GardenDesignOnline

Happenings February 2023

SELECTED EVENTS AROUND THE COUNTRY:

ORCHID SHOWS:

Jan 28-March 12, Orchids Forever, Cleveland, OH
Annual Orchid Show, Cleveland Botanical Garden
Jan 28-Feb 26, Orchid Show, St. Louis, MO
Missouri Botanic Garden
Feb 11-March 26, Orchid Show: Magnified, Glencoe, IL
Chicago Botanic Garden
Feb 17-April 30, Discover the World of Orchids, Washington DC
US Botanic Garden
Feb 18-April 9, Orchid Daze, Atlanta, GA
Atlanta Botanical Garden
Feb 18-April 23, Orchid Show: Natural Heritage, Bronx, NY
NY Botanical Garden

EVENTS:

Feb 3, Today's Horticulture Symposium, Kennett Square, PA
8am-4:15pm Eastern, Longwood Gardens
Feb 3-5, Nashville Antiques & Garden Show, Nashville, TN
Music City Center, "Home is the Tapestry of Your LIfe"
Feb 3-12, Great Big Home & Garden Show, Cleveland, OH
Cleveland I-X Center

Feb 9, "The Crevice Garden," ONLINE
2-3pm Eastern, Lecture, The Garden Conservancy

Feb 15-19 Northwest Flower & Garden Show, Seattle, WA
"Spring Vibes Only," Seattle Convention Center
Feb 16, 23rd Land Ethics Symposium, New Hope, PA or ONLINE
8am-1pm, "Creative Approaches for Ecological Landscaping,"
Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve 215-862-2924
Feb 17-20, Great Backyard Bird Count
Help Cornell & Audubon keep track of our birds!

Feb 21, "The Art of Chanticleer," Bronx, NY
1-2pm, Lecture, Chanticleer's Dan Benarcik, NY Botanical Garden
Feb 22-23, Ecological Landscape Alliance Winter Conference, ONLINE
Feb 23, "An Ode to the Land," Bronx, NY
11am-noon, Lecture, Estudio Ome  LA, NY Botanical Garden
Feb 23-36, Connecticut Flower & Garden Show, Hartford, CT
Hartford Convention Center
Feb 23, "Beauty of the Wild," ONLINE
2-3pm Eastern, Lecture, The Garden Conservancy
Feb 24-26, New Jersey Home & Garden Show, Edison, NJ
NJ Convention Center

 LOOKAHEAD:

March 4-12, Philadelphia Flower Show, Philadelphia, PA
PA Convention Center, "The Garden Electric"
March 20-April 16 National Cherry Blossom Festival, Washington DC

April 27-30. Colonial Williamsburg Garden Symposium. Williamsburg, VA
"Digging the Garden," 76th Annual Symposium.

May 23-27, Chelsea Flower Show, London, UK

New Plants 2023

From the US National Arboretum:

image: USNA

Tsuga 'Crossroad'
(Tsuga (caroliniana x chinensis) 'Crossroad')

This is second adelgid-resistant hemlock released by the US National Arboretum to the nursery trade, but with limited availability. 'Crossroad' was specifically bred for resistance to hemlock wooly adelgid, which has devastated stands of native hemlocks since its accidental introduction into the United States. 

The tree has an upright, symmetric pyramidal habit and a modest rate of growth, reaching about 36 feet tall and 18 feet wide after 15 years of field growth.  It has just a few large green cones that appear in late summer and open to light brown around October. 

Use as a specimen tree or for informal screening. 

The previous adelgid resistant hemlock, 'Traveler', was released by USNA in 2020.  It has slightly weeping branches, reaching 30 feet tall by 18 feet wide, and abundant large cones.

New from Spring Meadow Nursery

images: Spring Meadow; click to enlarge

Tuff Stuff Top Fun™ Mountain Hydrangea
(Hydrangea serrata 'SMNHSG')

If you like hydrangeas, this is one of the ones you definitely want to plant in your yard.  Mountain hydrangeas have evergreen leaves that turn burgundy in autumn, along with re-blooming lace cap flowers from summer into fall.  This one has pink to purple blooms and a tidy habit of two to 3.5 feet tall and two to three feet wide.  It takes full to part sun, zones 4-9, attracts pollinators, and is heat and salt tolerant as well.  What's not to like?

