Plant of the Week: Pink Chiffon® Hibiscus

Plant of the Week is written by Jane Beggs-Joles

August.

It's warm - perfect for beaches and barbecue. And Hibiscus syriacus.

Pink Chiffon® H. syriacus habit

Rose-of-Sharon is beautiful right now, flowering happily when many other plants are kind of tired. What color do you want? Blue, white, purple? How about pink?

Pink Chiffon® H. syriacus is a delightful plant, charming even those of us who aren't partial to the color. The large blooms hit just the right part of pink: bright enough to stand out in the garden yet not disruptive.

Pink Chiffon® H. syriacus bloom

Like other H. syriacus, Pink Chiffon® grows best in full sun. It will get 8-12' tall and 6-10' wide, and is hardy to USDA Zone 5. It is one of several outstanding varieties brought to us by plant breeder Dr. Roderick Wood. His selections all have large, unique flowers and a full, graceful habit. They are much more appealing in containers than older varieties.

In addition to having abundant late summer flowers, rose-of-Sharon is a durable plant that will tolerate some challenging conditions. Heat, drought, clay soil - even deer in most areas don't bother it.

Get ready to celebrate!

August 18 is this Sunday, and it's a day to celebrate. Why? I'll give you two good reasons: it's the day U.S. women gained the right to vote in 1920, and it's the anniversary of the first plant patent! Wow!

The first plant patent was issued to New Jersey resident Henry Bosenberg in 1931 for the 'New Dawn' rose. Since then, thousands of plant patents have been granted. Breeding a new plant is no different than any other creation, and protecting intellectual property like songs, books, and yes, plants, is a critical element in our economy.

As exciting as plant hunting can be, it's a lot of work. It takes time, dedication, and attention to detail. And don't you think the person who spends years breeding a better hydrangea deserves both credit and compensation?

So how will you celebrate plants and women's suffrage? Buy a lady a plant! And cake! Wine, too, if she's old enough to enjoy it. After all, you only need to be 18 to vote. And if you know a young lady who's turning 18 soon, remind her to register to vote. (Young men, too).

Plant of the Week: Lollipop Malus

National Lollipop Day

Other than helping a bit with laryngitis, I don't think of lollipops as being very useful. They certainly have never satisfied my 4 pm chocolate craving.

But here's a Lollipop® that actually is useful: it's a truly dwarf crabapple tree. It was selected by the breeder because it maintains its neat habit and dwarf (8') form.

Lollipop® Malus is one of seven Proven Winners® ColorChoice® trees available now - with more to come in the future.

Lollipop® crabapple has loads of white flowers that will produce shiny red fruits in fall. Birds and wildlife love them.

This is a useful plant for formal mass plantings or as a well-behaved specimen. Homeowners often want assurances that a plant won't get "too big". Here's one that won't.

It will do best in full sun, and is hardy to USDA Zone 4 (AHS heat tolerance of 8).


Yes, National Lollipop Day is a thing, and it's happening on Saturday

I admit the timing seems a little off. Mid-July is when I'm looking for a frozen treat rather than room temperature candy. Still, I did think it was pretty great when the drive-through bank teller sent a lollipop to me when I was sweltering in the back of my parents' un-air conditioned, vinyl-seated Dodge Coronet.

You can make the day more meaningful by skipping the standard issue sucker and going for an artisan lollipop. I'm the driver now, and maybe I need to keep a stash of these in my air conditioned car for when I'm waiting for my kids to get out of practice.

Plant of the Week is written by Jane Beggs-Joles

Plant of the Week: Scentlandia® Itea

North America has some pretty cool plants. Native plants are popular for a lot of reasons, but sometimes it seems like the discussion misses the fact that they would be worthwhile plants even without the bonus of being native.

Itea virginica, or sweetspire, is one such plant. It has lovely fragrant flowers, is adaptable to wet soils and shade, and will reward you in fall with nice foliage color. Who wouldn't want that?

Scentlandia® Itea 

Scentlandia® Itea features exceptionally fragrant flowers and a compact (2-3') habit. Normally, the species can get up to 5' tall, so if you have a smaller space this dwarf selection will be a better fit. Note: Love fragrance? This native beauty made our Top Ten Fragrant Shrubs video.

Scentlandia® Itea fall color

While we consider it to be hardy to USDA Zone 5, it has shown better bud hardiness, which helps it flower better than generic members of the species after harsh winters. If you're toward the northern edge of its zone, you'll like that. Remember that Itea virginica flowers on old wood, so you don't want to prune it back in fall or winter.

