Is Sumac Garden Worthy?

Rhus (Sumac) gets little attention from gardeners, but the species does offer some real gems that are especially well-suited for the landscape. While most of the species in the genera are not showy enough to suit the typical gardener, many of the plants have outstanding attributes such as showy fall color, drought tolernace, showy fruit and the ability to thrive with neglect .

The fragrant sumac, Rhus aromatica, is the most commonly grown species. The cultivar ‘Gro-Lo’ is a favorite of landscape architects. It is a hardy (zone 3-8), low growing plant (24”), with glossy leaves and superb orange to red fall color. Its dense, suckering habit make it an excellent ground cover especially for slopes and other difficult sites.

Rhus typhina, the Staghorn sumac, is perhaps the best ornamental shrub of the group. The plant has fuzzy stems (like a stag’s horn), great orange to deep red fall color and attractive red seed heads. I learned this plant as a young boy when my dad tought me how to make staghorn lemonade with its fruit. It’s a native shrub that is commonly found along highways forming dense clumps. At 70 mph, it's easy to see that each clump differs genetically in size, fall color, and fruit. Unfortunately, as it is a suckering plant, most gardeners don’t have the room for a clump in their garden. There are several excellent cultivars that are garden worthy; ‘Disecta’ aka ‘Laciniata’ is grown for its attractive lacy cut leaves. Tiger Eyes or ‘Bailtiger’, is a yellow leafed selection of ‘Disecta’. This plant has all the wonderful attributes of the species but with bright yellow leaves that gives summer-long interest.

Staghorn Sumac

Rhus copallina is commonly known as Flameleaf or Shining Sumac. This native shrub can reach upwards of twenty feet in height. The cultivar Prairie Flame aka ‘Morton’ is a compact selection that remains under seven feet tall. It has exceptionally brilliant, red fall color. Over the last few years I have been selecting plants that are as short as 12 inches tall. I think these may have great landscape potential. I have also heard of a cultivar with dark purple leaves called ‘Lanham’s Purple.’ While I have never seen this plant, I think it may have garden potential.

Shining Sumac

Rhus chinensis (pictured above) is a sight to see both in flower and in fall color. It is one of the larger species, forming a small tree up to 24’ in height. Like all the other Rhus mentioned here, this is a suckering plant so use good judgment when choosing a place to spot Rhus chinensis. This species has perhaps the showiest of flowers. It has large, 6-10” creamy-white panicles in late summer, that mature into orange red fruit.

As Rhus are suckering plants that are propagated by root cuttings, they will never be commonly grown. This does not mean they are not worth growing. I saw wonderful mixed shrub planting at a hotel in Portland, Oregon that was simply spectacular. I was instantly impressed with the creativity of the designer because he/she incorporated Rhus typhina into the design and pulled it off. All of these Rhus species have a lot to offer in terms of drought tolerance, fall color, fruit and fall color that can be utilized by creative designers. So yes, in my opinion Rhus is garden worthy.

What do you think?

New Plants at the Mid-Am Tradeshow

I just got back from a week in Chicago at the Mid-Am nursery tradeshow. Nursery tradeshows are a great place to get a feel for the nursery and gardening industry, to see what’s new and to discover new trends. Here are a few of the highlights of the show and a taste of what’s to come in terms of new plants.



One of the highlights of the show was the appearance of Dutch nurseryman, and My Monet Weigela originator Bert Verhoef. Bert was at the show signing posters of his new 18” tall, green, cream and pink Weigela. It was interesting to see people lining up to get their personally signed poster, and to hear their glowing comments of how the plant has brightened the home garden. I was able to procure some of these beautiful posters and will send a signed copy to the first five people (North America addresses only) that send in a request.

In terms of new plants here are some of my favorites:

Reblooming Hydrangea continue to hit the market. Blushing Bride Hydrangea is a new addition to the ‘Endless Summer’ line. This plant has white flowers that are tinged with pink. Personally I like this plant better than the original Endless Summer. The white flowers combine well with other plants in the garden, and the plants themselves are not as tall as the original.




I am particularly excited about Let’s Dance Hydrangea ‘Moonlight and Let’s Dance ‘Starlight; two new rebloomers with large mop-head and lace-cap blooms respectively. I had better be excited about these plants, because the Let’s Dance series comes out of my personal breeding program (full disclosure). My breeding goal was to develop rebloomers with more intense flower color and improved foliage quality. I think I’ve achieved my goals and this is particularly exciting because Endless Summer is just the starting point in the reinvention of the Hydrangea macrophylla.




