temperate climates.

• When photoperiod and chill requirements have been met, buds break endodormancy.  Nonetheless, buds remain "ecodormant" – i.e. capable of growth but not actively growing – until they are exposed to warm temperatures (both soil and air) for a critical period before shoot extension and initial leaf emergence.  This is an energy-requiring process that draws on the plant's energy reserves.  Once new leaves begin to emerge, they are susceptible to being killed by frost.

 • Within a given species, there can be both northern and southern "eco-types" with different chilling requirements.  For example, while a red maple from a cold part of its range may need 2000 hours of chilling to break endodormancy, a red maple from a warm part of its range may need less than 1000 hours of chilling.  If you transplant a red maple grown in the warmer part of its range to the colder part of its range, it will only be in ecodormancy during most of the winter (because its chill requirement is quickly met and then its endodormancy is governed only by photoperiod).  If the winter is mild, it may leaf out, then have those leaves killed by a spring frost.  The maple grown in the cold part of its range and transplanted to another location in the cold part of its range will have a chill requirement that means it will remain endodormant longer during a mild winter, and therefore be less likely to leaf out "early". 

*Footnote: "Cold-hardening" is not to be confused with "hardiness zone".  Saying that a plant is "cold-hardy to Zone 4", for example, describes its potential to be able to resist cold damage – i.e. the lowest temperature it can withstand – a function of its particular genetic make-up.  However, even "cold-hardy" plants must undergo the "cold-hardening" process over and over again each winter.

Frost is beautiful

Frosted crabapplesFrosted grass seedheadsFrosted lacecap hydrangesFrosted formal garden

Incorporate your late fall clean-up “trimmings” with other natural materials for a one-of-a-kind seasonal wreath

The weather was very mild in late November and early December, after an early cold snap, so fall clean-up chores extended into the holiday-decorating-of-containers season this year.  I realized that some of the stuff I was “cleaning up” could be used to decorate the containers or added to wreaths.  My favorite garden pictures website is GAP Photos (www.gapphotos.com) – it’s a British site and always features projects that can be done with natural materials.  Here are a few of the wreath ideas that were on their blog this winter:

'Hedgerow" wreath

This one they call the “hedgerow” wreath.  Since I am dedicated to the proposition of creating hedgerow-like plantings for any of my clients who are willing, this showed me how beautiful the fruits of a hedgerow can be (for people).  Of course, birds and animals love hedgerows too.  This wreath has

Malus

(crabapples),

Crataegus

(hawthorn),

Rosa

(rose hips) and

Rubus

(blackberry) and some other types of dried seedheads.

Features of a Hedgerow

Most hedges in Britain were originally planted to keep grazing animals contained. They include one or several shrub species, often planted on a bank or with an adjacent ditch. Mixed hedgerows may include tree and shrub species such as hawthorn, hazel (

Coryllus avellana

), Field maple (

Acer campestre

), and oak.  An “American” version might include serviceberry (

Amelanchier

), paperbark maple (

Acer griseum

) (for a beautiful winter bark), corneliancherry dogwood (

Cornus mas

) and shrubs like highbush blueberry (

Vaccinium corymbosum)

, red-twig dogwood (

Cornus sericea

), bloodtwig dogwood (

Cornus sanguinea

), smokebush (

Cotinus coggygria

) or ninebark (

Physocarpus opulifolius

).  You could plant

Corylus colurna

(Turkish hazel) instead of

Corylus avellana

(hazel as in hazel nuts).  I’ve also planted giant dogwood (

Cornus controversa

) and pagoda dogwood (

Cornus alternifolia

) in a “hedgerow” (I call it a mixed screening border).  For a little pizazz you could add a crapemyrtle (

Lagerstromia

).  Mix in a few evergreens like American holly (

Ilex opaca

), Oriental spruce (

Picea orientalis

) and slow-growing blue spruce (

Picea pungens

‘Fat Albert’).

Habitat for wildlife

Tall, wide and bushy hedges with several different plant species provide the richest wildlife habitats. The thick vegetation they offer gives shelter to nesting and hibernating animals while hedgerow flowers, fruits and nuts are a food source for invertebrates, birds and small mammals. Hedges act as corridors for small creatures to travel along under protective vegetation.