Plant of the Week is written by Jane Beggs-Joles

Plant of the Week: Sugar Shack® Cephalanthus

It's been a cold, wet spring. The Great Lakes and our surrounding rivers are at record levels and there's more rain coming.

We know that this is just an inconvenience, not the catastrophe faced by farmers in Iowa and Nebraska, but it's still frustrating. While many ornamental plants like regular watering this might be a bit much for some of them, not to mention the increased risk of fungal problems such weather can bring.

Luckily there are some plants that genuinely like wet conditions. Cephalanthus occidentalis, or buttonbush, is one of them.

Sugar Shack® is a dwarf form of this delightful native plant, growing to about half the size of the species.

Sugar Shack® buttonbush  summer flower

It has the same crazy summer flowers that bees and other pollinators love, yet will have showy red fruit in fall rather than the typical green. It's not just bees that like the blooms; the fragrance is appealing to humans, too.

Sugar Shack® buttonbush fall fruit

It's a great plant for soggy spots in the landscape or near ponds and streams. Sugar Shack® will grow about 3-4' tall and wide, and takes either full sun or partial shade. It's hardy to USDA Zone 4.

Enjoy these long days.
We're nearing the longest days of the year, which means long, soft twilight hours here in the North Country. It's wonderful to sit outside (on nights it isn't raining, anyway) and enjoy the evening with family and friends.

Evening is when we really appreciate the light colored flowers like those of Cephalanthus - the sweet scent is nice, too.

People without at least a few white flowers in the landscape are missing out on one of the simple joys of a summer evening. Here are some suggestions for other white blooms to add to gardens.

Plant of the Week is written by Jane Beggs-Joles

Plant of the Week: Fire Light® Hydrangea paniculata

Fired up for hydrangeas!
We like to say that Fire Light® is the standard by which you can measure all panicle hydrangeas. Plus, it's the 2019 Proven Winners® hydrangea of the year! This easy-to-grow, reliable, panicle hydrangea was developed in Michigan, selected for its huge, full flower heads and sturdy, strong stems. Blooms emerge creamy-white and age to a vivid red for lots of summer color. It makes a great cut flower, fresh or dried, and can be used as a hedge, specimen, or incorporated into flower gardens and foundation plantings.

Hardy to USDA Zone 3, they bloom every year - even after bad winters. The flowers open white and then turn pink-red. Need a smaller variety? Try a dwarf variety such as Little Quick Fire®.

Fire Light® Hydrangea paniculata

Fire Light® Hydrangea paniculata in container

But what about blue?
Sorry, these hydrangea aren't going to turn blue. They start out white, then transition to pink-red. That's what they do.

If you want a blue hydrangea you need to grow a H. macrophylla or H. serrata. And you need to grow it with attention to flower color.

This isn't an overnight process. You can't go out to a crop of beautiful pink mophead hydrangeas and change them to blue instantly. But with proper planning and execution you can have that sea of blue flowers.

Here is a very good article about shifting hydrangea color. It has more detail than most such articles, and really helpful!

If you need something a little less technical, we have a really nice pdf that you are welcome to link to and share.

Plant of the Week is written by Jane Beggs-Joles

Plant of the Week: Sunjoy Todo™ Berberis

Some plants just like the heat. Berberis is one of them.

Heat hasn't been a problem in Michigan (yet). We've had a cool, rainy spring so far. But we know that warmer days are coming. That's great for an afternoon on Lake Michigan but can be rough on some plants.

Barberry, however, thrives in full sun and plenty of heat. New to garden centers this year, Sunjoy Todo™ (pronounced tow-dough) is no exception. It has deep purple color that just grows richer as the August sun beats down on it.

With its semi-dwarf size and nice, consistent habit, this is an easy and responsible way to add durable color to hot, dry areas. As with other barberries, it has good deer resistance and will do best in full sun and well-drained soil.

Sunjoy Todo™ Berberis in flower

Sunjoy Todo™ barberry grows 1.5-2' tall and is hardy to USDA Zone 6. It's a semi-evergreen selection with really showy yellow flowers. Don't worry - the berries produced by these flowers do not have seeds. They are hollow!

Barberry rehabilitated.
It's easy to hate barberry; Berberis is considered invasive in many areas. And we don't want to plant things that will become a problem.

Sunjoy Todo™ Berberis

But barberry came to be a popular landscape plant because it is a really useful option for challenging sites. Heat, drought - even deer are not a problem for this plant. I'm thinking of some businesses I've seen on busy streets - they want a landscape but whatever is there needs to tolerate air pollution and general neglect. In goes the barberry.

