2018 Gold Medal Plant Winners selected by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) include some of my very favorites:
Hamamelis x intermedia 'Jelena'
I used to have a 'Jelena' witch hazel at my old residence, and it was one of the plants that I hated to leave behind. Its copper-colored blooms in February-March are a welcome harbinger of spring, and they are a welcome change from all of the witch hazels with yellow flowers. This large deciduous shrub does well in sun to part shade, and its vase-shaped form makes a fine specimen in many a garden bed. 15-20 feet tall, 10-15 feet wide, USDA zones 5-8.
Cornus kousa 'Greensleeves'
This Asian dogwood is classified as a medium-sized tree or a large shrub, and it's usually planted as a specimen because of its late-blooming, pointed white bracts that eventually mature to a light pink. Edible red fruits follow in fall, and the foliage turns a dark red to maroon hue. It grows 15 to 30 feet high and wide, USDA Zones 5-8.
Ligustrum sinense 'Sunshine'
'Sunshine' privet makes a stunning golden hedge, and it's a sterile cultivar, so it will not re-seed into the surrounding landscape. Its bright yellow foliage is evergreen, and its size, 3-6 feet high and 3-4 feet wide, make it an ideal candidate as well as a specimen or in a container. Full sun, USDA Zones 6-10.
Perennial winners for 2018 include:
Ceratostigma plumbaginoides (Leadwort)
Phlox paniculata 'Jeana' (Garden Phlox)
Baptisia 'Purple Smoke' (False Indigo)
Chelone lyonii 'Hot Lips' (Pink Turtlehead)
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