Two new yellow leafed Barberry were launched at the Mid-Am; Sunjoy ‘Gold Beret’ is a new dwarf mounded plant that stands less than 12” in height, and Sunjoy ‘Gold Pillar’ is new upright, columnar plant with bright yellow foliage. Both plants are noted for superior sun burn resistance. Gold Beret was developed by Stanley Talago of the US and Gold Pillar is a new introduction out of Poland.



When looking for the best new perennials Dan Heims at Terra Nova is always a must visit during tradeshow season. The plant breeding at Terra Nova goes well beyond Heuchera. I was particularly excited about his new, zone 6 hardy Begonia ‘Metallic Mist’ that looks a lot like a tender Rex Begonia, and his new intense orange coneflower, Echinacea ‘Tiki Torch’. While there are many new Echinacea hybrids on the market this beauty is the result of a wide cross recovered through embryo rescue. In layman’s terms this means it will not set seed and become weedy in the garden like other Echinacea hybrids. I’ve always hated unwanted Echinacea seedlings in my garden and Dan has solved the problem and delivered really exceptional color.

All I can say is thank goodness I’m in the plant business. There is always something new and better each year. And what beautiful products we have; products that make the world a better place, one yard at a time.

Motorcycles, Lumberjacks and Rose of Sharon.

In the horticultural world, Dr. Roderick Woods has become famous for his Hibiscus syriacus (Rose of Sharon, Althea) breeding. But in his previous life, Woods was a world renowned physiologist, scholar and researcher at Cambridge University in England. His path to plant breeder was both unexpected and slow, but fortunately for us plant lovers it has delivered three of the most exciting new plants ever developed; plants with superior vigor that thrive both warm and cool climates and plants with large, unique new flower forms. This is Dr. Woods story:

Born in England during a time of war and growing up during post-war austerity, rather isolated in the country, Roderick Woods amusements centered on plants and animals. His family had a large vegetable and flower garden that provided the cash for extras like holidays. He was therefore drafted early into stone picking, pricking out seedlings and weeding. After school he wanted to go into forestry, but after a spell in a Salk vaccine tissue culture laboratory he was sent off, somewhat reluctantly, to train as a medical doctor. It was soon noted he had an aptitude for microscopy and interpreting structures, so he was diverted into research after his undergraduate degree. Woods earned his living for 32 years thereafter by teaching physiology and histology to medical and veterinary students.

In research he worked on nervous system structure with light and electron microscopes, the foetal development of the lungs and other topics in Oxford, Edinburgh and Cambridge. He then drifted into whole body human physiology and particularly temperature regulation. This research lead him into the esoteric field of accident and injury research and into the field of protective clothing. Most every fire-fighter, motorcyclist, horse rider, Police in riot situations, chain saw user, abattoir worker, fencer, and any other person that works in a dangerous profession, is safer today because of the innovations pioneered of Dr. Woods.

In 2002 Woods retired from teaching and research and moved to Norfolk to concentrate on Hibiscus breeding and running a protective clothing consultancy company, aptly named Blue Hibiscus Limited.

As a young child Woods had three Hibiscus syriacus (Rose of Sharon) plants in the family garden; red, white and blue. They grew slowly but were always appreciated when they flowered in the summer after almost everything else had finished. In 1974 Woods planted his first hibiscus plants in his garden near Cambridge. They never performed like the ones he saw on holiday in France and Italy; growth was slow and coarse and the flowers did not open well. The English climate was just not warm enough or sunny enough! This spurred him on to start collecting other selections on his travels.

It was in 1981, on his journey to plant breeder, that Woods had a life changing experience. He was in the south of France near Biarritz and happened upon an unusual pink Hibiscus plant growing in a roadside hedge that appeared to glow! Captivated by this glowing vision, he decided he must have this variety for his own garden. So upon retuning home to the UK, Woods began searching at local nurseries only to be told that no such variety existed. This led him to seek out and write various Hibiscus collectors all around the world, but again Woods had not luck. Returning to France for further holidays in the following years Woods searched for this glowing pink Hibiscus, but unfortunately the road had been widened and the plant was gone. He searched the local French nurseries and talked to anyone in the area that was growing Hibiscus but again no luck!