So providing a non-invasive barberry for such conditions is something we're really proud of. We know some people have those difficult spaces to fill in their landscapes, or maybe they just want something colorful and durable for their yards. Let's use the plants that meet this need but don't cause problems for the environment.

It's not just barberry - if there's a problem plant in your area, see if there's a non-invasive alternative. If you're not sure, ask. Plant geeks love to help other plant geeks discover new plants!

Plant of the Week is written by Jane Beggs-Joles

Plant of the Week: Sonic Bloom® Weigela

This is a spring for reblooming plants.

It's been cold. Sure, we've had some lovely Chamber of Commerce-worthy blue sky days, but on the whole it's been a wet, cold spring. They've even been using the "F" word in parts of West Michigan.

Reblooming plants are pretty awesome in years like this. Even if we do have an untimely frost or freeze, rebloomers like the Sonic Bloom® Weigela will still reward us with flowers. Better late than never, right?

Sonic Bloom® Pink Weigela

Sonic Bloom® Weigela are very rewarding plants in more ways than one.

They're pretty, of course. Those classic weigela flowers are a charming addition to any spring garden. They're eye-catching in the landscape, and really easy to grow.

And they rebloom, so everyone gets to enjoy the flowers multiple times through the year. It's not just people who like the flowers: butterflies and hummingbirds like them, too.

Sonic Bloom® Weigela come in several colors, including Pink, Pure Pink (which is a more pastel pink), Red  and a red flowered variety with chartreuse foliage, called Ghost. If you'd like something a little more genteel, Sonic Bloom® Pearl has white flowers that transform to a soft pink.

Sonic Bloom® Pure Pink Weigela has an upright habit and is a good choice for hedging. The others have a more rounded habit.

Sonic Bloom® Pure Pink Weigela

All are hardy to USDA Zone 4 (Pure Pink even down to zone 3) and will get about 5' tall. You'll want to put them in full sun.

Weigela have good deer resistance, and will also tolerate clay soil They're more than just a pretty face!

Plant of the Week is written by Jane Beggs-Joles

Plant of the Week: Magenta Chiffon® rose of Sharon

You've seen Lavender, and White. Blue, and even Pink.

Are you ready for Magenta Chiffon® rose of Sharon?*

It has the same lacy tuft in the center of its large flowers, but it's a deeper, more intense color than the rest of the series. This should appeal to folks who aren't fans of pastels but want the reliable summer flowers of this durable plant.

Hibiscus syriacus is tolerant of some tough conditions, including heat, drought and clay soil.

In addition to their distinctive flowers, the Chiffon® Hibiscus syriacus have strong, uniform growth and nice container presentation. While older varieties can seem stiff and awkward, these plants are full and quite appealing.

All will grow best in full sun, and are hardy to USDA Zone 5. They will get 8-12' tall and wide.

If you'd prefer a lighter color for your summer garden, take a look at the other colors in this video. You're sure to find one that works!

*Magenta Chiffon® Hibiscus syriacus will be available at garden centers in 2020.

Plant of the Week is written by Jane Beggs-Joles

Plant of the Week: Golden Shadows® Cornus

We're in the peak of Tulip Time here in West Michigan. Really, the only thought people are giving to trees right now is to complain about their allergies.

I say take some allergy medicine and carry on, because trees are great. (Seriously, I say this. Everyone in my house, including the dog, is on allergy medicine.)

Tulips are nice enough, but trees will delight us for far longer than a couple of weeks in the spring.

Golden Shadows® Cornus alternifolia, in particular, is a plant that brings me a great deal of joy.

It has a lovely horizontal branching structure that adds an elegant touch to any garden. The bright color of the foliage is appealing, too, brightening the murky corners of a property.

Golden Shadows® will be happiest in filtered shade - just where you need that cheery green and gold foliage.

It's hardy to USDA Zone 3, and will grow 10-12' tall and wide.

If you haven't grown this plant, please do. I can say rather smugly that I've had it in my yard for years. and it never fails to make me happy.

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Did you know? Proven Winners® is getting into the tree game!

Golden Shadows® has been a favorite here at Spring Meadow Nursery for a long time. We've been hoping to make it fit into the Proven Winners® brand, but it wasn't quite right mixed in with the hydrangeas, etc. By teaming up with Maria Zampini, we've found a group of other fantastic ornamental trees and so have enough varieties to establish a Proven Winners® tree program.

As the former President of Lake County Nursery, Inc., Maria brings a wealth of tree experience to this partnership. We're confident that she will provide our customers with the same outstanding options for trees as they have come to expect from the shrubs coming from Spring Meadow Nursery's own breeding programs.