Some additional wildlife-friendly and/or sustainability-friendly wreath ideas:

Crabapples wired together in a circle

Maple leaves or other colored fall leaves wired into a circle.

You can cut a few stems of red-twig dogwood and winterberry holly to stuff into your containers.  If you prune your magnolias, you can use their branches in containers as well.  I’ve put dried-on-the-shrub hydrangeas that have nice colors into windowboxes and containers as well.

At my house I added a bittersweet-from-the-roadside wreath on the gate and red-twig and yellow-twig dogwood stems with winterberry holly stems in the containers.  I also have the beautiful winter silhouette of climbing hydrangea that “camouflages” part of the dreaded chain-link fence.  

A medley of fall colors

I know, I use that phrase constantly when describing how I want the gardens I designed to look in the fall.  But seriously, isn't it the most beautiful thing?!!

Geums - plant some of these!

Geums have a color palette that complements just about any garden.  They're colorful, cheerful and easy to grow, with flowers that remind you a little of strawberry plants.  The rosette-shaped flowers are generally borne on long stems, rising above the thick clump of semi-evergreen foliage that creates a welcome, fresh presence in spring.

Yellows and oranges with some reds and apricots, their color palette is soft enough not to take center stage, but interesting enough to make you look twice.  Most geums require a soil that does not become too dry during summer, and they don’t mind a certain amount of shade.

'Flames of Passion' -  flowers vary from single to semi-double, from non-frilly to frilly, with lovely soft coral orange/pink flowers that are held above a dense clump of light green leaves. Flowers from April to June.

Geum X 'Flames of Passion'

'Mango Lassi' - This nice plant has small, semi-double yellow flowers that are heavily stained with red rendering them soft orange. The flowers are held on short stems above a mound of mid-green, evergreen leaves.  This cultivar was discovered by Grace Dinsdale on her nursery in Oregon as a sport of the single yellow flowered geum ‘Georgenberg’.  Flowers May to July.

Geum 'Mango Lassi'

'Totally Tangerine' - a soft orange in late spring that pulls together the purples and whites.  Flowers May - June, then sporadically in fall if you deadhead it.  

Geum 'Totally Tamgerine'

 'Mai Tai' - A new variety with open semi-double soft apricot flowers with neatly ruffled petals that form a rosette on short, branched stems. Raised by Brent Horvath of Intrinsic Perennial Gardens in the USA.  Flowers from May until July.

Geum 'Mai Tai'

'Prinses Juliana' is a new introduction with semi-double bright orange flowers.  Blooms April - June.

Geum 'Prinses Irene'

'Mrs J Bradshaw' - is a red cultivar - not red like crocosmia 'Lucifer', but still red enough to contrast with purple and make yellow stand out.  Blooms May - June.

Geum 'Mrs J Bradshaw'

'Lemon Drops' - is a cultivar of Geum rivale, so its flowers are more nodding than some of the other cultivars.  Its a beautiful shade of yellow, and short - growing to only 9 inches.  Flowers May - July.

Geum 'Lemon Drops''Beech House Apricot'  is a low-grower that flowers from May - July and can make itself right at home in the front of the border - only 8 inches tall.

Geum 'Beech House Apricot'

Folly Forest: From Asphalt to Educational Landscape

From the ASLA Blog "The Dirt":

08/11/2014 by Jared Green

Browsing through the latest issue of Azure magazine, (http://www.azuremagazine.com/) one can see socially conscious design is making its way even into the far reaches of Winnipeg, Canada.  Folly Forest (http://www.csla-aapc.ca/awards-atlas/folly-forest), a great, small project at the Stratchona School, which in a low-income neighborhood, was put together with just $80,000 by local design firm Straub Thurmayr Landscape Architects and Urban Designers.

50-year old asphalt was broken apart so 100 trees could be planted within bright red and yellow-lined star-shaped spaces. Azure tells us: “To add rich texture and provide ground cover for the new plantings, they arranged bricks, logs, and stones inside the bases.”

