One Sweet Clethra

Clethra has long been one of my favorite plants. I’m a sucker for fragrance and few plants pack more olfactory punch than Summer Sweet (Clethra alnifolia). If you’re a subscriber to my blog then you know that I’ve been breeding shrubs for about eight years now. The first plant introduced out of our breeding program was Summer Wine Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius). Since then I’ve introduced two new reblooming Hydrangea called Let’s Dance Moonlight and Let’s Dance Starlight, a compact Hypericum called Sunny Boulevard, Chardonnay Pearls Deutzia, Fine Wine Weigela, Ghost Weigela, and Incrediball Hydrangea. Vanilla Spice™ (Clethra alnifolia ‘Caleb’) is one of our newest introductions and at the moment is only available at wholesale as small liners. If all goes well you will see it at retail in the spring of 2010. Vanilla Spice, like all Clethra, has wonderfully fragrant flowers in late summer. Its foliage is dark, glossy and very attractive. Most remarkably this plant has flowers that are larger than typical. Each flower is roughly 30 to 50% larger than normal.

Vanilla Spice® Clethra

This native beauty is best when planted in a location where you can best enjoy its wonderful fragrance. I like to plant Clethra is large blocks to increase the fragrance potential. Ruby Spice is a special cultivar with reddish-pink flowers, so Vanilla Spice with its white flowers makes a nice companion for this favorite. While white flowers are not as exciting dark pink flowers, I am partial to white flowers. They simply show up better than red in garden, especially in the evening when I am typically in the garden.

Stay tuned, or better yet subscribe to my blog and have it emailed every time I post (Just click here). I will be sharing more new introductions over the next few posts.

Gardening on TV with the Plant Hunter

I just completed a short trip to the East Coast with stops in Rhode Island, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The expedition was both interesting and entertaining. I started out in Rhode Island where I was interviewed for the television show Cultivating Life with Sean Conway. It was the first time I met Sean Conway in person so I was pleased to learn that he was more than just a television personality; he’s also an experienced horticulturist, garden designer and nurseryman. Just like me, Sean had a nursery that specialized in rare and hard to find plants. But unlike me, his nursery became a regular destination for magazine editors, authors and style conscious personalities. And unlike me, Sean became a repeat guest on Martha Stewart Living and NBC’s Today show. I, on the other hand, went on to became a guest on Cultivating Life with Sean Conway.

Being on TV is not new to me. I’ve done numerous television appearances, both locally and nationally. I’ve even appeared all of South Korea’s two television stations, so I can tell you from experience that Cultivating Life is first rate production. Sean and his entire production crew are skilled professionals and it was a pleasure to work with them. In TV Land this is not always the case. During a break, I told Sean about my most memorable television experience. It was a live, 30 minute television show and it did not take long to realize I was in big trouble. Five minutes prior to air the host asked me if I was a Master Gardener. When I responded "No", she touched my shoulder and replied in a low, sympathetic voice “I’m so sorry. Don’t you worry; I won’t mention that on the air.” And then, to make matters worse, about halfway into the show she started calling me Tim Cook. I couldn’t believe it. She continued on and on even while the producer frantically waved a big card board sign reading “His name is Tim Wood!!!” How embarrassing is that?

Anyway – if you want to see a first rate gardening show, check out Cultivating Life with Sean Conway. The show’s not live - it’s taped one year in advance - so you won’t get to see Tim Cook, but if you’re lucky you just might catch Tim Wood.

What's Your favorite Gardening Show? Tell me why.

New Plants from Witches' brooms

You can find new plants in the most unusual places and you might be surprised that some are right under your nose. Most likely you pass them by every day and never even notice. Such is the case with Witch's Broom mutations. I found this witch's broom along a busy highway and I’m certain that hundreds of people pass it each day without any notice.

What’s a witch’s broom you ask? They’re point mutations that cause the formation of dense, dwarf growth in an otherwise normal tree or shrub. Horticulturists and plant collectors utilize these mutations to create cultivars such as dwarf conifers and weeping trees. If you root cuttings or graft stems onto seedling rootstock you get a new variety.

Now before get visions of cash and start sending me bags of sticks, I should tell you that most of these types of new plants have already been discovered. There are already a hundred different forms of bird’s nest spruce and we don’t really need another. Sure send me you broom photographs, I’ll be glad to post them, but please don’t send scion wood!

