The American Rose Society (ARS) announced at the 2015 National Conference that Proven Winners received the Award of Excellence for its Oso Easy Lemon Zest shrub rose. To receive this honor, a rose must prove its toughness and beauty in six different no-spray trial locations across the U.S.(USDA hardiness zones 5-9). “Oso Easy Lemon Zest rose is a […]
Archive for the ‘Propagation(grafting)’ Category
Take A Second Look At Canadian Hemlock
Canadian hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) is a native evergreen species which is available in many forms: prostrate, globose, weeping, fastigiate and variegated (USDA Hardiness Zones 3-7). Its tremendous versatility as a hedging tree or shrub in planting sites is also a great reason to continue to include hemlock in the landscape. Hemlock may […]
What A Plant Costs
I overheard a customer complain about the “outrageous” prices for plants, particularly the newly introduced ones. Here is some of the whys: Certain plants are difficult to reproduce. Occasionally, stores may stock some expensive items like paperbark maple (Acer griseum) and fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus). These […]
Emerald™ Arborvitae
Emerald™ or ‘Emerald Green’ arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis ‘Smaragd’) is not new shrub or cultivar. More than 3 generations of gardeners have used this unique form of eastern arborvitae as their “go to” evergreen shrub up and down the eastern coast and through the Midwest (USDA hardiness zones 3-7). Emerald is a semi-dwarf evergreen shrub with a […]
Dragon Eye – Actually Four Different Pines
In U.S. nursery catalogs, at least four gold striped needle pines are designated “Dragon’s Eye Pine”. They are Japanese red pine (Pinus densiflora ‘Oculus Draconis’), Japanese black pine (P. thunbergi ‘Oculus Draconis’), Variegated Korean pine (P. koraiensis ‘Oculus Draconis’) and Variegated Himalayan pine (P. wallichiana ‘Zebrina’) (USDA hardiness […]
Contorted Filbert Offers Great Fall And Winter Interest
Contorted filbert (Corylus avellana ‘Contorta’), aka Harry Lauder’s walking stick, is an 8-10 foot tall shrub. It grows in average well-drained acidic or mildly alkaline soil and thrives either in full or partial (6 hours) sunlight. Contorted filbert is usually sold in a grafted form. It is also called corkscrew hazelnut because most branches, twigs and leaves display […]
Don’t Crawl /Let’em Weep White Pine
In the beginning was a small weeping pine which wanted to crawl along the ground because it had no “legs”. The gardener came along and straightened up the leader and attached it to a tall pole. Straightening and staking continued for several years. Many years […]
Wolfeyes Chinese Dogwood
Chinese dogwood (Cornus kousa), a favored spring-flowering tree, reaches 20-25 feet in height and blooms two weeks subsequent to our native flowering dogwood (C. florida). The ‘Wolf Eyes’ cultivar forms a compact tree or large shrub, standing 8–10 feet tall and nearly twice as wide. lowly reaches 10 to 20 ft. tall and wide; largest […]