Finally, if you really want to talk trees you might want to use a special tree font to do it. Yes, such a thing exists. I know at least one graphic designer who will be going down a font rabbit hole after reading this.


Plant of the Week is written by Jane Beggs-Joles

Plant of the Week: Tiny Wine® Physocarpus

Tine Wine® Physocarpus

Hello and happy Friday! 

It's hopefully extra happy for us, as the rain has cleared and we can dig into the dirt all weekend!

I mentioned on Monday that I had been in Iowa last week. So before I get to the Plant of the Week, which is Tiny Wine® ninebark (pictured right) I wanted to share a couple of pics I took in the Better Homes & Gardens test garden.

I'm lucky I have an "in" there since, although it is open to the public, it doesn't officially open for a couple of weeks. It was fun to see the gardens waking up and the tulips all in their glory. Very different from my trip there last June when the bulbs were done blooming and other plants were capturing the spotlight.

The Helleborus were also in full bloom and absolutely gorgeous, as were many other plants like Sunjoy® Citrus Berberis! Click here for my online photo album that contains all the pictures.

Now, as promised, here is Jane's Plant of the Week:

Plant of the Week: Show Off® Forsythia

Show Off® Sugar Baby Forsythia

I was in Iowa last week and never got a chance to complete the plant of the week blog, so I'll see if I Forsythia. I don't can churn out two this week, starting with Jane's post about a "perennial" favorite, know about you, but mine is gorgeous right now.

Also, don't forget about the Mother's Day giveaway! There are still two days to enter to win! See details below:

Click this link to enter by May 1, and you could win Lorraine Ballato's book Success With Hydrangeas: A Gardener's Guide plus a Proven Winners® ColorChoice® hydrangea, shipped from Great Garden Plants, directly to your mom's home! It's a $50 value, free to one lucky winner.

Lorraine is an Advanced Master Gardener and like me, a hydrangea lover. In her book she gives tips for knowledgeable and novice gardeners alike on how to grow this favorite garden shrub. Each of the thirteen chapters covers the whys and wherefores in easy-to understand language with nearly 150 photos and illustrations. I got one for my mom last Mother's Day and she loves it!

Don't want to leave it up to chance? You can order a signed copy of Lorraine's book right on her website and get it shipped in time for Mother's Day!

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Plant of the Week: Show Off® Forsythia

It's a bit unfair to say that Forsythia are good only for their flowers. That may be true in an
ornamental sense, but these are tough, durable plants. They are a useful choice for places that face pressure from deer browsing, and will also tolerate clay soil.

Plant of the week: Yuki series of Deutzia

Hello and happy Thursday -

Happy Face Hearts Potentilla in bloom

Spring is in the air...finally! Even those of us who live close to the chilly shores of Lake Michigan are seeing bulbs poking their heads out of the soil and new growth is appearing on once-dormant shrubs.

In fact, this is photo of a Happy Face® Potentilla I put in last summer. I was thrilled to see these tiny green buds all along the stems already.

Happy Face Hearts new growth

Soon my bulbs will be in flower and I'll share lots of photos. Last fall I put in a bunch of new ones from Brent and Becky's Bulbs... I'm excited to see them bloom!

Until then, I'll have to be patient, even during the few cold days that we most certainly have in store. Reading Jane's Plant of the Week posts help. Beautiful flowering shrubs shared with a truly original viewpoint!

Enjoy it, copied below - Natalie

CAST 2019

Natalie talking about cool, new shrubs.

Hello and happy Thursday!

Oh my goodness, CAST was a whirlwind. I just got done uploading some pictures of the beautiful shrubs we showed this year. Mind you, these are plants that are available to growers this year, so they will be at garden centers in 2020.

I loved spending the week in the California sun (okay there was a little rain, but I'm not complaining) talking about shrubs. What could be better!

Two of my favorites are:

Interstella® Pieris

Whether you call it Japanese andromeda or lily of the valley shrub, Interstella® Pieris will have you seeing stars when it bursts into bloom with thousands of lantern-like ruby-colored blooms in early spring. You may have seen a Pieris with white flowers or pale-pink flowers, but we selected this one for its ruby red blooms. 

The long-lasting display is followed by the emergence of dramatic red new growth, and handsome evergreen foliage secures year-round presence and beauty. Thrives in the same conditions as rhododendrons. 

USDA Zone 5 - 8 exposure full to part sun. This will actually do well in the shade, too!

Ringo™ Rosa

I know you could say Ringo™ rose but it's so much more fun to say Ringo™ Rosa... 

This rose has already won six awards overseas, and will finally available in North American garden centers in 2020. 