Brooming, the technical term looking for witch's brooms, is a fun and interesting thing to do when hiking a trail or riding in a car. The odds are that if you start looking you’ll find many of these mutations. Some will be high up in the tallest tree while others will be closer to the ground. Joe Stupka, an old brooming buddy from Western Pennsylvania, showed me my first broom back in 1984. We spent the afternoon driving around Mill Creek Park in Youngstown, Ohio and found dozens of interesting brooms. Once you find your first broom the next one is a lot easier. Joe was so broom crazy he would actually breed with brooms. This hobby is not for everyone; it requires lots of time and patience. You rarely find flowers and/or seeds on a broom, but if you grow enough plants and look hard enough it can be done.

The thing I like most about brooming is that it teaches us to look closer at nature and the world around us. Typically we go through life and miss a lot; the miracle of a living tree, the sweet smell of a flower, the community of plants, the diversity of seed and seedlings, the smile of a child, or the tears of someone in pain. But with a little practice, we can learn to notice. And we just might discover a new plant right under our nose, (and a lot of other wonderful things as well).

Have you discovered a witch's broom? Send me a photograph so I can share it with the group.

Want to be GREEN? Promote Gardening

I recently read an annual report for a botanical garden entitled Hope for Healing the Planet. Among other things I learned that they were embarking on a new strategic plan. Over the last twenty years botanical gardens and arboreta have evolved to the point where they are faced with redefining their purpose. I recall a conversation with Peter Ashton, the Director of the Arnold Arboretum, in which he explained that his most daunting task was justifying the Arboretum to Harvard in an age of molecular biology. Since that conversation, I have watched with interest as public gardens have evolved to redefine their relevance.

What is botanical garden’s greatest asset? Why do people visit? Why do they become members? What do we do best? These are the questions to be asked during the strategic planning process. Do the visitors come to see the rose garden, the children’s garden, the home idea gardens, the prairie, or is it they’re intrigued by their conservation efforts?

You know the answer – they come because the botanic garden is an oasis of breathtaking beauty in an urban jungle. The garden inspires; it reveals the beauty of plant diversity, and give us ideas and hope that plants and people can coexist, and shows us that life is enhanced when we are surrounded by a diversity of plants.

And now in this time of Sustainability and Green, the clear need, the necessary message, and the great opportunity being neglected is that plants and gardens need to be at the core of the Green movement. But why plant tree seedlings in a distant forest as carbon offsets when we need to be planting trees, shrubs, perennials in our cities and yards; close to the sources of carbon and pollution, and where people can actually be healed by the power of plants?

I would encourage everyone to champion gardening as a green lifestyle. A year ago, standing on top of a hotel in Nagoya, Japan I was saddened by the prospect of concrete to the distant horizon. What a contrast to Chicago which is a beacon of green to all other cities in its devotion to plants and gardens. What a unique time and place we are in to promote the healing power of plants by planting our own yards and neighborhoods! Change happens locally.

What can we do to promote the healing power of plants and plant diversity at a local level? Encourage people to grow plants in their yard then expand to their neighborhoods and city. I know a man that loves to collect trees and shrubs, but he quickly ran out of yard space. He asked his neighbor if he could plant some of his trees and shrubs on his property and the neighbor agreed. Soon this yard was filled with new species of plants so the man went to another neighbor and did the same. Today his entire neighborhood is a beautiful, mapped and labeled botanical garden accessible to all. While in Korea a man told me the native species of White Forsythia, Abeliophyllum distichum was endangered, and that as a conservation effort the government made is illegal to grow or sell. He was in awe when I told him we sell about 5,000 a year and that people actually plant it in their yards.

While I commend botanical gardens and garden writers for picking up the banner of global warming, invasive plants, habitat conservation, etc., I question whether this should be our main role. If it is Conservation that makes a botanic Garden relevant and defines its purpose (as the annual report I read suggested) then why do they waste the time and money maintaining a garden?

Many of you reading this blog have the knowledge and voice to promote gardening as way for everyone to heal the planet. I urge that you keep this at the center of your personal mission statement. Something to consider as you revise your personal strategic plan. Share this with a friend and ask them to comment.

Fabulous and Foolproof

In one of my previous posts I asked everyone to complete a Hydrangea survey to give me a better idea what type of plants I should be looking for, breeding and introducing. The survey was primarily about Hydrangea macrophylla and its cultivars.

One comment that caught my attention went something like this:

I think instead of forcing Hydrangea macrophylla to do something they weren’t designed to do, we should focus the hardy species that bloom on new wood, like Hydrangea paniculata and Hydrangea arborescens. I agree, these two species are fabulous and foolproof just about anywhere in North America . There are many superb new varieties of Hydrangea paniculata. I've written about it on this blog and mentioned Pinky Winky, Little Lamb, The Swan, and Limelight. These are are all easy to grow and dependible plants.

