Plant of the Week: SHOW OFF Forsythia

It's OK to show off.

When you're this awesome, it's OK to show off. Think of Michael Jordan catching air, or Lady Gaga singing the national anthem. Being that fabulous and not showing the world would be weird, like if a stock market savant chose to live in a modest house in Omaha. Oh, wait - that's what Warren Buffet does. And I'll bet that he's got a forsythia in his yard, because after a dreary midwestern winter he deserves some yellow flowers.

If you're going to have a plant that adds something to the landscape for only a couple of weeks, make it the best couple of weeks you can. Show Off® Forsythia have better flower displays than other varieties, and nice compact habits that don't take up room in the landscape the rest of the year.

 
Pick the size that's right for you: the original Show Off® grows 5-6' tall. Show Off® Starlet is 2-3' tall, and Show Off® Sugar Baby is just 1.5-2.5' tall and wide. All are hardy to USDA Zone 5 and will grow in full sun or partial shade.

Let's show a little respect for Forsythia.

Let's be honest. It's hard to get excited about Forsythia. It's not the kind of plant that gets you points in the plant snob world. After all, it's something that almost everyone recognizes and everyone knows its Latin name. How on earth are you supposed to show off your horticultural superiority with Forsythia?

 
Well, start by getting over yourself. People know and love forsythia because it makes them happy after a long, cold winter. It looks its best just as folks are ready to finally do something about their crummy landscape, so of course it's what they buy on that first spring trip to the garden center.

It's also a very functional plant. Deer-resistant and durable, it will tolerate clay soil, black walnut and generally lousy conditions including urban sites. It's a great gateway plant for the beginning gardener.

The only tricky thing can be flowering. Don't prune it in fall. Gardeners in colder climates may see flowers only below the snow line because uninsulated buds get damaged by cold temperatures. Compact varieties like Show Off® will have a better bloom display because the flowers are protected by snow overwinter. Show Off's flowers run from base to tip so you get a really nice full display.

 
And that's how you show off your horticultural knowledge with Forsythia: you recommend the best variety for the site and keep people from pruning it into a disappointing meatball.

California Spring Trials (CAST)

You know what they say...time flies when you're having fun.  I find that to be true because this is already my third time attending CAST and it's always a blast!   Over 1,000 people visited the Proven Winners site including media and garden writers (so glad to see all of you).   After talking to everyone about the new shrubs we had on display, I thought I'd share a few crowd favorites. 

Double Take Peach™ Quince Chaenomeles
What a stunner!  This one was loaded with buds at the beginning of the week so it was looking really sharp throughout the week with it's soft peach colored blooms.  This variety is very tolerant of heat and dry conditions...oh and it's thornless too!

Winecraft Black™ Smokebush Cotinus
My personal favorite of our new introductions, this one looks really sharp.  It doesn't get as big as your traditional smokebush and reaches just 5-6ft tall and wide.  New growth comes in a reddish color and aging to a rich near black tone that doesn't fade. 

Invincibelle® Series -The Invincibelle series of hydrangea is expanding again this year, now with three dwarf varieties.  Choose from Invincibelle Limetta™ hydrangea with its rich lime blooms or Invincibelle Mini Mauvette™ hydrangea with pink blooms. Both of these grow to 3ft tall and wide. Looking for something even smaller?  Try Invincibelle Wee White™ hydrangea that grows 1.5-2 feet tall. 

 

 

Tuff Stuff™ Series - Another great series that I personally have several of in my garden...love the lacecaps!  These guys live up to their name...they are tough as nails and are very hardy.   There are three in the series Tuff Stuff™ hydrangea, Tiny Tuff Stuff™ hydrangea and the newest, Tuff Stuff™ Red hydrangea. 

 

 

At Last® Rose - People love this rose!  The rich orange bloom draws everyone in, but then the fragrance wows everyone. To top it off, it's disease resistant.  It was also the 2016 Shrub Madness champion! 

Spilled Wine® Weigela - A great landscape plant!  These rock beautiful pink flowers with deep purple foliage like Wine & Roses® weigela, but has smaller, more cascading habit. 

Plant of the Week: Double Take™ Chaenomeles

Spring Color!

Is winter done? Last week seemed like a final, vindictive farewell tour. Let's hope that spring is here for good, because spring flowers are here!

Quince is a traditional favorite at this time of the year, and with good reason. The flowers are bright and cheerful, just what we need after months of gray gloom. And the plant itself is tough, tolerating sun, heat, drought and even clay soil. 

Double Take™ Chaenomeles have exceptionally large flowers for an even better spring bloom display than traditional varieties. As an added bonus, they don't have thorns, and typically don't produce fruit. Better flowers, no thorns, and no mess? Sign me up!

We're excited to introduce a new color into the Double Take™ series this spring: Double Take Peach™. Its soft color is a nice choice for folks who don't want the intensity of Orange, Scarlet or Pink.

All of the Double Take™ varieties are 4-5' tall and wide and grow best in full sun. They are hardy to USDA Zone 5. 

Plant of the Week: Incrediball® X 2

We introduced Incrediball® hydrangea a few years ago, and it has proven to be one of our most popular plants. A souped-up 'Annabelle'-type hydrangea, it has huge flowers and very sturdy stems. A mass planting of these is a real showstopper! Even a single specimen will wow the neighbors.

So we were very excited to add Incrediball® Blush to our hydrangea collection. It has the same large flowers and sturdy stems as the original, but the blooms are a soft, refined pink.

Like all Hydrangea arborescens, these plants are quite hardy (USDA Zone 3), and bloom on new wood. Although they will grow in both full sun and partial shade we find that the flowering on H. arborescens is better in full sun. This is especially true the further north you are. Both of these hydrangeas grow 4-5' tall and wide. 


Here's the thing about H. arborescens: they aren't H. macrophylla.
 

That's obvious, but what does it mean? There's the good: H. arborescens are hardier and bloom on new wood so there's no tricky pruning or overwintering to worry about. They are also more durable. Established plants will tolerate some water stress. Although flowering may be compromised, the plant will be OK.

Then there's the not-so-good. H. arborescens aren't going to present as well in a container as H. macrophylla. Bigleaf hydrangeas make cute little two- or even one-gallon sized containers. Smooth hydrangeas don't really look their best until they are at least a three-gallon sized container.  The plants will need a few seasons in the ground to really come into their own, too. You will see more and bigger flowers on mature, established plants.

 
If you need smaller options try our new dwarf varieties, like Invincibelle Wee White™ or Mini Mauvette™. These little plants have great container presentation and are also a good fit for smaller yards. Here's a handy chart showing the color and size options for smooth hydrangeas.