The blooms of this colorful, appealing R. hulthemia hybrid open a bright golden yellow with a blazing red center. They mellow to a soft yellow, before finally turning white with a distinct pink center. The effect is of three colors blooming at once. 

Disease resistant and reblooming, hardy in USDA zones 4-8. This rose will get to about 3-4' tall. I can't wait to get my hands on one.

The rest of the photos from CAST are in my online Adobe Portfolio. I wish I could say I took them all, but that wouldn't be true... my co-worker Adriana Robinson also came to CAST this year and she took lots of great video as well as most of the photos on the page (and the photo of Ringo™ Rosa on this page.) She's super-talented and hopefully we'll be posting a few of her videos soon. 

Thanks for stopping by and see you next week!

Natalie

Plant of the Week: Spring into Syringa

Happy spring!

(Bloomerang® Purple lilac)

I'll be in California for the spring trials for the next couple of weeks. This week we are setting up our plant displays so I'm sending you this wonderful post about lilacs from Jane. Next week, pictures and posts from CAST will start to come in!

So for now...enjoy spring, it's here!

- Natalie

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Plant of the Week: Spring is here!

Scentara® Double Blue Syringa

Not meteorological spring (that was March 1) or nursery grower spring (the first sale of the season), but astronomical spring, which was Wednesday.

What could be more fitting for a spring celebration than lilacs? Show me someone who doesn't like lilacs and I'll show you a bitter retiree who's discovered that she can't have a lilac at her Miami condo.

That's actually one of the most frequent questions we get on the Proven Winners® feedback site: why can't I get a lilac in Florida? Hint: the reblooming Bloomerang® varieties typically do quite well in warmer climates since they flower on new wood.

If you're looking for that classic farmhouse lilac with outstanding fragrance (and not so much powdery mildew), here's the plant for you: Scentara® Double Blue Syringa.

This plant gets 6-8' tall, like the one at your grandma's house. But it has unique doubled flowers and a nicer habit than old-fashioned common lilac. And there is the aforementioned mildew tolerance.

As with any lilac, it will want full sun to be at its best. Let it shine in a nice sunny, exposed border - that makes it easy to cut some flowers for bouquets.

This beautiful plant is hardy to USDA Zone 2 - it's the north country's reward for making it through another winter.


Plant of the Week is written by Jane Beggs-Joles

Plant of the Week: My Monet® weigela

Hello and Happy Friday!

For the last couple of weeks I've been reminding you about Shrub Madness, and that's still going on... You can still get in on the voting and you can still get the prizes that will be distributed at the end of each round! I hope you decide to give it a try.

Now let's get back to the Plant of the Week, this week Jane wrote about the three beautiful varieties of My Monet® Weigela. Named after my favorite painter!

After the plant of the week post, be sure to check out the information about the brand new Proven Winners® Garden Book. Written by Thomas Christopher and the fabulous Ruth Rogers Clausen, who was one of the very first people I met at my first GWA (now Garden Comm) mixer. I was in the lobby of the Lord Baltimore hotel, feeling quite out of my element and she motioned for me to come over to where she was sitting in a comfy sofa, welcomed me to sit down, introduced herself and said "tell me about you." She made me feel right at home.

Enjoy this week's plant, My Monet® Weigela.

The original My Monet® Weigela is an interesting plant. The variegated foliage will often acquire pink coloration as the season progresses.

My Monet® Sunset weigela

My Monet® 'Sunset' (right) goes in a different direction as its foliage is fiery sunset hues of orange and red.

This year we have a third My Monet® weigela to offer you: My Monet Purple Effect™. As the name implies, this weigela has a purple tone in both the foliage and the flowers.

I think that having the three plants with such different color palettes really suits the name My Monet. One of Claude Monet's most famous works is the series of paintings of Rouen cathedral. It's the same subject, painted multiple times, but in different lights.

My Monet Purple Effect™ weigela

All of the My Monet® Weigela are dwarf plants that can be used more as a low-growing mass planting than in the traditional border filler role that we expect of a weigela. While the original My Monet® and My Monet® 'Sunset' grow 1-1.5' tall and wide, My Monet Purple Effect™ weigela will get a little bigger: 1.5-2.5'.

My Monet Purple Effect™ weigela is also faster growing than the original, and more heat tolerant. It produces purple-pink flowers in spring, and then the variegated foliage stays nice and bright up to frost so you have quite a long season of color.

Hardy into USDA Zone 4, My Monet Purple Effect™ will grow in full sun or partial shade. The original My Monet® is also hardy to USDA Zone 4, but My Monet® 'Sunset' goes into USDA Zone 5.

Plant of the Week is written by Jane Beggs-Joles.