In 1988 his quest had lead him to discover a group of pink flowered Rose of Sharon plants that had grown in a near-wild state in some old gardens, farmyards and around churches in one area of the Pyrenees foot-hills. Woods reasoned that bees must have been at work and that if he wanted the true, pure pink Hibiscus he was going to have to be a super-bee. With permission from the locals Woods collected seedlings. The resultant plants were the beginning of Woods new obsession; Hibiscus breeding.

Initially, Woods breeding came with mixed success. He was not able to replicate the clear, glowing pink flowers he had seen in France, but he had discovered that his wild Pyrenees plants resulted in exceptional plant vigor and branching that he never seen before. Most Hibiscus syriacus breeding has its origins in very warm climates such as France. Many of the common cultivars in the US were developed at the National Arboretum outside of Washington DC. While most of these plants grow well in the South, they just don’t grow or flower as well in cooler, Northern climates. They certainly did not flower well in his Cambridge garden.

Woods, like most others that love Rose of Sharon, was fascinated with the cultivar ‘Blue Bird’. Who can resist blue flowers - but ‘Blue Bird’ is a strange bird; weak growing, poorly branched, course and short flowering. Woods wanted to develop a strong growing blue flowered plant an abundance of bloom. Over the years, Woods redirected his scientific skills that had made him famous in human physiology to breeding plants. He learned what to do and his breeding gave rise to very pure colors across the spectrum and plants with unusually strong flowing and growth.

Woods, of course is most famous for his Chiffon series of Hibiscus; exceptionally flowering plants noted for their large, flat single blooms with a lacy center. Until you grow these plants you cannot believe how unique they are in how they grow. While most Rose of Sharon are ridged and uptight, the Chiffons are finer in texture and more shrub-like with lots of basil stems that produce an abundance of flowers.

The origins of the Chiffon series date back to 1986 when Dr. Tachibana at the Osaka Botanic Gardens sent him some seed in response to a correspondence they had concerning the mythical pink Hibiscus. The resulting seedlings were not pink, but contained the doubling genes have gone on to produce Lavender Chiffon, White Chiffon and now three generations later - Blue Chiffon. Woods has now recently returned to single blues to try to incorporate more vigour to the plants and greater flower size.

It has taken Dr. Woods a long time to fully understand flower color and flower form inheritance in Hibiscus. It was considerably more complex than he imagined when he started out.

To date Woods has made over 600 designed and controlled crosses. Some yield much seed on a few attempts, but some, even after 30 or more attempts have failed to set any seed. There are some sterility problems within hibiscus. Remarkably, Woods has flowered over 8300 seedlings yet has only introduced three varieties to the trade! Amongst the un-flowered seedlings in his poly-tunnel he is sure there are another three perfect plants. Plant breeders always think like this and believe their next flower will be the best ever!

While making more crosses and raising more seedlings might produce new flowers more quickly, Woods has found that it is not physically practical for a lone grower to do this. According to Wood’s, “…from what I have learned from recording numerical descriptions of every new flower and analysing the inheritance of dominant, recessive and suppressed characteristics it would not be quicker. Just as many generations would have to be worked through to divide and combine characteristics in desired ways. The important thing however is that the breeder must be obsessed with Hibiscus and prepared to tend them 365 days a year!”

Indeed, Dr. Woods is obsessed, and it all started with that mystery plant he saw in the South of France 27 years ago.

Berry Nice! Winterberry

When most people think of holly, the image conjured up is one of bright red berries, glossy evergreen foliage and Christmas decorations. So when you talk to the average homeowner about deciduous holly (Ilex verticillata) they look at you as if you were moron. That's because many people consider deciduous holly is an oxymoron. A holly has glossy evergreen leaves, right. No, not always. Ilex verticillata, Winterberry Holly, or Winterberry is our native, wetland holly that looses it leaves each autumn. This is a beautiful shrub is all the more showy because its loss of leaves makes the berry display all the more showy. After the leaves have turned yellow and have fallen, you are left with a breathtaking view of thousands of brightly colored berries clinging to every stem. What a joy to have such color in the middle of winter.

