LSU AgCenter Ornamental Horticulture E-News & Trial Garden Notes Early November 2016

Transcription

1 LSU AgCenter Ornamental Horticulture E-News & Trial Garden Notes Early November 2016 Nursery, Landscape & Garden Center Updates Compiled by Allen Owings, Professor (Horticulture), Hammond Research Station, LSU AgCenter Edited by Rick Bogren, Professor (Communications), LSU AgCenter Phone ; The Top Performers of Some of the Newer Bedding Plant Varieties (from horticulturist Allen Owings) Uptick series Coreopsis (Darwin Perennials) 1 Sweet Caroline Bewitched Green with Envy Ornamental Sweet Potato (Proven Winners) SweetHeart Jet Black Ornamental Sweet Potato (Proven Winners) Sweet Caroline Bewitched After Midnight Ornamental Sweet Potato (Proven Winners) Under the Sea King Crab Coleus (HortCouture) Under the Sea YellowFin Tuna Coleus (HortCouture) Dragon s Breath Celosia (Sakata) EnduraScape Pink Bicolor Verbena (Ball FloraPlant) Intenz Lipstick Celosia (Ball Ingenuity) Archangel Cherry Red Angelonia (Ball FloraPlant) Archangel Blue Bicolor Angelonia (Ball FloraPlant) MegaWatt series Begonia (PanAmerican Seed) 2 Cannova Orange Shades Canna (American Takii) Cannova Mango Canna (American Takii) Impatiens Bounce Bright Coral (Selecta) Impatiens Big Bounce Pink (Selecta) Coleus French Quarter (Ball FloraPlant) Titan Really Red Vinca (PanAmerican Seed) Grandstand series Salvia splendens (GreenFuse Botanicals) 3 Senorita Mi Amora Cleome (Proven Winners) Cathedral series Salvia farinacea (GreenFuse Botanicals) 4 Lemon Coral Sedum (Proven Winners) Lime Sizzler Hamelia patens (Greenleaf Nursery / Plant Development Services) Rajun Cajun Roselle Hibiscus (Buddy Lee / Transcend Nursery)

2 Saucy series Salvia splendens (Cultivaris) 5 Vermillionaire Cuphea (Proven Winners) Monarch Promise Asclepias (HortCouture) Mayan series Ruellia (University of Florida) 6 SolarPower series Ornamental Sweet Potatoes (Ball FloraPlant) 7 Love and Wishes Salvia (Plant Development Services) Embers Wish Salvia (Plant Development Services) Black Stockings Pennisetum (Proven Winners) Blue My Mind Evovulus (Proven Winners) Balsamic Blooms Basil (EuroAmerican Propagators) Soiree Kawaii Vinca (Suntory) 8 Soiree Crown Vinca (Suntory) 9 Soiree Double Vinca (Suntory) 10 Sedona Sun Ornamental Pepper (PanAmerican Seed) 1 Includes Cream, Cream and Red, Gold and Bronze and Yellow and Red 2 Includes Pink Bronze Leaf, Red Green Leaf, Rose Bronze Leaf, and Rose Green Leaf 3 Includes Bicolor, Lavender, Red, Salmon and Purple 4 Includes Deep Purple, White, Purple and Shining Sea 5 Includes Red and Wine 6 Includes Purple, White and Pink 7 Includes Black, Lime and Red 8 Includes Pink, Coral, Lavender, Pink Peppermint and Pure White 9 Includes Pink and Rose 10 Includes Pink, White and Orchid Our LSU AgCenter New Crape Myrtle Variety Summary from October Field Day (from horticulturists Jason Stagg and Allen Owings) A landscape evaluation including most of the recently-introduced crape myrtle cultivars was initiated in spring 2013 at the LSU AgCenter Hammond Research Station in Hammond, LA. The new collection includes cultivars marketed as parts of various series names such as Barista, Barnyard Favorites, Black Diamond, Delta, Early Bird, Ebony, Emerald Empire, Enduring Summer, Magic, and Miss. The evaluation also contains other cultivars not marketed as part of a named series. The Early Bird series, developed by John Davy at Panhandle Growers, Inc. in Milton, FL and introduced by Plant Development Services, Inc. in Loxley, AL, has been on the market the longest and is part of the Southern Living Plant Collection. These are dwarf growing plants maturing at 4 feet. Early Bird Lavender (soft lavender) is promoted as a very heavy earlier bloomer. Other cultivars include Early Bird Purple and Early Bird White.