The project has deservedly taken home a ton of Canadian design awards. Azure‘s jury gave it a merit award, and the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CSLA) awarded it a citation (http://www.csla-aapc.ca/awards-atlas/folly-forest). CSLA said the project “demonstrates the immense potential of landscape architecture as a spatial and social transformer. It showcases how a simple measure can take ecological and aesthetic effects and turn them into the formative element of design.”

The Prairie Design Awards (http://www.prairiedesignawards.com/2014/folly_forest.html) also honored the project, writing that at just $20 per square foot, nature is allowed to “take root through an asymmetrically disposed composition of newly planted trees, benches, follies and earthen mounds. The program fosters playful engagement, through the eyes of a child, and provides any visitor, young or old, to engage with a truly delightful and special place.”

But beyond all the accolades from the design world, the teachers and kids at the school seem to get a lot of out their rugged new green space, too. Erin Hammond, a teacher at Stratchona School, told CBC News (http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/strathcona-school-perforates-tarmac-to-create- folly-forest-1.1352450), the new space has been a boon for the kids. “It’s just been an amazing enticement to get kids outside.”

Teachers are using the green space to start new conversations about ecology. “Kids are going, ‘How come that tree has more leaves than this one?’ Well, that one has more sun than this one,” said Hammond.

More Soil Basics - what are the roles of soil?

I recently joined the Soil Science Society of America.  They have published a fabulous book called 'Know Soil Know Life" - designed as a textbook for middle/high school students.  Here's some of the points they make.

Soils Overview - Provided by the Soil Science Society of America

Soils are complex mixtures of minerals, water, air, organic matter, and countless organisms that are the decaying remains of once-living things. It forms at the surface of land – it is the “skin of the earth.” Soil is capable of supporting plant life and is vital to life on earth.

Soil is formally defined by the Soil Science Society of America as : "the unconcolidated mineral or organic material on the immediate surface of the earth that serves as the natural medium for the growth of land plants".    The second part of the definition is "the unconcolidated mineral or organic matter on the surface of the earth that has been subjected to and shows effects of genetic and environmental factors of: climate (including water and temperature effects), and macro- and microorganisms, conditioned by relief, acting on parent material over a period of time.

So, then, what is DIRT?

 Dirt is what gets on our clothes or under our fingernails. It is soil that is out of place in our world – whether tracked inside by shoes or on our clothes. Dirt is also soil that has lost the characteristics that give it the ability to support life – it is “dead.”

Soil performs many critical functions

in almost any ecosystem (whether a farm, forest, prairie, marsh, or suburban watershed). There are seven general roles that soils play:

1. Soils serve as media for growth of all kinds of plants.

2. Soils modify the atmosphere by emitting and absorbing gases (carbon dioxide, methane, water

vapor, and the like) and dust.

3. Soils provide habitat for animals that live in the soil (such as groundhogs and mice) to organisms (such as bacteria and fungi), that account for most of the living things on Earth.

4. Soils absorb, hold, release, alter, and purify most of the water in terrestrial systems.

5. Soils process recycled nutrients, including carbon, so that living things can use them over and

over again.

6. Soils serve as engineering media for construction of foundations, roadbeds, dams and buildings, and preserve or destroy artifacts of human endeavors.

7. Soils act as a living filter to clean water before it moves into an aquifer.



Soil Basics revisited

Understanding "the basics" of soil is no small matter.  One of the most basic problems with soil is compaction.  For many of my clients, the soil around their homes has been virtually ruined by what took place when their house was built or renovated.  Many (all?!) builders/contractors think of soil as dirt and make no effort to protect it or renovate it after they're finished.  Around here, most of the new development is infill development, so virtually the whole lot is disturbed - by tearing down the old house, by cutting down all the trees, by building an addition, by installing a pool.  Their machines churn across what might have been relatively undisturbed soil, often when the soil is saturated after a hard rain, creating ruts that are virtually impossible to correct.  They dig a new foundation and turn the existing soil-profile upside down in doing so.  What used to be subsoil is now on top.  When they're done, they flatten out the clay-ey subsoil, put back a couple inches of the "topsoil" that they allegedly scraped off at the beginning (is it full of weed seeds now?? has it been tested? what is its texture?  has compost been added?), throw down some "contractor's mix" el-cheapo grass seed and poof - there's your new lawn!  This is what we refer to as "urban soil".