Looking for a good book?

The gardening season is still weeks away for many people, so they must content themselves with planning for the upcoming spring.

While websites are great for learning about new plants, many people still like the feel of a book. There's something relaxing about turning real pages rather than clicking through screens.

Proven Winners® Garden Book is a nice addition to any gardener's library. If you'd like an autographed copy to give to a special gardener in your life, or maybe offer as a door prize at an upcoming event, you can order one here.

Soon enough we'll be able to garden in real life!

Natalie's Top 3 Roses for Valentine's Day AND Peppy Le Pom™ Punica

Happy Valentine's Day!

This week Jane writes about an alternative to roses for Valentine's Day, a peppy little pomegranate plant! (Scroll down for the post.) However, consumers will have to wait on this one, it won't be available to retail until 2020.

Until then, a rose never is a bad idea, right? So, just for Valentine's Day, here are my favorite three Proven Winners® ColorChoice® roses:

Oso Easy® Double Pink rose

Oso Easy® Double Pink Rosa 
I fell in love with this one at CAST last year. It is an amazingly prolific bloomer and I love the bright yellow centers on the full, little bubblegum pink flowers. This rose can have up to 10 blooms per stem, so it's always bright and colorful.

I planted quart-sized plants of this rose in my garden last spring and they doubled in size by fall. Plus, it just kept blooming and blooming well past summer. I can't wait to see what they do this year!

It's brand-new at garden centers this year...if you can't find it ask if they can order one for you! When local options fail, you can also get it online on the Proven Winners website.

Ringo™ Rosa

Ringo™ Rosa
I know, we talked about this one just last week, but look at it! It's ridiculous how gorgeous it is. Okay, you can't get it until 2020 but plan a spot for it in your garden because this one will stop passersby dead in their tracks.

At Last® rose

Finally, you can't ignore the 2019 Proven Winners Rose of the Year, At Last®.  

This rose has a beautiful upright habit and the soft, apricot-colored blooms are super-full and heavenly scented. Yes, this is unique for a shrub rose. Most are lovely, and the pollinators still flock to them, but the blooms have no scent at all. If you grow tea roses you'll get fragrance, but they susceptible to diseases like black spot and powdery mildew. But because At Last is shrub rose, (and a PWCC rose) it resistant to the typical diseases that befall hybrid tea roses. Plus, it's self-cleaning! When the bloom is spent, the petals simply drop to the ground so more flowers can take their place. So, if I can get a sweet-scented, fully petaled rose that is less work, I'm all in.

 So that's it...my Valentine's Day rose roundup!  See you next week - Natalie 

Not your typical Valentine's Day gift

Peppy Le Pom™ ornamental pomegranate

It's Valentine's Day, and you shouldn't be thinking about roses. The perfect gifty plant is Punica, a.k.a. the pomegranate.

Yes, the same plant that your health nut cousin is always talking about has some serious ornamental appeal, too.

Peppy Le Pom™ Punica is a very cute little dwarf plant that's ideal for gifting. It has fun orange flowers that will produce tiny pomegranate fruits. They are edible, but the primary appeal of the plant is the flowers and the compact habit.

Why pomegranates?

The pomegranate is already a traditional gift in many cultures. It's presented at Rosh Hashanah, they are used to celebrate the Greek Orthodox New Year, and they make a great Thanksgiving centerpiece, too.

Don't just take our word for it: Peppy Le Pom™ was recently awarded the Direct Gardening Association's Green Thumb award.

Peppy Le Pom™ Punica is hardy to about 40F, so for most of us, it's strictly an indoor plant. But if you're in a mild climate you can expect it to get 3-4' tall and wide. It will want full sun.

Plant of the Week is written by Jane Beggs-Joles.

Plant of the Week: Ringo™ Rosa

Ringo™ rose

This week Jane writes about a "new" rose we're introducing called Ringo™. I say "new" because even though we are just introducing it to growers this year, and you won't see it at garden centers until 2020, it has been winning awards overseas since 2014.

Ringo™ Rosa has been honored with the Public Award and a Second Class Certificate at the Hague Rose trials in the Netherlands, it earned a Novelty Award at the New Zealand Rose Trials, 1st prize at the Lyon Rose Trials in France, and in the UK, a Gold Standard certification at the Gold Standard Rose Trials, and a Certificate of Merit at the Royal National Rose Society Show. Whew! I'm excited to see how it performs in the US...time will tell!

