|
Home
In
The News at Barcel
Horticulture
Information
-Plants
-Trees
-Places
of Interest
NNLA
Folks
in NE
-Nebraska Talent
Corporate
-Supported
Programs
|
The
NNLA 1999 GreatPlantsTM
|
Each year the Nebraska Nursery
& Landscape Association (NNLA) chooses a tree, shrub and
perennial of the year. These are plants that have proven
to be superior in landscapes, are readily available in the
nursery industry, but are not being grown by many
gardeners. Our goal is to see more of these plants
in your gardens.
|
|
The 1999
GreatPlantsTM Perennial of the
Year:
Leadplant
(Amorpha Canescens)
|
Watch out!
American gardeners want prairie plants! NNLA and the gardening
public have sure set a trend for using prairie plants in the
landscape. The popularity of ‘Husker Red’ along with
Echinacea ‘Magnus’ as PPA Perennial of the Year has
brought more of these underused plants into the limelight. The
October issue of Country Living Gardener featured an article
on GreatPlants™ with a photo of Fremont’s clematis. It’s
been amazing to see the amount of enthusiasm this has
generated, with requests from around the country for
information on where to get the plant.
Lead plant,
Amorpha canescens, is carrying on this gardening trend in
1999. I don’t think we will see another Plant of the Year
that has a native distribution almost statewide. Amorpha is
hard to describe. It grows like a herbaceous perennial, but
with age and certain growing conditions can take on woody
characteristics. Looking back into the classic prairie plant
descriptions it is considered a half shrub/perennial, and one
of the most conspicuous and characteristic plants of the
prairie. |
| Most
plants develop into small bushes with up to six basal stems.
It can be spotted easily among other plants by its brilliant
summer foliage. The very silvery green color immediately
catches the eye, which is caused by very pubescent leaves.
These leaves are considered its biggest attribute, especially
for grazing cattle, but the flowers are what we want. A
landscape planting of these or even a native stand in full
bloom is a sight to see. Dark purple spike-like racemes rise
above the foliage with larger flower bunches looking almost
black. Unlike some wildflowers, lead plant has been studied
quite extensively. Probably the best known would be our own
J.E. Weaver, the famous prairie ecologist. His observations
have given insight to its many attributes, but especially to
its landscape versatility. Lead plant has been observed
occurring in both full sun and shade situations with
apparently no sacrifice on performance. It was also observed
that the presence of lead plant indicated a high quality
prairie; maybe its future indication is a high quality garden.
Todd Morrissey |
|
Welcome to the
wonderful world of Viburnum! Few genera of hardy shrubs can
give such pleasure and performance during all seasons of the
year. Vibrunums are present in almost every landscape
installed today. Very rarely is it excluded from a landscape
design and if so, it can be looked on as a reflection of the
designer.
Overall success
of this group is its sustainability in the landscape, making
them deserving of such high recommendations. They posses the
"big three" qualities of ornamentals, spring
flowering, attractive summer foliage, and autumn color. The
wonderful spring flowers are often fragrant, in large clusters
and prolific. Going to visit a viburnum collection in the
spring will make anyone a believer.
Many think
their best attribute is the foliage, which can range from
large, fuzzy green to small light green. These combinations
give strong character and color to the landscape at that
critical time in mid-summer. |
The 1999
GreatPlantsTM
Shrub of the Year:
Koreanspice
Viburnun
(Viburnum carlesii)
|
| Autumn
brings on the last of the "big three"–fall color.
There can never be too much color in our landscapes and this
is especially true when our season changes to autumn. At this
time the landscape prepares us for winter with a last blast of
color. Viburnums add to this display with their reddish to
wine-red color.
Mentioning all these qualities
is just a build-up for our 1999 Shrub of the Year, Viburnum
carlesii – Koreanspice Viburnum. Everyone remembers a spring
encounter with Koreanspice. The spicy-sweet fragrance, much
like a Daphne, can carry in the landscape and pulls observers
in for further investigation. Flowers are a 2-3" rounded
inflorescence, which are in full bloom from late April to
early May. Flower buds develop from pink to reddish in the
early stages to open white blooms. Koreanspice develops into a
rounded shrub with very stiff upright branches, characteristic
of the genera, becoming denser with age. Mature foliage is
2-4" long and a pale green with a very pubescent upper
surface. As described above, Koreanspice has the reddish to
wine-red autumn color that adds to our final display of the
year. Congratulations are in order to the NNLA membership for
again selecting such a fine shrub for 1999 GreatPlants™ of
the Year. Todd Morrissey |
The
1999 GreatPlantsTM
Tree of the Year:
Swamp White
Oak
(Quercus bicolor)
|
The GreatPlants™
1999 tree of the year is swamp white oak. It is a fitting
selection for 1999 because of its increased use and popularity
in Nebraska the last 15 years. Oaks in general have been used
by more designers because of the increased awareness for
diversity in our landscape and improved production methods
have allowed for better survival than in the past.
Many Nebraska
plant people are aware of the famous row of swamp whites in
Lincoln’s Woods Park and some may have grown seedlings from
these trees. They have clearly withstood the test of time in
that location and have been a yearly seed source for several
nurseries in Iowa that sell wholesale stock.
Swamp white has
probably benefited most from the increased oak use awareness;
mention of its use in Nebraska brings forth many favorable
comments. It is a large tree (50’) comparable to the size of
many other oak species and has a leaf resembling both bur and
white oak. Actually the name bicolor refers to the two-colored
leaf, green above and the white velvety pubescence below. |
| It does
get a hint of fall color–usually golden brown to light
brown–but a few have been reported to be reddish brown. It
is hardy to zone 4 and found native from New York to Missouri.
This native range makes the seed source important for our
nurseries. Swamp white is found throughout north central
Missouri, all of eastern Iowa and southern Minnesota.
Seedlings purchased from a wholesaler with such a Midwest
source would be great for Nebraska retailers. As far as
landscape sites, this oak seems to be one of the most
versatile. It can withstand poorly drained or compacted sites
as well as dry upland soil. Soil pH can be a problem, high
soil pH (>7.2) can cause leaf chlorosis as seen in some
landscapes in western Nebraska. Todd
Morrissey |
The world is our garden,
and there are many great plants growing in landscapes and in the
wild which are going unnoticed. Most survive harsh conditions
that make them "natural treasures" for our use.
Today's gardeners are constantly seeking plants that are new and
useful. It's even better when these new plants are reliably
hardy, easy to care for, ornamentally worthwhile and available at
the local nursery.
GreatPlantsTM
is a joint program of Nebraska Statewide Arboretum and Nebraska
Nursery & Landscape Association. We work with nursery
professionals to bring such plants to you through research and
international plant exploration. We select and promote plants
that make everyone look like a great gardener. If these are
your kinds of plants, take note of our new
Plant Releases and Plants of
the year. Ask for them at your local nursery, or contact
Nebraska Statewide Arboretum for availability.
|