3 The burgundy-foliaged Delta Jazz (semi-dwarf, brilliant pink flowers) crape myrtle, developed by Cecil Pounders at Mississippi State University and introduced by Plant Development Services, Inc. in Loxley, AL, was a stand-alone cultivar for several years. The plant was originally named Chocolate Mocha and is included in the Southern Living Plant Collection. Five year old plants of Delta Jazz are 8 feet tall in most locations. Plants are classified as semi-dwarf, which normally indicates heights ranging from 8-12 feet. New for 2014 were four new color additions Delta Breeze (light lavender), Delta Eclipse (brilliant purple), Delta Moonlight (white) and Delta Flame (dark red). New for 2016 are Delta Fusion (dark pink) and Delta Fuchsia (fuchsia). The black-foliaged Ebony crape myrtles were developed by Cecil Pounders after he started working at the United State Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) facility in Poplarville, MS. Ebony plants are available to all growers, but they are also sold under the Black Diamond name by J. Berry Nursery, Grand Saline, TX. The Black Diamond name is exclusive to J. Berry Nursery and their nursery partners. These plants are expected to mature at 8-10 feet. Plants retain foliage color spring through fall. The five original Ebony/Black Diamond cultivar introductions are: Ebony Cultivar Name Ebony and Ivory (white) Ebony Flame (dark red) Ebony Embers (deep red) Ebony Fire (dark red) Ebony Glow (light pink to white) Corresponding Black Diamond Cultivar Name Pure White Best Red Red Hot Crimson Red Blush New additions to the Black Diamond series for fall 2015 were Shell Pink (coral pink), Mystic Magenta (magenta pink) and Purely Purple (vibrant purple). A fourth cultivar named Lavender Lace (lavender to light purple) is reported to have a late 2016 or early 2017 official release date but is already in our planting. These four cultivars and any future introductions under the Black Diamond series are unique and totally separate from the five original cultivars that are shared with the Ebony series. Additional introductions are not expected under the Ebony series name. Red Rooster (brilliant red), Purple Cow (deep purple) and Pink Pig (soft pale pink) are being sold as mid-sized growers and are promoted collectively as the Barnyard Favorites series in the Gardener s Confidence Collection from McCorkle Nurseries, Inc., Dearing, GA. According to Gardener s Confidence, Red Rooster is a plant to crow about, you can squeal with delight over Pink Pig, and Purple Cow can be used to create an udderly majestic garden. The Magic series from Plant Introductions. Inc. that are now part of the First Editions program by Bailey Nurseries includes Coral Magic (salmon pink), Purple Magic (dark purple), Plum Magic (fuchsia pink), Moonlight Magic (white) and Midnight Magic (dark pink). Coral Magic and Purple Magic have reddish new foliage in the spring. Plum Magic has plum purple foliage in the spring. Midnight Magic has purple maroon foliage that persists from spring to fall and Moonlight Magic has dark maroon foliage that persists from spring to fall. These are semi-dwarf plants (6-10 feet tall at maturity for Coral, Purple, and Plum, while Midnight matures at 4-6 feet and Moonlight matures at 8-12 feet) that were developed by Mike Dirr in Georgia at Plant Introductions, Inc. New

