Insights About Tough and Beautiful New Garnet Fire Loropetalum

New to the trade, retailers and landscapers are fired with enthusiasm about this tough and beautiful red-leaved shrub. 

Named for the brilliant deep red gemstone, Garnet Fire(TM) Loropetalum is an ideally-sized evergreen shrub due to its outstanding, shiny, dark burgundy foliage. Colorful deep maroon-red leaves persist throughout the year in zones 7-11, and add a blaze of color to the winter landscape. 

Known as Chinese Fringe Flower, hundreds of garnet-red, tassel-like flowers with narrow, fringe-like petals envelop the plant in late winter through spring. Individual flowers persist for weeks thus keeping the plant in bloom for months and beginning with sporadic flowering the previous fall. Honey bees appreciate the early pollen source and the flowers attract butterflies. Other common names for the genus Loropetalum include Chinese Loropetalum, Fringebush and Chinese Witch Hazel. Garnet Fire™ is a seedling selection of Loropetalum chinense 'Zuzhou Fuschia' originated by Ted Stephens who is a member of the Garden Debut(R) consortium of breeders, growers, retailers and marketers.  

The multi-faceted, luminous shrub reaches a useful 4-5 feet in height and tolerates direct sun to part shade for versatile landscape placement. Use Garnet Fire (TM) as a specimen or accent plant, in the border, in front of the foundation plantings, as a container plant, for massing or as a screen. It is striking when planted next to pastel flowers, or beside yellow- or silvery- blue foliage that emphasize the burgundy foliage. Garnet Fire (TM) Loropetalum is a a tough plant that tolerates heat, humidity, deer, rabbits and slopes. 

Traditionally, garnets were popular as a talisman and protective stone believed to light up the night and protect their bearers from harm. Like its namesake, Garnet Fire(TM) Loropetalum lights up the garden and protects the landscape from the monotony of too many green shrubs. Anyone who loves what is pure, natural and having the deep color of garnets will be fired with enthusiasm for Garnet Fire(TM) Loropetalum. 

Statistics Chart for Garnet Fire™ Loropetalum, Loropetalum chinense var. rubrum  ‘Garnet Fire’ PPAF

Plant Category:	finely textured, broad leaf evergreen shrub
Mature Height:	5-7 feet, or easily kept smaller with judicious pruning
Mature Spread:	4-6 feet
Mature Form:	Rounded oval
Branching:	Branches arranged in layers
Growth Rate:	Moderate
Sun Exposure:	Versatile, direct sun to partial shade; Full sun (recommended) will bring out the stongest color, but light shade will help with drought resistance
Soil Type:	Sand, loam, clay; very adaptable
Soil Moisture:	Well-drained soils, dry to average, drought resistant once established
Flowers:	Garnet-red tassel flowers with fringe-like petals
Native origin:	Native to China and Japan
Foliage:	Evergreen shrub with dark maroon-red, burgundy leaves year round; beautiful, deep, rich maroon red coloring all year long
Fruit:	Inconspicuous black fruit in summer
Fall Color:	Leaves remain that gorgeous dark burgundy throughout fall and year-round.
Landscape Uses:	Garnet Fire(TM) Loropetalum is a tough plant that tolerates heat, humidity, deer, rabbits and slopes; use as specimen or accent plant, border, in front of the foundation planting, container, massing, screening, and striking when planted next to pastel flowers or yellow- or silvery- blue foliage plants to contrast with the burgundy foliage.
Root system :	Vigorous once established
pH Level:	6.0 – 7.5  Garnet Fire™ does not appear to be very pH sensitive
Climate Zones:	7 – 11, versatile and adds evergreen color across much of the U.S.
Heredity:	Ted Stephens, Nurseries Caroliniana in North Augusta, South Carolina

Garden Debut® great new plants

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Dwarf Giokumo Cryptomeria Provides Year-Round Interest

Beautiful dwarf conifer provides elegant backdrop in summer and anchors the winter landscape. 

Giokumo Cryptomeria is an easy care evergreen dwarf Cryptomeria japonica selection with year-round interest introduced by Garden Debut(R) in late 2011. This compact, densely pyramidal Japanese Cedar has a vigorous growth rate. Early growth rate. Early growth in the first 3-4 years is mounding and spreading, but it matures at a height between 8-10 feet tall and about 6-8 feet wide after 20-30 years. For added interest, Giokumo sports persistent, cinnamon-colored decorative female cones about 3/4 inch long. 

This pyramidal dwarf conifer has a stout trunk and is graceful in habit in exposed areas of U.S. D.A Zones 6-9 (-10 degrees to 0 degrees F.), Giokumo exhibits a coppery or bronzy winter color, particularly if exposed to wind. 

Giokumo Cryptomeria has beautiful, deep green coloration and 3/8 inch long, spirally-arranged awl shaped needles that curve inward. Numerous flexible branchlets are green and thickly covered with these short, spiraling needles, creating a thick, dense habit. Branchlets are eventually deciduous, typically lasting 3-4 years. 

