GardenDesignOnline

Happenings February 2019

SELECTED EVENTS AROUND THE COUNTRY:

Exhibitions:
thru Feb 21: Landscape Architecture of Oehme, van Sweden, Athens, GA
University of Georgia, TCLF, 202-483-0553
Feb 19-April 12, Landscape Legacy of Dan Kiley, Palm Desert, CA
Univ of CA Riverside, Palm Desert Center, TCLF, 202-483-0553
Feb 23-April 7, Dallas Blooms, Dallas TX
Dallas Arboretum & Botanical Garden,
thru October 15, Celebrating New American Gardens, Washington DC
US Botanic Garden, 202-225-8333

Orchid Shows:

thru March 10, Orchid Mania, Cleveland, OH
Cleveland Botanical Garden, 216-721-1600
thru March 24, Orchid Extravaganza, Kennett Square, PA
Longwood Gardens, 610-388-1009
Feb 2-March 24, Orchid Show, St. Louis, MO
Missouri Botanical Garden, 314-577-5100
Feb 2-April 28, "Orchids: Amazing Adaptations," Washington DC
National Portrait Gallery, Kogod Courtyard, US Botanic Garden, 202-225-8333
Feb 9-March 24, "In the Tropics," Glencoe, IL
Orchid Show, Chicago Botanic Garden, 847-835-5440
Feb 9-April 7, Orchid Daze, Atlanta, GA
Atlanta Botanical Garden, 404-876-5859
Feb 23-April 28, The Orchid Show: Singapore, Bronx, NY
NY Botanical Garden, 718-817-8700

Events:

Feb 1, Today's Horticulture Symposium, Kennett Square, PA
8am-4:30pm, Longwood Gardens, 610-388-1000
Feb 1-3, Nashville Antiques & Garden Show, Nashville, TN
Music City Center, 888-405-7350
Feb 1-10, Great Big Home & Garden Show, Cleveland, OH
Cleveland IX Center, 440-248-5729
Feb 2, Perennial Plant Regional Symposium, Lisle, IL
8:30am-3:30pm, "Back to Basics," Morton Arboretum 614-771-8431

Feb 6, "Restoring Urban Landscapes," Cambridge, MA
7pm Evenings with Experts: Lecture, Cambridge Public Library, 781-790-8921
Feb 9, Wake Up Your Garden Saturday, Bronx, NY
10am-5pm, NY Botanical Garden, 718-817-8700
Feb 15-18, Great Backyard Bird Count, Nationwide
Help Audubon and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology keep track of our birds.
Feb 16, "Domestication of Garden Plants in China," San Marino, CA
8:30am-5pm, Symposium, The Huntington, 626-405-2100
Feb 16, Mid-Atlantic Perennial Plant Regional Symposium, Baltimore, MD
8am-5pm, Conference Center at Sheppard Pratt, 614-771-8431

Feb 19, "Planting for a Changing Climate," Bronx, NY
1-3pm, Lecture, NY Botanical Garden, 718-817-8700
Feb 20-21, Northwest Flower & Garden Festival, Seattle, WA
"Gardens of the World," Washington State Convention Center, TCLF, 202-483-0553
Feb 21, Landscape Lecture: Philadelphia, PA
7pm, LA Susannah Drake of DLAND, Penn Design, 215-898-6591
Feb 21-24, Connecticut Flower & Garden Show, Hartford, CT
Connecticut Convention Center, 860-844-8461
Feb 22, Green Matters Symposium, Silver Spring, MD
8:30am-4:30pm, "Designing for Diverse Landscapes," Brookside Gardens, 301-962-1400
Feb 23, "The Inevitable Garden," Millbrook, NY
11am, Lecture, designer Gorden Hayward, Garden Conservancy, 888-842-2442

Feb 25, Lecture, LA Anita Berrizbeitia, Berkeley, CA
6pm, U-CA, Wurster Hall.
Feb 28, "The Thoughtful Gardener," Bronx, NY
10-11:30am, Lecture, Jinny Blom, NY Botanical Garden, 718-817-8700

LOOKAHEAD:
March 2-10, Philadelphia Flower Show, Philadelphia, PA
March 5, 2019, Davidson Horticultural Symposium, Davidson, NC
"Innovative Approaches to Gardening," Davidson College.
March 6-7 Ecological Landscape Alliance Conference, Amherst, MA
8am-5pm, UMass, Amherst, 617-436-5838
March 23, Northwest Hort Society Spring Symposium, Seattle, WA
8:30am-4pm, Designing for the Seasons, 206-780-8172

April 26-28, Colonial Williamsburg Garden Symposium, Williamsburg, VA
73rd Annual Symposium, 757-565-8937
April 27-May 4, Historic Garden Week, State of Virginia
May 9, Landscape Lecture: LA Cheryl Barton, Boston, MA
7pm, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 617-278-5156
May 21-25, Chelsea Flower Show, London, UK

New Roses 2019 - II

New Roses for 2019 from Star Roses & Plants:

Cherry Frost™ Rose
(Rosa Overedclimb')

A lovely disease-resistant climber that repeat blooms throughout the season and is hardy to USDA Zone 4.  What's not to like about that?  It has dark green leaves that contrast beautifully with the deep red blooms, which are small and cup-like.  It grows up to six and one-half feet tall and was hybridized by Jule Overom.  Good choice for smaller gardens that need a little height here and there.