Hulthemia Persica (Rosa persica). Baikonur, Kazakhstan 

One thing I've learned from Ringo™ rose is (and this probably won't come as a surprise to my garden writer friends) that this particular rose is a hybrid of the species Rosa persica - a species in subgenus Hulthemia. (Pictured, right.) This is a tough little thorny plant that is native to eastern Persia, Afghanistan, and Turkestan. It is really thought of as a low-spreading weed, that only blooms once a season. But that bloom is what gives this rose its distinctive red center or "blotch" as it's characteristically described. In simple terms, the breeding of Chris Warner has taken that tough, drought-tolerant plant with a beautiful bloom and crossed it with a shrub rose, turning Ringo™ Rosa into a repeat bloomer with glossy, compound foliage on a bushy, compact, habit. The best of both worlds.

So, enjoy this post about one of my favorite new introductions, Ringo™ Rosa. 

- Natalie 

It's Ringo™!

The human Ringo, part of pop music's British Invasion, appeared with the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show over 50 years ago this week.

We don't have an Ed Sullivan show for plants, but Ringo™ the rose has won a number of awards. It's just as fun and flashy as its namesake - the bright yellow flowers have brilliant red centers.

Ringo™ rose has good disease resistance and also reblooms through the season. The bright yellow flowers will mellow to cream with a hot pink eye; you'll often see several different shades of bloom on the plant at the same time. This is a fun little plant with lots of garden appeal.

Ringo™ Rosa, it's just fun to say...

It is hardy to USDA Zone 4 and grows 3-4' tall and wide. Like other roses, it will do best in full sun.

The British (rose) invasion.
Many of our beautiful roses come from the efforts of British rose breeders.

Ringo™ is the work of Chris Warner, who also developed Suñorita™ and many of our Oso Easy® roses:

• Oso Easy® Paprika
• Oso Easy® Peachy Cream
• Oso Easy® Urban Legend®
• Oso Easy® Pink Cupcake
• Oso Easy® Mango Salsa
• Oso Easy Lemon Zest™
• Oso Easy® Italian Ice®

I had the pleasure of meeting Chris several years ago, and he is a delightful man - and very, very British.

Plant of the Week is written by Jane Beggs-Joles.

Note from Natalie: Want to know a little more about Chris Warner? Read Tim Wood's post "Breeding a Better Rose - UK Travels continued" on The Plant Hunter. It's a little older, but there are a couple nice pics of Chris and his rose beds on there. See you next week!

Plant of the Week: Purple Pillar® Hibiscus syriacus

Hello and happy winter! It's finally full-on cold and snowy here in Michigan. As write this, I can look out the window and see the snow falling gently on the evergreens across the road here at Spring Meadow Nursery - it's beautiful. But also nice to be inside!

This week Jane brings a little color to the blog with a gorgeous, tall, rose of Sharon from our Pillar® series of Hibiscus.

Enjoy!

Natalie 

We're nearing the end of January, and now is when you have an idea if those New Year's resolutions are going to stick as a permanent lifestyle change or were just an excuse to buy some new sneakers.

What if I told you that you could get lean without going Whole 30 or signing your life over to the CrossFit disciples? Here is an easy way to get lean in 2019:

• Lean plants

Lean plants are popular. They can be used to screen a backyard in a crowded subdivision or grown as a container plant on a patio. Purple Pillar® Hibiscus syriacus does this plus has the adaptability we expect of a rose of Sharon.

Heat, drought, poor soil - it's no problem for this long-blooming plant.

Purple Pillar® hibiscus is hardy to USDA Zone 5 and grows 10-16' tall - but only 2-3' wide! Wow!

Plant of the Week is written by Jane Beggs-Joles.

Note from Natalie:
Purple Pillar® hibiscus is an award-winner! Winner of the Green Thumb award from the  Direct Gardening Association; and Silver Medal winner, Plantarium 2016.

Long blooming, heat tolerant, drought tolerant, deer resistant, and attracts pollinators - this plant is just waiting for your garden.

Until next week...stay warm!

Plant of the Week: MANTS Wrap up and Fire Light® Hydrangea paniculata

Last week I was at the Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show (MANTS) in Baltimore and was thrilled to see many of my favorite garden communicator friends, and I got the chance to make some new friends as well!

Here we all are! The GardenComm group.

Vendors show their wares at the press breakfast.

Thursday morning of the show, MANTS traditionally hosts a special press breakfast, which gives a few lucky presenters the opportunity to pitch their new products to the press and garden communicators, plus it gives our group a great chance to meet up and get some fun photo ops.

This year there was a purveyor of wrapping paper that is filled with wildflower seeds, a portable, indoor hydroponic growing system, and a new blight-resistant boxwood cultivar.

Lunch bunch.

