Reblooming Flowerings Shrubs: Part II

Typically perennials and shrubs bloom for three to four weeks, perhaps longer depending upon the weather. So utilizing plants that bloom for a long period of time, or that rebloom, is a real bonus. Once I started going through my pictures I was surprised at how many shrubs fit the bill. Certainly enough for a nursery or garden center to sell a rebloooming shrub program.

This weeks installment is made up entirely of Hydrangea. I sometimes get tired or writing about Hydrangea but it's difficult not to; it's such a vast and diverse genera. Additionally there is a lot of great breeding going on in Hydrangea.

Endless Summer Hydrangea is one of the most successful plant introductions in history. A brilliant marketing campaign has made this plant a household name. It has also piqued peoples interest in other reblooming Hydrangea and shrubs.

Forever and Ever TM Hydrangea comes from Europe. I've not seen all the plants in the collection but the red and pink mopheads look very good. Nice full flowers and dark foliage.

Let's DanceTM Moonlight Hydrangea is a personal favorite as I hybridized the plant. I'm still breeding Hydrangea and my goals are to improve the quality of the flowers (color and substance), thicker, darker leaves, wilt resistance and better stem hardiness.

On a side note, I got an email from someone that complained that I show and write about too many Spring Meadow plants and show nothing interesting or new that is not sold by Spring Meadow. I though I would respond by saying that I don't hide the fact I work for Spring Meadow Nursery - just read my profile. Additionally we grow thousands of different types of plants, primarily shrubs, but also vines and smaller trees. So it stands to reason I write about what I know best. If there are breeders or growers out there that have new plants and would like me to write about them - send me plants so I can grow them and know them.

Incincibelle TM Spirit Hydrangea is a new pink form of Hydrangea arborescens. After growing the plant I was surprised to learn that in addition to being the first pink mophead form of Hydrangea arborescens it was also a strong rebloomer. You can expect to see this Hydrangea in garden centers in the fall of 2009 or spring of 2010. Developed by Dr. Tom Ranney this shrub is very hardy, blooms on new wood (meaning that flowering is very reliable) and flowers from early summer until frost.

Reblooming Flowering Shrubs: Part I

With the advent of Endless Summer Hydrangea there has been a lot of interest in reblooming shrubs. And why not? Garden space is valuable and you should get the most out of your shrubs. Here are few of my favorite rebloomers.

Indigofera pseudotinctoria 'Rose Carpet'

Leptodermis oblonga

Bloomerang Purple Lilac

Viburnum plicatum 'Summer Snowflake

Ghost Weigela

I don't want to overload you with too many images so I will show you some more rebloomers in my next post. You can learn more about each plant by clicking on the plant name. What have I missed? What are good rebloomers for you?

Japan: Photographic Odds and Ends

Cash and carry garden center. While Dale is the master of getting plants into a suitcase this could be beyond his abilities.

My favorite sushi chef. We tried one of everything and it seem to amuse the locals.

A sweet little flower girl at a horticultural trade show

A flower boy

Double Decker Highway in downtown Tokyo

A breeder shows off his genetics - African Daises

Old and New Technology

Dr. Yokoi 's Variegated Plant collection. We spent a few hours rummaging through this vast collection of plants. Dr. Yokoi wrote the book on variegated plants.

Variegated Ragweed. Now my collection is complete.

The Royal Horticulture Society Issues Final Report

About 150 years ago German physician and botanist Philipp Franz von Siebold introduced Hydrangea paniculata ‘Grandliflora’, the Pee Gee Hydrangea, from Japan to the Western World. For nearly a century, Grandiflora reigned supreme and was the only cultivar available to buy. It was so ubiquitous that people eventually came refer to the whole species as Pee Gee Hydrangeas.

Today the market has been flooded with cultivars and we have over 40 selections to choose from. I’ve grown most of these selections and have chosen my favorites. Limelight and Pinky Winky Hydrangea are most certainly the top two plants on my list. Well scientists at the Royal Horticulture Society in England appear to a similar opinion.

The Royal Horticulture Society just completed a five year evaluation of 47 Hydrangea paniculata cultivars. The results are in – Limelight and Pinky Winky (‘DVPpinky’) earned the highest rating of Excellent (3 stars) and both were awarded the prestigious AGM – RHS Award of Garden Merit. And how did Pee Gee fair? It received the lowest possible rating of no stars – (average to poor).

While I sincerely appreciate the time and effort the RHS put into this study - in the end this trial is kind of like those scientific studies that go to great lengths to prove what we already know.

A Better Boxwood

When it comes to determining if you have a better plant, it is essential that you know and understand the plants that are currently available. New plants must be trialed and compared in side by side tests with the best varieties to know what you have. If you can’t beat the best, then you better keep breeding until you get it right.

This side by side comparison of boxwood is a great example of the power of trialing plants. I’ve been growing and trialing North Star boxwood for over five years. When we first got the plant from its originator Gary Katerberg I was skeptical that his plant could rival the best boxwood varieties available. In fact, I did not give it much of any chance of being introduced. But when we had it in a test bed with twenty other varieties of boxwood, it preformed so well, the results could not be ignored. When you see it side by side with Green Velvet, the number one variety on the market, you can clearly see that it is a better plant. Even during winters with temperatures as low as minus 15 degrees, North Star boxwood shined; the winter and the spring foliage color was so much darker. While Green Velvet turned a pale pea green, North Star boxwood remained very dark. Additionally the plant is very compact, with dense growth, yet at the same time it grows faster than other popular varieties.

Clearly “Seeing is Believing,” and side by side trialing is the only way to find out if a plant is truly better or not. North Star boxwood has passed the test.