Pinkerbelle™ Rose
(Rosa Melvanae')

This hybrid tea has a strong, spicy verbena fragrance and it's said to be highly disease resistant.  It has performed well in climates where roses are subject to black spot and it's hardy in zones 5-10, so it will come back strong even after cold winters. It has a bushy habit, with dark green foliage and pink cup-like flowers.  It grows to 5.5 feet high and was hybridized by Meilland®.

Candy Sunblaze® Rose
(Rosa 'Sproulsun')

This is a miniature rose in Star's Sunblaze® series, perfect for containers and the first striped rose in the series.
It has a compact rounded habit and the blooms are deep pink to red striped with finishing touches of white.  It'll reach a height of two feet, a good choice for patios and small gardens.

Sweet Spirit™ Rose
(Rosa 'Meithatie')

Another rose from Meilland, this grandiflora has a bushy habit and reaches 3-4 feet high.  The double flowers have a strong, sweet aroma and it's said to perform well in hot and humid weather and has good disease resistance, so it might be something you want in your garden as climate change continues to increase temperatures.  It has dark green leaves and reddish-deep pink blooms, hardy in Zones 5-10.

New Plants 2019 - I

New Shrubs for 2019 from one of the best in the business: Spring Meadow Nursery

Legend of the Fall™ Bottlebrush
(Fothergilla x intermedia 'ALICE')

Wow. And wow again.  Designers have always favored fothergilla for its brilliant fall color, but this new one is truly outstanding, with shades of yellow, orange, deep red and purple.  It has the usual white bottlebrush-type flowers in spring, along with pure green foliage.  Four to five feet in height and width, it requires little pruning to stay in shape and prefers moist, acidic soil with excellent drainage.  It's tolerant of shade, but fall color is best if it gets some sun every day.  It's also heat resistant, deer resistant, and a native plant to boot.  USDA Zones 5-9.

 

Montana Moss™ Juniper
(Juniperus chinensis 'SMNJCHM')

This just might be the choice for a tough evergreen groundcover that actually looks terrific.  Its needles have a blue-green hue, it's soft to the touch, and it has a lovely moss-like texture. This juniper tolerates poor soil, drought, heat, salt, and full sun, and it may be pruned as needed to control its spread.  It grows two to four feet high by three to five feet wide, and is hardy in Zones 4-9.  Great as a groundcover in urban areas, and it may be used in mass plantings or as a specimen.  Can't think of any reason NOT to use this plant.

Dandy Man Color Wheel™ Rhododendron
(Rhododendron x "NCRX1)

How about a disease-resistant rhododendron whose blooms first appear as deep red buds and open to ruffled pink flowers that fade to pure white.  This rhody is heat tolerant, and its broadleaf evergreen foliage makes it a presence throughout the year. It grows four to eight feet high and wide and prefers cool acidic soil with excellent drainage.  It flowers well in shade and also attracts pollinators.  Particularly useful in foundation plantings, mixed borders, hedges, or as a stand alone specimen.  Zones 5-9.

Illuminati Tiny Tower™ Mockorange
(Philadelphus coronaries 'SMNPVG')

I've never been a great fan of mockorange, but I'd like to know if this new one might change my mind.  It has a narrow, columnar habit, three to four feet high and 1.5 feet wide, and it's said to have a four-sided "tower" effect.  Of course it has loads of tiny, fragrant white flowers in spring, amid dark green leaves on upright branches. it blooms on old wood and may be pruned after flowering as required.  Great for mixed borders and in perennial beds and the branches may be cut and used in arrangements.   It's also deer resistant and and drought tolerant, hardy in Zones 4-7.

MLK Rose

photo © Weeks Roses

Close enough.

Coretta Scott King Rose
(Rosa 'WEKstohoco')

This rose was named in 2013 after the wife of Martin Luther King.  It's a tall, upright and bushy grandiflora with blooms of a coral-orange hue.  It has a spicy tea fragrance and very good disease resistance.  Hybridized by Christian Bédard in 2013 by crossing 'Hot Cocoa' and 'Moonstone.' Introduced by Weeks Roses.