Ilex verticillata is an amazing plant with a tremendous geographical range and a very diverse genetic expression. The native population of Ilex verticillata stretches from Nova Scotia, south to Florida and west to Missouri. It can be found throughout Michigan in low grounds, moist woods, swamps and occasionally in higher, drier soils. Even though it is most commonly found in low swampy soils, it can also be grown quite successfully in your average garden soils. It is an easy to grow plant that has few serious insect or disease problems. As for its genetic variation, this plant can range in heights from 3 feet to 15 feet. The width of the plant is also variable. In wet sites it normally suckers to form a dense spreading thicket. In drier garden soils, it tends to form a tighter clump. At blooming time this plant has little to attract attention. It has very small, inconspicuous white flowers, with male flowers and female flowers found in different individual plants. It is autumn, however, when this plant comes into its own, when its slender branches are draped with small but numerous berries right to the branch tip. The berries remain on the plant until midwinter adding color to the landscape when it is most needed. To facilitate a good berry set it is advisable to purchase at least one male for every three to five female plants and to plant the male in close proximity.

There are a good number of named cultivars to choose from in the market. The red fruited cultivar 'Oosterwijk' is a Dutch selection that is very popular in Europe for the production of cut branches. It is noted for holding its color and berries as a cut branch in flower arrangements. The most popular American selection for cutting is 'Winter Red'. The bright red berries are of medium size and produced in abundance. It is a multi-stemmed; erect plant maturing at 8 to 9 feet in height. One of my favorites is called 'Cacapon'. This beautiful plant has attractive, dark glossy green leaves and compact branching. It has abundant bright red fruit and makes a great landscape plant with year round interest. It matures to 6 to 8 feet and has a nice rounded habit. If you are looking for a smaller plant, 'Red Sprite' is a fantastic low mounded selection that matures at 3 to 5 feet. It has attractive, clean, dark green foliage, and tight branching right down to the ground. This plant makes a great low hedge or mass planting. Its low stature makes it an indispensable variety. For those looking for something a bit different, try 'Winter Gold'. This is yellow-berried sport of 'Winter Red'. The berries are not really gold, but instead and attractive pinkish-orange that lighten up with age. Another attractive color variation is 'Aurantiaca'. This beauty has bright pinkish-orange fruit that lighten with time. It is a eye-catching plant, although a bit untraditional.

Having a rich abundance of Ilex verticillata in Michigan, it is impossible not to hone in on a few exceptional native specimens. After years of observation we have chosen two plants worthy of introduction. One plant was located about ¼ mile off a local road, and for years it never fail but to catch our eye. It has dark red shinny berries produced in great abundance and a well branched rounded habit. The berry display was so nice, we simply named it Berry Nice. We had also been observing a native plant located in a ditch right along side the road. For years we would drive by this plant, and every autumn it would produce a very heavy crop of bright orangish-red fruit. After years of admiration we finally introduced this beauty under the name Berry Heavy. After observing these two selections for the last eight years, I was pleasantly surprised that they have the added benefit of losing their leaves well before other cultivars. This is a real benefit as you can enjoy a better, more unobstructed fruit display in the autumn.

No matter which selection you grow, Ilex verticillata is a shrub worth getting to know and understand. Landscapers on the East Coast, who are blessed with a climate which allows for the growing of many fine evergreen hollies, have adopted winterberry as a regular staple in their landscaping palette. If you're a landscaper, or a designer, I urge you to try at least one new plant a year and make Ilex verticillata this years plant. It is a tough, easy to grow shrub that looks great in mass. Use it in place of Viburnum dentatum, Arrowwood Viburnum. It will the perfect plant for wet, or poorly drained sites. Use it around retention ponds or near a runoff ditch. Don't reserve this worthy plant just for wet sites, is will grow just fine in drier soils. With the new demand for native plants, winterberry fits the bill and looks good too! And as the old commercial use to says "Try it - You'll like it!"

What Are Your Favorite New Plants?

I was recently asked to give a talk at the GLTE - Great Lakes Trade Exposition and I was asked to speak on my 10 favor shrubs. I don't know about you but this is nearly an impossible task. Every day I have a new list of favorites - depending upon what's going on in the garden.

Any way it got me thinking - and I added some pics of a few of my current favorites to the bottom right hand side of my blog page. I also thought it would be interesting to hear about your favorite plants - especially any new plants that you think are exciting and would like to share with everyone.

So Tell Me - What are your favorite plants? And tell us why.

Post your list as a comment and tell us your favorites.

