Archive for the ‘Spring flowering’ Category

‘Otto Lukyen’ Cherry Laurel Exhibits Better Winter Hardiness

Otto Luyken (Prunus laurocerasus ‘Otto Luyken’) is a very compact form of cherry laurel. It produces showy, fragrant, erect white spike flowers primarily in the spring, and repeats with light blooming thru the summer months. Its fragrant white flowers are showy racemes which rise several inches above the foliage in mid-spring. Its glossy pointed tip […]

Skip (Schipka) Laurel Creates Dense Evergreen Privacy Screen

Schipka laurel (Prunus laurocerasus ‘Schipkaensis’) is a dense growing evergreen shrub with lustrous evergreen foliage and clusters of small white flowers in the spring. It is rated as one of the cold hardiest of cherry laurels (USDA hardiness zone 6-8). In the garden center it is often labeled ‘skip laurel”. Skip laurel grows 10 to […]

Amur Maple Excellent Medium Sized Tree For Urban Landscapes

Amur maple (Acer ginnala) (now A. tataricum ssp. ginnala) is a lovely small sized tree from China, Manchuria and Japan. It has long been popular in residential areas in the Midwest and Eastern U.S. and is slowly being planted in the mid-South (USDA hardiness zones 6 and 7). Extreme summer heat may limit its use. […]

‘Beni kawa’ Japanese Maple for Winter Bark Color

Beni kawa Japanese maple (Acer palmatum ‘Beni kawa’) is a smaller version of the popular coral bark maple ‘Sango kaku’. It was introduced by Greer Gardens Nursery in Oregon in 1987.  ‘Beni kawa’ matures to 12-15 feet tall and 8-10 feet wide, compared to 20-25 feet tall for ‘Sango kaku’. Both cultivars form a vase-shaped branched small […]

‘Sweet Tea’ Heucherella Offers Year-round Foliage Color Splash

Heucherella or foamy bells is a hybrid derived from crossing U.S. native foamflower, (Tiarella spp.), with coral bell (Heuchera villosa), another U.S. native. Terra Nova Nurseries, a wholesale grower in Oregon, has introduced several of these hybrids. Heucherellas bring out the best traits of both parents. Their small creamy white, bell-shaped flowers open in late […]

Promising New American Chestnuts Arriving

Chestnut blight (Diaporthe parasitica Murrill) was first discovered in the Bronx Zoo in 1904. By 1911 the headline in The New York Times read – “All Chestnut Trees Here Are Doomed”. Over the next half century, the pandemic eliminated four billion trees. Today, the airborne bark fungus still persists in the soil and on diseased […]

Autumn Best Planting Time For Spring-blooming Dogwoods

“Autumn is the season to plant dogwoods”, according to the University of Tennessee Dogwood Research Team. Newly planted dogwoods (Cornus spp.) can establish their roots in the still warm soil and be ready to handle next spring and summer’s heat and dry spells. Over the past 20 years the UT Dogwood Team has released six […]

Sugar Maple Is A Four Star Autumn Attraction

Sugar maple (Acer saccharum) is a native deciduous tree often planted as a large shade or street tree. It commonly grows 60 to 75 feet (and taller) with a dense rounded foliage canopy. Native to central and eastern North America regions, sugar maple grows best in fertile, mildly acidic, moist well-drained soils and in full […]

American Elm Is Back

American elm (Ulmus americana) once lined America’s city streets until the deadly Dutch elm disease (DED) mostly eliminated it. DED is still present today. Outstanding disease resistant cultivars are truly making a difference, and American elm is on the comeback. American elm is native to the eastern and central regions of the U. S. and […]

Variegated Solomon’s Seal Designated 2013 Perennial Plant of the Year

Variegated Solomon’s seal ( Polygonatum odoratum ‘Variegatum’) is one of the finest perennials for the shade or woodland garden. It is the Asian cousin of U.S. native Solomon seal (P. commutatum). Both species are long- lived garden inhabitants. Variegated Solomon’s Seal handles 2-3 hours of direct morning sunlight in the Southern Appalachian region (USDA hardiness zones 6 and […]