I also wrote about Hydrangea arborescens in an earlier post. To remind you I said …

Smooth Hydrangea, Hydrangea arborescens (Eastern U.S, Zone 3), is a wonderful, hardy plant that blooms in midsummer. It has the great advantage of blooming on the current season’s wood. This results in very reliable blooming plant regardless of frost or winter injury. The species itself is not a spectacular garden plant with its small mostly fertile flowers, but there are some noteworthy cultivars that are worth growing.

'Annabelle', introduced by Joe McDanials of Champaign, IL, is the most commonly grown cultivar. One is hard pressed to find any other cultivar of Hydrangea arborescens being sold today. There are some nurseries unknowingly selling the cultivars 'Hills of Snow' as 'Annabelle'. True 'Annabelle' has very large, perfectly symmetrical blooms, while the blooms of 'Grandiflora' are often quartered and irregular. 'Annabelle' is very showy, but often collapses under the weight of its own blooms.

If you remember, I said there was a need for more selections of H. arborescens and that I would like to see an improved 'Annabelle' with sturdier stems. At the time this was only a wish, however I was breeding and selecting with the goal of developeing an Annabelle with strong stems. Annabelle is such a great plant but is a mess after it rains. The stems are just not strong enough to hold the large flowers. Well I have exciting news to share; I found a plant with very strong stems. This was not a big of a surprise, but what came as a surprise was that this selection had strong stems and incredibly larger flower heads too. When I counted the individual flowers this selection had 4x as many flowers as Annabell. I call it Incrediball Hydrangea. Here are a few photos I took of the plant. What do you think?

Don't ask be where you can buy it because it's not for sale - yet. Hopefully you can get it from Wayside gardens next Spring.

Roses and Roller Coasters

Some people love roller coasters. My kids love the coasters, but for me I get enough thrills introducing new plants. Introducing new plants can be fun and exciting, but it’s also scary as hell. Sure it’s really fun to be the first person to see a new plant with great garden potential. And it’s especially exciting the first time you see that new plant in someone’s garden or landscape. But introducing a new plant is also very scary. First off everyone is a plant critic. As horticulturists we are trained to find fault with every plant. And to be sure every plant has its weak points. No plant is going to do well in every state in the union, in every soil type and withstand all the abuse that gardeners dish out. So I introduce plants and brace myself for the criticism. No matter how good the plant it always comes.

But there is nothing better than hearing and seeing the good reviews. A couple of weeks ago we took a trip to a local mail order nursery called Garden Crossings. They’re a small grower that has a unique view of the market. A few years back they decided to grow and sell the complete line of Proven Winners plants, including the Proven Winners ColorChoice shrubs. During our visit it was exciting to see the 2 ¼ inch liners he brought in just a few months earlier and potted up into two gallon containers. It was especially exciting to see his crop of Oso Easy Roses. They were superb! Each plant was like a soldier, full and robust, and all budded up and ready to flower. The leaves were glossy and clean.

Oso Easy paprika

When I selected the Oso Easy Roses I knew they were extremely good plants. I work with five different rose breeders and in our trials we do not spray any of their selections. In our hot, humid production environment it’s the perfect conditions for disease. Not many roses cut the mustard and as a result only few varieties (out of hundreds) remained clean during our trials. So far only four varieties have made it into the Oso Easy line.

But, regardless of how well the plant perform in our trials, I always worry about how people will perceive our plants. How will perform in nurseries and in the garden. So it was a good day when I saw the Oso Easy roses looking so darn good, especially compared to the most popular roses on the market. Cleary they were stand-out plants. It came as a great relief because several people had told me I was crazy to introduce new roses. The rose market is being dominated by just a few new selections and no one is asking for new roses. But if you’re in the business of introducing new plants, and if you believe you have something special, you have to stand firm. You have to stick your neck out. Lots of people are going to take swipes and some will call you crazy, so you need to have thick skin. It can be a roller coaster ride of emotions, but in the end there’s a real satisfaction in weathering the storm. This week the roses in our display house came into full bloom. I brought some three gallon Oso Easy roses into the office. Everyone, including the people in bookkeeping, went crazy over the plants. More confirmation.

But for me the roller coaster ride never ends. Each year there are more introductions, more worries, more criticism and more reviews. But that’s ok. It's not the horticulturists that decide the fate of a new plant, it's the consumer. And I can live with that.

NMPro Magazine Interview

No one was more surprised than me when NMPro Magazine put my picture on the cover of their April issue. When Kevin Neil interviewed me for the magazine I suspected that my story would end up in the back next to the classified ads.

Click here if you would like to read the entire article.