I have to toot our own horn here as well, Proven Winners® ColorChoice®  Sprinter® and North Star® Buxus have also been identified as blight-resistant cultivars by NC State University Cooperative Extension and have been tough performers in landscapes for years. Don't believe me? Check out this video from Laura at Garden Answer!

Thursday lunch was across the street at the "Southern Kitchen" buffet where a smaller group of us spent an hour or so making introductions, exchanging business cards and learning about what's new and fun in the garden communicator world.

At the lunch, I learned a little more about square foot gardening from Kim Roman, met a new friend, John Boggan from DC Tropics, Kathy Jentz, Peggy Ricco, Nancy Robson, Katie Elzer-Peters, Jackie Gorski, Kirk Brown and another new friend from Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Herb Frazier, rounded out the group.

It was really a whirlwind trip for me, only one full day in Baltimore, but that one little trip caused me to miss my first weekly post on this blog since I took it over a year ago!

So let's get back on track with Jane's Plant of the Week which also happens to be the 2019 Proven Winners Hydrangea of the Year:

Not just hot - it's on fire! 

Fire Light® Hydrangea paniculata

Fire Light® Hydrangea paniculata is one of our most popular plants, and it's easy to see why.

Fire Light® Hydrangea paniculata

It has large, full, white flowers that transform to pink and finish the summer with a rich pomegranate-red color. The thick stems hold those flowers upright so everyone can see just how fabulous they are in the garden or when cut for an arrangement.

When you have show-stopping flowers on an easy-to-grow plant, you've got a winner. That's why Fire Light® is our 2019 Hydrangea of the Year. It was also the 2015 Shrub Madness® Champion.

Fire Light® grows 6-8' tall and wide, so give it some room to show off. It's hardy to USDA Zone 3, and will grow in full sun or partial shade. In Michigan, we find that the flower color is more intense in full sun.

We are big fans of H. paniculata. Winters in Michigan can be severe (although we've been pretty so lucky so far this season). Many of you in milder climates have been getting a taste of what we experience most years: snow, ice, more snow, and temperatures that have you doing an inventory of your toes at the end of the day. So maybe everyone will appreciate H. paniculata all the more this summer.

• It's cold hardy.
• It flowers every year - on new wood.
• It's forgiving of untimely pruning and rogue snow plows.

Just plant it, and go. For a good review of the various kinds of hydrangeas and how to be successful growing them, check out our Hydrangeas Demystified flyer. This continues to be our most popular educational piece, and we're happy to share it with you and your customers.

Plant of the Week is written by Jane Beggs-Joles.

See you next week!

Plant of the Week: Low Scape Mound™ Aronia

This week Jane brings you a fun little landscape plant that also happens to be our 2019 Landscape Shrub of the Year! Even though it's marketed as a landscape plant, I think this little shrub has great potential in home gardens, too - since I've yet to meet a gardener that doesn't like a few group plantings that are beautiful all season and absolutely worry-free.

Enjoy!    - Natalie 

Low Scape Mound™ Aronia

We have a lot of plants. Seriously, A LOT of plants. So we like to highlight a few really special ones each year to be sure that folks know about them. This year's Landscape Shrub of the Year is an exciting new variety of a genus that may be kind of new to you as well, at least for landscaping. It's Low Scape Mound™ Aronia melanocarpa.

Low Scape Hedger™ Aronia

Low Scape Mound™ chokeberry is smaller than other varieties - it's just 1-2' tall and wide. This makes it a great size for many landscape uses. (If you need something a little bigger, check out its sister plant, Low Scape Hedger™).

Low Scape Mound™ Aronia fruit

While Aronia breeding has historically focused upon fruit production, the Low Scape® plants come from a breeding program that pursues the ornamental appeal of the genus. With its pretty flowers and bright fall foliage, there was a lot of potential there, and we're very happy that Dr. Mark Brand of the University of Connecticut developed this outstanding plant.

Why get excited about Aronia melanocarpa?

Where should I begin? Truthfully, much of our excitement about the plant comes from the fact that it checks a lot of the boxes for our customers:

• Compact
• Adaptable to most soils, including wet, dry and somewhat compacted
• Salt tolerant
• Can be planted in sun or partial shade
• Hardy - USDA 3-9
• Multi-season interest
• Native
• Supports wildlife populations - the birds like the fruit although they may not get around to eating it until later in the season

One thing about wildlife: although this isn't at the top of the deer menu, they do like the flower tips and may nibble those in some areas. If you aren't concerned with berry production hopefully you will be OK. If you're looking for a plant for fruit production you'll get better results with a variety developed for that purpose, like 'Viking'.

Plant of the Week is written by Jane Beggs-Joles.