A Tale of Two Roses

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Just outside my office, growing side by side, are two excellent roses. Both are very free flowering and bless me with a continuous, summer-long display of red flowers. Each rose remains as clean as a whistle without the aid of sprays or chemicals. I suspect you're familiar with one of these roses. Perhaps you even grow it? It was developed Bill Radler and is called Knock Out.

But this is the story of the other rose. Its name is Candy Oh! Vivid Red and most likely you’ve never heard of it before. It was not developed by Bill Radler, however, it would not exist but for this well known rose breeder of the North.

At ripe old age of 13 David Zlesak read an article in the Milwaukee Journal that changed the course of his life. The article was about Bill Radler and how he hybridized new roses. Fascinated by the article and the idea of creating new plants, Zlesak wrote to Radler. To his surprise, Radler wrote back and this letter was the spark and inspiration that started David Zlesak on his plant breeding career and ultimately resulted in the rose Candy Oh! Vivid Red.

While working towards his PhD in plant breeding, David worked on numerous crops including small fruit, potatoes, Easter lilies and various perennial plant species. His first big breeding breakthrough came in 2006 when Proven Winners introduced Tuscan Sun Heliopsis a remarkable dwarf, continuous flowering perennial. Yet even though David found success in breeding other crops, his passion for roses never ceased - nor did his rose breeding. While other students were going to fraternity parties, David was up in his dorm room growing on thousands of rose seedlings under florescent lights. Out of these seedlings he selected the healthiest 1,500 plants and grew them out in garden plots he rented from friends and neighbors. Out of these, he selected the 50 healthiest, most floriferous plants. His selection process was further aided by the harsh Minnesota winters and the ubiquitous rose disease – black spot. Only the hardiest, most disease resistance roses remained.

Out of the thousands of seedlings that started out in his dorm room, David found that one seedling, a polyantha hybrid that stood out from all the others. It was vigorous, healthy and very floriferous. The vivid red flower color was so intense that it seemed almost to smolder in the summer sun. In 2008 David Zlesak introduced his first commercial rose selection - Candy Oh! Vivid Red.

That is the tale of two roses, and how Bill Radler had a hand in the development of both plants.

A New Pink Flowered Annabelle Hydrangea

Until now, the quest for a pink ‘Annabelle’ hydrangea was just a dream. Today the dream is a reality; introducing Invincibelle™ Spirit Hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens 'NCSUHA1" ppaf, cbraf, pbraf), the first ever pink flowered Hydrangea arborescens with a mop-head flowers.

Sold by the millions, ‘Annabelle’ hydrangea is the most recognized and best selling hydrangea in the world. It is iron clad, blooms reliably and can be grown from Mobile to Manitoba. It is adaptable to many soil types and can be grown in full sun to fairly heavy shade. Pruning and care is a no-brainer. The only drawback - until now it only came in white. Everyone has been waiting for pink and now we have it!

Invincibelle™ Spirit hydrangea is the result of years of research, breeding and was developedment by Dr. Tom Ranney and his crew at North Carolina State University, Mountain Horticultural Crop Research Extension Center. This is a major plant breeding breakthrough! The flowers emerge a dark, hot pink color and mature to a rich clear pink. Soil pH does not influence the flower color. This plant will always have pink flowers regardless of the soil type.

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And if that was not enough, Invincibelle Spirit Hydrangea is continuous blooming! It continues to produces new flowers right up until frost. In fact, a single plant can produce 100 or more corymbs (flower heads) over the course of a summer.

Invincibelle Spirit Hydrnagea will be available at retail under the Proven Winners® ColorChoice® brand in spring of 2010. In addition the plant will help in the fight against breast cancer. Proven Winners will donate $1.00 from each purchase to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation® BCRF is dedicated to preventing breast cancer and finding a cure in our lifetime by funding clinical and translational research worldwide. (For more about BCRF, visit http://www.bcrfcure.org/part_corp_provenwinners.html

This new plant is useful as a specimen, mass planting or incorporated into perennial gardens or into a woodland setting. The blooms are extremely attractive both in the landscape and as a cut flower. It is a durable choice for both fresh and dried arrangements.

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Hardiness: USDA Zones 3-9 (perennial in zone 3)

Bloom time: Late May early June (earlier under poly). Reblooms until to frost.

Bud set: Blooms on new wood so it will flower ever year!

Bloom color: The flowers emerge a dark, hot pink color and mature to bright pink.

Quantity of blooms: Often 100 or more corymbs per plant over the summer

Branching habit: Freely branching with as many as 100 or more terminal shoots per plant.

Exposure: Full sun to partial shade

Growth rate: Moderate to Fast

Soil: Very adaptable, but proliferates in rich, well drained, moist soil. It is pH adaptable. Soil pH does not effect the flower color.

Pruning: In late fall or early spring. Blooms on new wood and tolerates being cut back to the ground.

Watering: If planted in full sun, sufficient moisture is needed. It will require additional watering on hot dry summer days until established. In South, should be planted in partial shade.

Wildlife: Habitat for songbirds and butterflies.

Native: Eastern United States. Florida to Maine. Kansas to Eastern Seaboard.

Type: Deciduous

Fertilizing: Fertilize in early spring by applying a slow release fertilizer specialized for trees & shrubs. Follow the label for recommended rate of application.

Uses: Groupings or masses, perennial or shrub borders, specimen, winter gardens.

Breeder: Dr. Thomas Ranney, NCSU. Mountain Horticultural Crop Research and Extension Center. Fletcher, North Carolina.

Learn more at http://invincibellespirit.net/