Also, don't forget the Martin Luther King Rose Garden in Atlanta. It's one of the International World Peace Rose Gardens and is overseen by the National Park Service. 

Books: Designing with Winners

I can't think of a designer who doesn't know of/doesn't use Proven Winners plants, whether shrubs, small evergreens, roses, perennials or annuals.  The plants are hardy; many of the shrubs are on the small side, suitable for urban or suburban gardens; and the annuals and perennials will make any container sing.

Now, authors Ruth Rogers Clausen and Thomas Christopher have collaborated on The Proven Winners Garden Book: Simple Plans, Picture-Perfect Plants, and Expert Advice for Creating a Gorgeous Garden (Timber Press, 2019), a book filled with specific garden plans for yards and for colorful containers. All the plans, of course, use Proven Winners, the number 1 plant brand in the United States.

A brief introductory section offers advice on how to prepare your plot for planting. Then, there are 12 yard plans, from a "Welcoming Entryway" to a "Seaside Garden," a "Fragrant Flower Garden," and a "Deer-Resistant Garden," among others. Each entry describes the overall effect, followed by plant suggestions, substitutions, and a plan for placement. 

There are also 25 recipes for containers, covering almost any garden situation. The entries for containers, like the yard plans, are accompanied by lovely photos of gardens and plants, so there's no mistaking what you'll get in the end.

If you don't want to spend hours and hours researching plants and colors and combinations, you'll find plenty of useful ideas in this book that can be quickly turned into stunning garden plans.

 

 

 

New Roses 2019 - I

David Austin Roses is introducing three new English Roses to the United States this spring.

'The pale yellow 'Vanessa Bell' is a compact rose that produces many blooms.  The firm's senior rosarian, Michael Mariott, says it is "one of the most free-flowering varieties" the firm has ever produced.  Its fragrance is described as "green tea with aspects of lemon and, at times, honey,"  and it blooms from early summer until frost.  The flowers are a soft yellow hue with a darker eye.  The rose is bushy, growing to approximately 3.5 feet tall and three feet wide, with mid-green leaves.  USDA Zones 5-9.  Sounds like a winner for small gardens, low hedges, or at the front of a border.

'Dame Judi Dench' is an English musk hybrid with an arching habit and deep apricot flowers that are particularly resistant to rain.  That may be a valuable asset in regions that have been experiencing more showers due to climate change.  This rose has a medium tea fragrance and grows to about four by four feet, but in warmer areas it could reach eight feet tall as a climber.  It blooms from early summer until frost, can be planted in full or part sun, and is hardy in USDA Zones 5-9. 

Finally, 'James L. Austin' stands out for its deep pink blooms and medium-dark foliage with a matte finish. The flowers form large rosettes with a button eye -- an unusual trait in many roses -- and it blooms throughout the season until frost. Its fruity fragrance is described as a blend of blackcurrant, blackberry, raspberry, and cherry with hints of lemon and almond. It's a bushy shrub with an upright habit, four feet high and 3.5 feet wide.  Plant it in full sun in Zones 5-9.

Urban Tree of the Year 2019

photo: Eric Wiseman via SMA

The Society of Municipal Arborists has selected the American hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana) as 2019's Urban Tree of the Year.

According to Nina Bassuk, Director of Cornell's Urban Horticulture Institute, the plant goes by many names -- American or Eastern hophornbeam, ironwood, hornbeam, leverwood -- "a poster child for why common names can be a problem!"  It's a medium-sized tree in the birch family, about 30 feet tall at maturity, with a native range east of the Rockies from Manitoba, Canada to Florida.

Ostrya is an understory tree and has thin, stringy, distinctive bark and hop-like flowers that are most numerous when the tree is planted in full sun.  It's also pest free and tolerates a wide range of pH in soils.

photo: Shawn Tubre via SMA

Eric Wiseman, Associate Professor of Urban Forestry at Virginia Tech, says Ostrya "may not be as flashy as its white-barked cousins.  But for those familiar with this denizen of temperate deciduous forests in eastern North America, the beauty of the species lies in the subtlety of its ragged grayish-brown bark and the intricacy of the papery composite fruit resembling the hops that flavor our favorite adult beverages."

photo: Eric Hunt via SMA

The experts say this tree does well in narrow tree lawns, sidewalk cutouts, and parking lot buffers throughout much of the United States and southern Canada.  It's hardy in zones 3 through 9-A and with adequate drainage, it tolerates poor soils. Because of its strong wood, it requires minimal pruning and it does well in storms and in urban environments.  At Virginia Tech, hophornbeam was chosen for an outdoor dining area on the south side of the student center where space was at a premium, but shade was necessary for dining comfort.