4 additions to this group are Ruffled Red Magic (glowing red), Red Magic (red), and Twilight Magic (plum purple to burgundy foliage, pink flowers). The Princess (aka Little Princess) series is a newer dwarf group developed by Dow Whiting at Garden Adventures Nursery in Missouri and is being marketed as part of the Garden Debut program by Greenleaf Nursery. This series includes Holly Ann (cherry red), Kylie (magenta pink), Zoey (cherry red with cotton candy pink), Jaden (lavender) and Lyla (rose pink). Height varies from 2-6 feet on these cultivars. Star Roses & Plants/Conard-Pyle has the Enduring Summer collection of crape myrtles. These plants were formerly sold under the Ball Ornamentals brand. Cultivars are Enduring Summer Red, Enduring Summer Fuchsia, Enduring Summer Pink, Enduring Summer White and Enduring Summer Lavender. We have three cultivars in our evaluation area, and expect to add Pink and Fuchsia in These plants were also developed by Mike Dirr in Georgia and are reported to have re-blooming characteristics. The Enduring Summer cultivars have an upright habit and mature height is 6-8 feet with a 4-foot spread. The new Miss series of Lagerstroemia indica from Cecil Pounders other breeding work at USDA-ARS in Poplarville, MS includes Miss Gail (20 feet, upright vase shape, purpleviolet flowers), Miss Frances (16-18 feet, round spreading, bright red) and Miss Sandra (18-20 feet, upright spreading purple violet). New for 2015 from Walters Gardens was the dwarf Barista Collection of crape myrtles. This includes four cultivars - Cherry Mocha (cherry red flowers), Frappe Pink (true pink), Like a Latte (pure white), and Sweet Macchiato (hot pink). These are northern climate developed cultivars for over-wintering in USDA hardiness zone 6. We have planted three of the cultivars and hope to receive evaluation plants of Like a Latte in For 2016, two more cultivars were added to this series: Bubble Tea (bright lilac purple) and Spiced Plum (raspberry purple). Plants in this series have leaves and stems ranging from darker greens to burgundy tones. New for 2017 is another series from J. Berry Nursery in Texas. The Emerald Empire series includes four cultivars so far: Amethyst King, Garnet King, Garnet Queen and Ruby Prince. The selections offer emerald green foliage with spectacular fall color. Plants designated with the King name should grow to 20 feet high and feet wide, while plants carrying the Queen name should be somewhat smaller growing to 12 feet high and 8 feet wide. Plants designated with the Prince name are expected to be dwarf growing only 3 feet high and 2 feet wide. Our evaluation planting has received Ruby Prince (deep red flowers) so far, and we hope to receive the other three cultivars in this collection in The new crape myrtle group (no series name yet) from Mississippi State University s Coastal Research and Extension Center in Poplarville, MS released by Patricia Knight and Wayne McLaurin include Neshoba (deep to royal purple), Pascagoula (dark purple), Sequoyah (red), Shumaka (light pink) and Tishomingo (medium to dark purple). These have been on trial with several Mississippi growers over the past five years. These have not yet been generally distributed to the industry but are included in the Hammond evaluation planting. Other cultivars added to the evaluation include three from Stan Brown in Clarksville, AR bearing the names Freedom (bright red), Kitty s Purple and Cindy (pink). Freedom is