Urban soils are typically inhospitable places for trees, other plants, and their oxygen breathing microorganisms.  Human activities, such as those described above, as well as grading and even foot traffic leave urban soils much more compacted than natural soils.  Typically 40-55% of the volume in a healthy forest soil consists of pore space.  This pore space consists of varying proportions of air and water depending on the weather.  With compaction, soil particles are pushed together and fill up pore spaces, so pore space in urban soils often goes down to 20-30%.

Soil compaction is generally estimated by measuring bulk density, which is the mass of dry soil divided by its volume, expressed in grams per cubic centimeter (gms/cc).  Compacted soil has less pore space and therefore higher bulk density.  Surface bulk density of most undisturbed soils ranges from 1.1 to 1.4 gms/cc, depending on the soil texture (clay, sand and silt fractions).  The bulk density of urban soils often ranges from 1.5 to 2.0 gms/cc, just slightly less than the bulk density of concrete (2.2 gms/cc)!  

The reduced porosity of compacted soils results in a lower water-holding capacity and reduced infiltration rate, so compacted soils produce much more stormwater runoff than undisturbed soils.  In many urban areas, pervious areas, like "lawns", produce almost as much runoff as impervious surfaces because they are so compacted. The reduced water holding capacity of compacted soils also renders plants more prone to drought and results in more extreme summer soil temperatures.

Compaction also drives oxygen out of these soils to suffocatingly low levels and oxygen-dependent soil microorganisms can no longer survive.  Without adequate soil organisms, urban soils generally have a lower organic matter content and lower nutrient retention than natural soils.  Soil compaction also limits root penetration and growth. Once soil bulk density exceeds 1.4-1.7 gms/cc (depending on soil texture), roots are no longer able to penetrate soil, and vegetation growth becomes limited.

That's one of the reasons that the "landscaping" your contractor installed before you bought your new house or moved into your renovated one has declined every year!

Spring 2014

Spring is here and it reminds me again of the rewards of planting spring-flowering bulbs in fall.  I've often said "It's the best hour you'll ever spend".  OK, maybe more than an hour.  If you have a deer problem, there are still plenty of spring-flowering bulbs that you could be admiring right now in your garden - daffodils, alliums, scilla, leucojum, galanthus ...You can also plant bulbs in large containers that are left outoodrs over the winter.  Here's some of what I installed in containers last year:

Narcissus 'Jetfire' flowers early and perks up containers.

Crocus chrysanthus 'Ladykiller'Crocus X vernus 'Vanguard'Tulipa kaufmanniana 'Heart's Delight'Allium X 'Graceful'

2014 Award Winners

The Perennial Plant of the Year is chosen by the Perennial Plant Association for its suitability for a wide range of growing climates, low maintenance, multiple seasons of interest and relative disease/pest resistance.

2014 Panicum virgatum 'Northwind' (Switchgrass) - a native warm-season grass with an upright form, blue-green leaves and gold fall color.  Like all Panicum (but different from some other warm-season grasses, the grass flowers are held just above the leaf blades.  For more details, check out the PPA website - it will tell you some of the great attributes of switchgrass for your garden.

Panicum virgatum 'Northwind'

The Cary Award is given to trees, shrubs and vines ("woodies")  with multiple seasons of interest and good disease and pest resistance.  It is administered by the Tower Hill Botanic Garden.  The purpose of the award is:

To inform home gardeners which plants would be good choices in their landscape, to instill confidence in the home gardener's selection, and to increase the diversity of plant material used by gardeners, landscape designers and architects.

The Cary Award has declared 2014 The Year of the Vine, and has selected three vines suitable for trellises, pergolas, porches, walls and anywhere else you need a climber.

