The
year 1823 was a significant year in annals of horticulture. A young,
adventurous, German physician set foot on the man-made island of Dejima, a
trading post for the Dutch East India Company, just off the coast of Nagasaki,
Japan. Fresh out of medical school at age twenty-seven, Phillip Franz von Siebold,
was looking for a bit of adventure and the Dutch East Indian Company offered
him that opportunity as resident physician and scientist in Japan. He was to be
the successor to Engelbert Kaempfer and Carl Peter Thunberg, two former
resident physicians at Dejima, both also famous plantsman you may recognized
from the specific epitaphs on a number Japanese plant species including Larix kaempferi and Berberis thunbergii.
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| Herbarium specimen of wild H. paniculata |
Essentially
closed to all other Western scientists, Siebold excelled as a physician and
botanist, while in Japan. His unique abilities as a cataract surgeon (along
with his knowledge of and supply of belladonna used for dilating the pupil) gave
him a freedom of travel afforded to few foreigners in this isolated country.
Between his personal acquisitions and the gifts paid to him in kind for his
doctoring and teaching, Siebold amassed over 1000 native Japanese plants in his
back yard garden. In amongst these plants was Hydrangea paniculata (wild type) and Hydrangea paniculata ‘Grandiflora’ (aka PEE GEE hydrangea), both of
which he sent Europe and are still today common landscape plants.
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| PEE GEE ~ Hydrangea paniculata 'Grandiflora' |
In
my twenty-some years as a plant hunter, I’ve had some pretty unique
opportunities. One of these was visiting the late Jelena DeBelder in the summer
of 1996. We met at Hemelrijk, her family estate near Antwerp, Belgium. As she
shuttled us about the grounds in her beat up VW Rabbit, filled with pots,
shovels and plants, I soon realized I was in the presence of someone special.
Her every word was filled with passion.
With the pride of a mother she introduced us to her hydrangeas: ‘Pink
Diamond’, ‘Unique’, The Swan, ‘Burgundy Lace’, ‘White Moth’ and her personal
favorite ‘Little Lamb’. “This is a very special plant,” she told us, “Little
lambs dancing about in joy. Very special.”
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| Jelena DeBelder schooling me on hydrangeas |
Soon
after I met the renowned plantsman Pieter Zwijnenburg. At the time, Pieter and
his wife Anja had a small nursery in Boskoop area of the Netherlands. The
“Heronswood of Europe” his nursery offered over 2500 different varieties of
trees and shrubs. In his career Pieter has introduced over 50 different new
plants. On this particular day he showed us his newest development, a new Hydrangea that would soon be named
‘Limelight’. And just down the road a few miles, on another day, Rein and Mark
Bulk showed me their new, early flowering hydrangea that had volunteered in his
nursery. In a few years, we’d introduce this one as Quick Fire® Hydrangea.
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| Pieter and his wife Anja |
Still
later and to the south, we and the world came to know Dr. Johan Van
Huylenbroeck of the Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture. Johan’s
outstanding Hydrangea paniculata breeding
would give us Mega Mindy®, Pinky Winky® and Bobo®.
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| Dr. Johan Van Huylenbroeck with the original Bobo® |
Meanwhile in France, Jean Renault was also
breeding Hydrangea paniculata which
would yield Vanilla Fraise®, aka Vanilla Strawberry™.
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| Jean Renault |
And
back home in Grand Haven, Michigan, while standing on the shoulders of all these
giants, I had a hand in the development and introduction of a few good hydrangea paniculata plants as well: Little Lime®, Little Quick Fire®,
Pillow Talk®, Fire Light® and Zinfin Doll®.
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| Zinfin Doll® in our stock block |
Next
year we'll introduce three, exciting new selections. Fire Light Tidbit™ is
front of the border, dwarf, 2-2.5’ mounded selection with creamy white flowers
that take on strawberry pink hues as the summer progresses towards fall.
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| Fire Light Tidbit™ |
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| Fire Light Tidbit™ |
QuickFire Fab hydrangea is in a class of its own when it comes to color. The delicate, cruciform
flowers emerge green, transition to white and then start turning raspberry pink
from the bottom up producing a unique two-toned look.
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| Quick Fire Fab™ |
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| Early blooming Quick Fire Fab™ hydrangea |
And
now, even ‘Limelight’ has gotten better. Limelight Prime™ has stronger stems
that eliminate bloom flopping. It has dark, forest green foliage, unlike ‘Limelight
that is prone to yellowing with chlorosis. And Limelight Prime™ has predictable
autumn flower color.
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| Limelight Prime™ Hydrangea |
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| Autumn hues of Limelight Prime® hydrangea |
Me oh my, how this once unassuming Japanese hydrangea,
introduced over one hundred and fifty-seven years ago, has changed and
improved. We now have cultivars with stronger stems that do not flop. We have
dwarf selections and early blooming selections. We have green flowers and
flowers that age with hues that range from green to bubblegum pink to rich pomegranate
red. We have big flowers and small flowers, full flowers and lacy flowers.
It
has been over a one hundred and fifty-seven years since Pee Gee hydrangea was
introduced by Dr. von Siebold. Plant breeding and selection continues to
improve our plants, generation after generation and we should all be proud of
the role we play in this evolution. Sure I know, it’s disruptive, but all
change is. And yes, along the journey there have been some plants that should
not have be introduced. No one is perfect. Not all of Apple’s product
launches have been a success. Remember the Newton? In fact, most all of their
product introductions are no longer sold! Does this mean that Apple should slow
down or stop innovating? Of course not. We are living in the Golden Age of
technology. We are also living in the Golden Age of plant breeding. Buckle up
and enjoy it! It going to get even better.