5 especially notable for its re-blooming (remontant) habit. The planting also includes trees of Bayou View, which is the Lagerstroemia fauriei national champion single-trunk crape myrtle tree located at Akin s Nursery in Shreveport, LA. This plant dates to the 1950s/1960s and has been sold the past four to five years at the SFA Gardens Plant Sale in Nacogdoches, TX. Thelma Wheeler, an heirloom lilac-purple selection from Greg Grant in Texas, is now included in the evaluation planting, as is Bradberry Wine (burgundy flowers) from Greenleaf Nursery. Under observation are also several lavender-flowered crape myrtle cultivars (New Lavender and First Lavender) from John Davy at Panhandle Growers, Inc., Milton, FL. Data collected during our evaluations include flowering dates, durations, and quantities, fungal (Cercospora) and bacterial (Xanthomonas) leaf spot susceptibility ratings, winter dieback ratings, and height measurements. Differences in susceptibility to Crape myrtle bark scale (CMBS) will be noted, as will the appearance of rabbit tracks and retention of burgundy/black foliage throughout the growing season. This evaluation will continue through Not yet included in these trials but have been or soon will be introduced to the market: In 2015, Spring Meadow Nursery released the Infinitini series of dwarf crape myrtles through their Proven Winners program. This series is rated as Zone 6 hardy, and cultivars include Orchid (lavender), Magenta (magenta) and Brite Pink (pink). For 2016, Spring Meadow added Watermelon (bright pink-red) as a fourth cultivar to this series. These plants are being promoted as 2-4 foot growers, but they may get larger in southern US growing conditions. We hope to add evaluation plants to our collection in For 2017, Star Roses & Plants/Conard-Pyle will introduce the Bellini series of dwarf crape myrtles. Two colors have been included for release in the series so far: Grape (lavender) and Raspberry (rose pink). We expect to receive these plants for evaluation in Not included in these trials but previously evaluated: In the Gardener s Confidence Collection is the Razzle Dazzle crape myrtles. These have been around for 10 years or so now. These are true dwarfs with heights reaching 4 feet. Cultivars include Berry Dazzle (fuchsia), Cherry Dazzle (cherry red), Dazzle Me Pink (pink), Diamond Dazzle (pure white), Strawberry Dazzle (neon rose) and Sweetheart Dazzle (pink). Cherry Dazzle has been a longtime exceptional performer in LSU AgCenter landscape trials. January 18 th Education January 19 th and 20 th Trade Show and State Association Events

6 LSU AgCenter Crape Myrtle Trials Why We Are Doing and Why Are They Important (from horticulturist Jason Stagg) Why do we participate in this madness by continuing to try to plant all of these at the station? Because CM is one of the most popular landscape plants in Louisiana, and our industry needs one common resource to come view almost all of them together to make plant materials decisions. No matter how silly it seems, we must continue to plant them to stay relevant and help our industry. It s like apple pie, baseball and crape myrtles. Why are more and more cultivars continuing to be offered? It appears that this is being driven by sales and marketing forces trying to maximize profits. Slightly more improved versions of the last guy s tree keep popping up. We hope future breeding efforts look at sustainability goals (such as disease resistance, crape myrtle bark scale resistance, etc.) or re-blooming tendencies once all possible color combinations have been introduced to the market. What ornamental qualities are missing in the market right now? Isn t it already saturated, or are there still new things to introduce? It is true that there really haven t been any breakthrough new colors for crape myrtles, but more like tweaks or slight improvements (such as the bright, clear red of Freedom by Stan Brown). There are still a few aesthetic niches to fill. It is expected that breeders are working on tall (20+ feet) burgundy-leaved varieties that bloom in all colors as well as mini to dwarf well-behaved burgundy-leaved ( meatball ) crape myrtles that bloom in all colors. Fastigiate or columnar shapes in both green and burgundy-leaved varieties that bloom well would also find many applications in today s ornamental landscape industry where planting spaces are smaller. Lavender blooming crape myrtles will continue to be pushed further towards the blue spectrum, and true re-blooming tendencies will certainly be on the to do list of breeders. With crape myrtle bark scale being a major threat to the health of crape myrtles, what are good substitute blooming trees? That answer would be vitex. We already know there are great cultivars on the market, but the color palette is limited compared to crape myrtles. However, the all import blue/purple color is front in center in vitex, and we don t have that option in crape myrtles. Breeding work is active in this species, and there are already mini or dwarf, semi-dwarf and tall cultivars on the market. Vitex are excellent sources of nectar for pollinators, and have very few landscape pest issues. The biggest downside is that the peak bloom does not have as long duration as crape myrtles, but vitex do re-bloom later in the summer/early fall. Extending the peak bloom is one of the breeding goals. Louisiana Turfgrass Association Annual Conference Wednesday January 5 th, 2017 LSU Tiger Stadium South Stadium Club Conference Registration, Vendor Information and Program available at:

7 Louisiana Super Plants Announced for 2017 and 2018 LSU AgCenter Soil Testing and Plant Analysis Lab