Clematis X 'Betty Corning' (C. crispa X C. viticella) is a late, small-flowered clematis that was first discovered  in Albany NY in 1932.  It grows to about 6' tall and has nodding bell-shaped pale lavender flowers with recurved tips.  It flowers freely from June to Sept.  It needs only a little tying to grow well on a trellis, and can also be used as a ground cover if you're feeling adventurous - let it wind through your perennial border.  It should be pruned back in late winter-early spring, and can be cut back all the way to the ground without losing the season's flowers.

Clematis 'Betty Corning'

Actinidia kolomikta (Variegated Hardy Kiwi Vine) - a relatively fast-growing deciduous woody vine which grows to about 15 - 20', is grown mainly for its foliage and its bark.  It has variegated pink and white young leaves, fragrant white flowers in spring and peeling cinnamon-colored bark in winter.  This species has both male and female plants - both are needed for pollination.  The male plant has better leaf variegation - but 1' long greenish-yellow edible fruits are produced on the female plant in early fall.

Hardy Kiwi VineFlowers of the hardy kiwi are obscured by the foliage, but are fragrant

Wisteria frutescens (American wisteria) - a twining woody vine that grows to 40' or more - but the good news is that it is a less aggressive spreader than Wisteria sinensis (Chinese wisteria).  It flowers in April - May with fragrant, pea-like flowers in drooping 6" racemes, and may re-bloom on new wood in the summer.  Flowers give way to flattened smooth seed pods that ripen in summer.  Thebest flowering occurs in full sun.

Vines can take up to 3 years before flowering after they are planted, and they need regular pruning to control size and shape, as well as to encourage flowering.  Don't choose this vine if you're impatient or prune-o-phobic.  Also, take care where you plant it - it doesn't like to be transplanted very much.  Failure of vines to flower can be caused by death of the flower buds during a harsh winter, too much shade, plants being too young, improper pruning or over-fertilization (which favors leaf growth over flower-bud formation).  The two most common cultivars to be found in the Nursery trade are 'Amethyst Falls', with lavender flowers, and 'Nivea', with white flowers.

Wisteria frutescens 'Amethyst Falls'

All-America Selections honor new plants, including vegetables and annuals.  For 2014, one of their selection is Guara 'Sparkle White', a perennial in Zone 6 and above, that flowers all season.  It is a delicate plant with very clean white flowers that wave in the breeze above the foliage.  A really nice addition to the perennial border - or use it in your containers.  

The Society of Municipal Arborists has chosen Parrotia persica 'Vanessa' (Persian ironwood or Persian witchhazel) as the 2014 Urban Tree of the Year.  The SMA selects trees that are adaptable to a variety of harsh growing conditions with strong ornamental traits.  Their selections are being used as street trees in some towns and cities across the country.  The SMA's mission is to widen the knowledge base of arborists, designers and architects with the goal of adding diversity as well as beauty to the urban streetscape.

The 'Vanessa' cultivar has a number of qualities that make it desirable as a street tree: it is slow-growing, reaching a mature height of about 30'; it has an upright, almost columnar habit but has strong branch unions and is not prone to develop included bark (as some other columnar trees are); it handles reduction pruning fairly well, so its height can be managed by knowledgable municipal arborists if overhead wires are low; it has no major pests; it can tolerate both dry soils and seasonally wet ones.  PLUS it has spectacular fall color and beautiful flakey gray bark.  It flowers in late winter, before it leafs out - like witchhazel - but that can be an unexpected surprise for passers-by.

Parrotia persica 'Vanessa' fall foliage

Parrotia flowers in late winterParrotia bark becomes more beautiful as it matures

Biochar is the New Black

More from the NYS Arborist Meeting in January:

Mr. Hendrickson, the guru from Bartlett Tree Research, mentioned a magic ingedient in passing that I didn't know anything about - biochar.  It turns out that biochar has a rich history (no pun intended) as a soil amendment that "magically" makes plants and trees grow and that even helps soil structure and health.

Here are some facts:

Biochar is formed from organic material (otherwise know as garden waste) by pyrolysis: a thermochemical decomposition of organic material at high temperatures (390 - 570 degrees F) in the absence of oxygen.  It involves the simultaneous change of chemical composition and physical phase, and is irreversible. The word is coined from the Greek-derived elements pyro "fire" and lysis "separating".  In general, pyrolysis of organic substances produces gas and liquid products and leaves a solid residue richer in carbon content, char - aka biochar.  Pyrolysis differs from other high-temperature processes like combustion and hydrolysis in that it doesn't involve reactions with oxygen or water.