The JC Raulston Arboretum - A Plant Lovers Candy Store

In my last post I featured Lo & Behold 'Blue Chip', a new dwarf buddleia developed by Dr. Dennis Werner. I should have noted that Dr. Werner is the Director of the JC Raulston Arboretum, which is run by NC State University.

If you love plants and if you have plans to visit Raleigh, North Carolina, then a visit to the JCRA is essential. It is one of my favoite places to visit because I always come across many new plants that I never seen before.

The JC Raulston Arboretum is a nationally acclaimed garden with the most diverse collection of cold hardy temperate zone plants in the southeastern United States. As a part of the Department of Horticultural Science at NC State University, the Arboretum is primarily a working research and teaching garden that focuses on the evaluation, selection and display of plant material gathered from around the world. Plants especially adapted to Piedmont North Carolina conditions are identified in an effort to find better plants for southern landscapes.
The Arboretum is an 8-acre jewel that has been largely built and maintained by NC State University students, faculty, volunteers, and staff. The Arboretum is named in honor of its late director and founder, J. C. Raulston, Ph.D., who founded it in 1976.

Plant collections include over 5,000 total taxa (species and/or cultivars) of annuals, perennials, bulbs, vines, groundcovers, shrubs, and trees from over 50 different countries, which are displayed in a beautiful garden setting.

Plant breeding has been, and continues to be, a part of the arboretums function. While Lo & behold Buddleia ‘Blue Chip’ is the newest plant to be released from the arboretum, many of you have also heard of Sinocalycanthus ‘Hartlage Wine’, which was also developed at the JCRA. This remarkable plant was the first hybrid between Calycanthus and Sinocalycanthus.

Two excellent ways to stay in touch with what is happening at the JCRA is through the frequent e-mail postings from the Cuttings from the JC Raulston Arboretum listserv and the JCRA e-Updates. Cuttings from the JC Raulston Arboretum features current events and developments at the Arboretum. The monthly JCRA e-Updates offer another great way to read about current and upcoming happenings at the Arboretum.

Have you every visited the JC Raulston Arboretum? Please post a comment let us what you think.

A Spiraea with Fragrant Blue Flowers?

Image if you can - a new selection of Japanese Spiraea

One with blue flowers ...

that's fragrant ...

that blooms from mid-summer to frost ...

that attracts butterflies ...

Can it be true? Does such a plant exist?

The answer is NO and YES.

No - there is no such thing as blue flowered Spiraea. I’ve looked.

Yes - there is a plant that has the same neat mounded habit as a Japanese Spiraea and that has loads of fragrant blue flowers. What is it?

Lo and Behold™ ‘Blue Chip’ - A new Butterfly Bush (Buddleia hybrid).

Personally I have a love hate relationship with Butterfly Bush. I love the bright colors, I love the sweet fragrance, I love the long bloom time, I love the flock of dancing butterflies that it attracts and I love that it’s easy of grow.

But at the same time, I hate that it can look so darn scraggly and beat up. Let’s face it people don’t know how to prune buddleia and with time the plant can look really bad! I also hate seeing the blown out - overgrown containers that some growers put out on the market. One day you have a really nice looking three gallon, but the next day you have a tangled mess on you hands. Buddleia can grow too fast for it own good.

But now, Lo & Behold ‘Blue Chip’ is about to change the way we think about buddleia and how we use it in the garden and in the landscape. Credit for this revolutionary breed goes to Dr. Dennis Werner of The J. C. Raulston Arboretum . This is the first of a series of dwarf and compact plants that will be sold in the Lo & Behold series name. This remarkable plant is perfectly at home in a perennial garden, it makes a very cool patio container, and it can even be used a mass planted ground cover.

As an added bonus it does not have to be dead-headed to keep on flowering. Normally you have to remove the old flowers on buddleia to keep it looking good and keep it flowering. With this new plant, the new flowers just keep on coming while the old flowers fade away. And if that was not enough, this plant is essentially seedless – you need not worry about stray seedlings popping up around the garden.

Don’t bother asking me where to buy it - because it’s not yet available for sale.

Better independent garden centers will have a limited number of plants in the summer of 2008. There should be wider availability in the spring of 2009. Lo and Behold 'Blue Chip is a Proven Winners ColorChoice flowering shrub, so garden center buyers will have to contact a Gold Key Proven Winners ColorChoice grower if they hope to offer this plant in 2008.

Kudos to Dr. Dennis Werner for redefining the Butterfly Bush.