 

Cedar Rapids™ False Cypress
(Chamaecyparis pisifera 'RutCham1')

This particular false cypress is fast-growing and tall, 30 feet high and 12-15 feet wide.  Its feathery foliage is a lime-green color, and it has a dense, pyramidal habit.  Great as a specimen or if you plant a few of them, a privacy screen.  Evergreen.  Zones 4-8, deer resistant.

 

Berry Box™ Pyracomeles
(Pyracomeles 'NCXP2')

No, this is not a pyracantha, and I have to admit, it's a plant that I don't know.  But, it is pyracantha-like, with the addition of little white, showy flowers in spring and vibrant orange-red berries in fall.

It can be used as a front border plant, in a container, or massed for quite a show.  It's a heat and drought-tolerant evergreen that's easy to grow.  It's 2.5 to 3.5 feet high, two to three feet wide, takes full to part sun, and is hardy in zones 7(6b) -9.

 

New Roses 2023

These from Star Roses & Plants:

images: Star - click to enlarge

Buttercream Drift®
Rosa 'Meidevi'

Another in the Drift series of groundcover roses, and what's not to like about the very light yellow color.  The petals are small and cup-like, the leaves are dark green, and it's just 1.5 feet high by around two feet wide. It takes full sun, zones 4-11.  It has excellent disease resistance, attracts pollinators, and is great at the front of the border, on hillsides, or in open areas that need more plants! Bred by Meilland®

Top Cream™
Rosa 'Meiroguste'

This hybrid tea has large, old-fashioned blooms that are white, and sometimes with a little pink thrown in.  It has a strong fruity fragrance, which makes it perfect for cutting and bringing inside. It's upright and bushy, six feet high and two-three wide, with dark green foliage that contrasts beautifully with the flowers.  It takes full sun, zones (5) 6-10.  Bred by Meilland.

Raspberry Cupcake™
Rosa KORcarmsis'

Another hybrid tea with excellent disease resistance, this one has medium to light pink petals and medium green leaves, with a very strong lemon-raspberry aroma.  It re-blooms throughout the season and has a busy habit that's about four feet high and two-three wide.  It takes full sun, zones (5) 6-10, bred by Kordes®

Sunblaze® Lemon
Rosa 'Meilpiquet'

This miniature blooms from spring until fall, it's easy to maintain, and is perfect for containers.  The blooms are a creamy yellow, foliage is dark green, and it has just a very slight scent.  It gets 18 inches high and wide, with a rounded, bushy form.  It takes full sun, zones 5-11, and it also attracts pollinators. If you're not in the mood for yellow, you can try Sunblaze Peach.

Urban Tree of the Year 2023

images: courtesy Runa Leo@treesofbarcelona on Instagram

The Society of Municipal Arborists has selected Blue Jacaranda (Jacaranda mimosifolia) as the 2023 Urban Tree of the Year. You may not be able to grow this tree if you live in a cold northern region, but although it needs a warm climate (USDA zones 10-11), mature trees can withstand a brief, mild freeze. So you might want to try it if you live in an area that only gets an occasional light frost.

The tree is native to southern Bolivia and northwestern Argentina, but it's also of note in almost every subtropical climate, including parts of Australia, South Africa, India, Myanmar, Spain, Chile and the United States.

click on images to enlarge

It's grown, of course, for its lovely violet-blue flowers in spring, which completely cover the tree following a brief deciduous period. The large, medium-green leaves are bipinnately compound and resemble those of mimosa. The jacaranda has an open, upright form and grows best in full sun, although it can take part shade.

Felipe Alberto Fuentes Ramirez, an urban planner in Chile, says the tree's "large, fragrant, violet-blue flowers make it one of the favorite species to planjt along the streets and avenues of Santiago.  That said, it should be noted that jacaranda's canopy provides a modest amount of shade."

Jacaranda is moderately fast growing and usually reaches around 35 feet high and wide, although with the right conditions it can grow much higher.

Certainly something to contemplate if you're in the right region and are looking for a tree that's a little different.