Biochar as a soil amendment has an ancient precedent - "terra preta", discovered in the 1950s by Dutch soil scientist Wim Sombroek in the Amazon rainforest.  It still covers 10 percent of the Amazon Basin.  As the nonprofit U.S. Biochar Initiative explains, “biochar has been created and used by humans in traditional agricultural practices in the Amazon Basin of South America for more than 2,500 years.  Dark, charcoal-rich soil (known as terra preta, or black earth) supported productive farms in areas that previously had poor and, in some places, toxic soils".  

Over the past 10 years, researchers have been investigating terra preta, now called biochar, as an agricultural resource. Typically when biomass decomposes or burns, virtually all of the carbon stored in the plant is released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming.  But when biochar is produced, roughly half of the plant’s carbon is retained as stable carbon in the biochar.  The other half is released as wood gases, which can be used as an energy source. This biochar cycle puts carbon from the atmosphere back into the earth, puts it to positive use in the soil and increases the amount of time it stays there.

Here's why biochar is "magic":

• It provides a combination of moisture management and a way to store microbial food and plant fertilizer.  When there is an excess of water, food and fertilizer, biochar stores them.  When there is a deficiency, it slowly releases them back into the soil, where the plant or microbes can take advantage of them.
•  It persists in the soil for years, greatly reducing(eliminating?) the need for re-application.  It is much more persistent in soil than any other form of organic matter that's applied to soil.  This is referred to as "stability" by the soil scientists.
•  It is highly adsorbent.  It sops up humic acid, a food for soil microorganisms, and humic acid itself binds to fertilizers, keeping them from leaching out of the soil.

"What is special about biochar is that it is much more effective in retaining most nutrients and keeping them available to plants than other organic matter such as for example leaf litter, compost or manures. Interestingly, this is also true for phosphorus which is not at all retained by 'normal' soil organic matter". (Lehmann, 2007) 

from Cornell webpage; references as cited on that page

• It is also highly adsorbent of water.  In conditions with greater than 60% relative humidity, it absorbs water.  And in conditions less than 40% relative humidity, it releases water.  So it is an enormous stabilizer of relative humidity in soil, which means less watering.
• It is a way to "recycle" organic waste, and the off-gas can be used as fuel.
• You only need a little, and it can be added as a soil amendment to existing planting beds, like tree wells.

But there are caveats as well:

• The vast majority of research has been into biochar's effects on agricultural soils and crop yields.  Until very recently, there has been little research on biochar in urban and suburban soils, trees and shrubs.  Agricultural crop research goes a lot faster than urban tree growth research - that will take years.
• All biochar is not created equal - it matters what organic matter was used to make it and whether it has been tested for contaminants and properly de-watered.
• This is not a plug - but Bartlett uses biochar as part of their soil improvement and root invigoration treatments.  Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories is collaborating with the Morton Arboretum to look at the effects of adding biochar to existing tree wells in Chicago.
• Mr. Hendrickson said that Bartlett has a supplier that they have vetted extensively.  

Here are some of the initial findings that Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories and the Morton Arboretum have publicized for biochar:

• Biochar can have a measurable positive impact on both soil quality and plant growth.
• Biochar works best in combination with compost.  Biochar itself doesn't provide nutrients, but compost does.  So when you mix them together, you're "charging up" the biochar with nutrients.  Their research also suggests that biochar improves the performance of compost - i.e. when the two are blended, trees and shrubs show better growth than with either of the two alone.
• More is not necessarily better - in fact it can be deleterious.  (like anything!) Their research is trying to determine the optimal amount, but they already know that a little bit goes a long way.
• Biochar may also promote disease resistance - this is only preliminary greenhouse-based research but will be looked at in future studies.

To find out more:

soils.org is an interesting website - this link will lead you to a story about the Morton Arboretum work on tree growth using biochar

And, of course,Cornell has a lot of expertise - this link will provide you with both information and lots of references