This genus is native to Japan and China although it is classified in the Taxodiacead with the bald cypress and redwoods of North America. Landscape uses for Giokumo include: specimen use adding color, form, texture, winter interest, adds height to a mixed border, use on seacoasts, as a privacy screen or backdrop for perennial or rose gardens or contrasting seasonal shrubs, planted in small groves and/or planted at the sunny edge of woodlands. Best in full sun, it will tolerate light shade in a location sheltered from high winds. Achieve maximum growth on rich, deep, permeable, average to slightly acidic, well-drained soils with abundant moisture, although Giokumo will grow on a broad variety of soil types. Keep newly planted trees moist throughout the season after planting, while the roots grow into the native soil and add an organic mulch to maintain soil moisture levels.  After becoming established, Giokumo Cryptomeria has average watering needs. 

The beauty of the dwarf conifer is its versatility in the modern landscape. Giokumo is ideal in scale and provides horticultural interest for today’s gardens Reduced maintenance required by this dwarf cultivar syncs with faster contemporary lifestyles. Giokumo has great resistance to insects and diseases, as well as improved hardiness and general ease of growth.

Statistics Chart for Giokumo Cryptomeria, Cryptomeria japonica cv. Giokumo

Plant Category:	Native deciduous tree, conifer
Mature Height:	Reaches 8 – 10 feet in 10 years
Mature Spread:	5 - 10 feet
Mature Form:	Broadly pyramidal
Branching:	Dense with green branchlets, covered with short, spiraling awl-shaped needles
Growth Rate:	Naturally dwarf variety, vigorous growth to predetermined max
Sun Exposure:	Full sun (recommended), will tolerate light shade
Soil Type:	Prefers rich, deep, well-drained soils with a good moisture supply; adaptable and will tolerate red brickyard clays of the southeast U.S.
Soil Moisture:	Best on moist, well-drained soils, use organic mulch and supply regular moisture during the first season while new plantings are getting established
Cones:	Conspicuous, small, brown, ½ inch male and female cones that persist
Native:	Native to China and Japan
Foliage:	Evergreen conifer with 4-angled, awl-shaped, 3/8 inch needles arranged in a spiral on flexible branchlets. Overall, the foliage is dense and has been described as “meaty”
Foliage Color:	Beautiful, deep, rich green coloring all year long, with a coppery or bronzy winter color in exposed areas
Fall Color:	Leaves turn copper or bronze color in winter, particularly if exposed to strong wind
Bark:	Beautiful cinnamon-colored bark is thin and peels in narrow vertical strips
Root system :	Vigorous once established, with a moderate salinity tolerance
pH Level:	5 – 8, very adaptable
Climate Zones:	6a – 9, (winter lows  -10 to 0 degrees F.)
Heredity:	U.S.

Garden Debut® great new plants!

Dwarf Columnar Urban(TM) Apple Trees

Blushing Delight™, Golden Treat™, Tasty Red™ and Tangy Green™, yield good taste in a square foot!

Edible gardening is taking the forefront as the locally-grown food movement gains ground, and more and more gardeners are finding success harvesting their own crops. Enter Urban™ Columnar Apples by Garden Debut®, new introductions that yield great tasting apples in a tiny space. Now it’s easy to produce delicious, full-sized apples on slender, vertical trees that grow in large pots on sunny decks or balconies.

Urban™ Columnar Apple trees are loaded with fruiting spurs along the main leader, and branches are short and upright, producing straight, upright-growing, cylindrical apple trees. Plant Urban™ Columnar Apples in the ground, or transplant to large containers coordinated with home and architecture and enjoy moving them around as desired.

Romantic apple blossoms in spring will enchant homeowners, apartment dwellers, condo owners, suburbanites and those short on space. Urban™ apple trees mature at 8 to 10 feet tall but less than two feet in diameter (!) , and are extremely healthy and disease resistant. When grown in full sun expect full-sized fruit the first year from planting, so long as there are two or more varieties for cross pollination. As trees mature, the yield of apples will increase. Be sure to maintain fertility levels for good growth and yields.

The Urban™ Columnar Apple Series was developed by Dr. Jaroslav Tupy of the Czech Republic, a member of the Garden Debut® consortium of growers, breeders, retailers and marketers. Tupy’s choice of four varieties ensures a wide selection of flavor, plus good cross-pollination and fruit set:  

Tasty Red™ is a bright red apple with a sweet, juicy flavor

Blushing Delight™ produces a blush of reddish green fruit with a slightly sweeter taste

Golden Treat™ greenish-gold apples are tart in early fall, but get sweeter the longer they are on the tree

Tangy Green™ lime green apples add a crisp, tart flavor to the series

Harvest tasty fruit within easy reach of the patio table, or host a pick-your-own on the porch and watch heads turn. Try Urban™ Columnar Apples in large tubs flanking the entrance or plant alongside a border or fence to add value. The impact of a loaded apple tree in a tiny space is irresistible.

<-- Blushing Delight™

Statistics Chart for Urban™ Columnar Apple Series:  

Tasty Red(TM) Dwarf Columnar Urban(TM) Apple Malus 'UEB 3449-1'

Blushing Delight(TM) Dwarf Columnar Urban(TM) Apple Malus 'UEB 3727-4'

Golden Treat(TM) Dwarf Columnar Urban(TM) Apple Malus 'UEB 3358-3

Tangy Green(TM) Dwarf Columnar Urban(TM) Apple Malus 'UEB 3812-2'

Plant Category:	Deciduous flowering fruit trees
Mature Height:	8 to 10  feet
Mature Spread:	1 ½ to 2 feet
Mature Form:	Extremely narrow, columnar form with multiple fruiting spurs on central leader
Growth Rate:	Vigorous
Sun Exposure:	Best grown in full sun
Soil Type:	Garden loam, amended clay, soil-less potting mixes with good fertility
Soil Moisture:	Moist, well-drained soils
Chilling Requirement:	800 – 1200 hours for good bud set (number of hours the tempereature is below 45 degrees F. but above 32 degrees F.)
Flower Color:	Romantic pink and white apple blossoms on bare branches in early  spring
Fruit Set and Yield:	Two varieties are required for cross-pollination and good fruit set: expect full-sized fruit from the first year
Fruit:	Four varieties in the  Urban™ Apple Series provide a wide choice of taste and color on full-sized apples: Tasty Red(TM) Dwarf Columnar Urban(TM) Apple Malus 'UEB 3449-1' Blushing Delight(TM) Dwarf Columnar Urban(TM) Apple Malus 'UEB 3727-4' Golden Treat(TM) Dwarf Columnar Urban(TM) Apple Malus 'UEB 3358-3 Tangy Green(TM) Dwarf Columnar Urban(TM) Apple Malus 'UEB 3812-2'
Summer Color:	Apple green leaf color
Fall Color:	Negligible
pH Level:	5.5 – 7.5
Zones:	4 – 9  (-30 degrees F or 23 Degrees C), well suited for most of the continental U.S.
Heredity:	Developed by Dr. Jaroslav Tupy, Czech Republic for Garden Debut®

                                                           

When performance counts, use Garden Debut® introductions

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Shadyside on January 24, 2012

We're having one of those soft, gold-kissed mornings after days of rain; the fog burned off early and everything is damp and I can almost hear it growing. Golden sunbeams slant into my woodland and turn the salad burnet (Poterium sanguisorba) to glistening diamonds with a dewdrop on every point on every serrated leaflet of every compound leaf.

Phalanxes of individual green grass seedlings are sprouting up. It is a simple cover crop of annual rye grass (Lolium multiflorum) for now,   two inches high so far and brilliant green where I plan to have a small zoysia lawn in the future. This morning I tossed out more grass seed in the bare spots that I missed the first time. I mixed my seed with a mycorrhizal soil inoculant with an organic kelp and molasses base, plus I scattered two bags of lime to sweeten up the soil for good measure.

Last weekend we finished rooting out by hand the tall goldenrod (Solidago altissima), briers (Rubus spp.) and cat briar (Smilax laurifolia) from a sunny triangle about 20 feet on a side. Then we mulched it heavily with 18 wheelbarrow loads of rotted wood chips and I have high hopes for a new vegetable garden this summer. I limed the future garden too, and now pulverized dolomitic lime is on my shopping list once more.

Tearing myself away and dragging myself indoors to work on my presentation for GGIA 2012 Wintergreen this Friday.

The Winter Solstice is a Balmy Planting Day in Atlanta

Although it is late December and the shortest day of the year, we are having an incredibly balmy day in #Atlanta. I was delighted to spend 3 hours outside this morning under a light mist (or perhaps it was inside a low-flying cloud), planting Japanese irises along the sometimes-wet dry creek bed, star magnolia in a prime spot, forsythia near the road, plus camellia, hardy ageratum, Chinese sacred lily, Italian arum and 2 huge native azaleas. O, the anticipation of spring.

Everything is green and still growing; in fact the hardy ginger already is sending up spring sprouts. Ferns are thriving, Amarcrinum and Crinum still green, lots of fall-blooming crocus still photosynthesizing. Herbs that I planted almost a week ago look great as they begin to make contact with the rich brown soil. 108 Helleborus x orientalis that I grew from seed  and put out as quarts this fall are each beginning to offer a new leaf. Left over from summer, I still have late roses, Encore azaleas, pink daisy mums and yellow ones in bloom, as well as camellias blooming for the first time.

After awhile even my and hair face felt a little green and mossy. So satisfying to breathe the good, rich earth smells and suck in the endorphins. What a lucky gardener I am, to live in Zone 7B.



  

Summer Solstice 3 Ways: Science, Plant Photoperiodism & Lore

SCIENCE

June 21 is a significant day for Planet Earth and its relationship with the sun. The Earth spins on its axis, an imaginary line going through the globe between the north and south poles, with each complete revolution taking 24 hours. However, the Earth’s axis is tilted 23.5 degrees off the plane of its revolution around the sun, and so for several months of the year, one half of the earth receives more direct rays of the sun than the other half. The four seasons are a result of this tilt.

The Summer Solstice is the date when the rays of the sun directly strike one of the two tropical latitude lines. Astronomers in the northern hemisphere calculate that the summer solstice occurs when the sun reaches the Tropic of Cancer thus causing the northern hemisphere to experience the longest day and the shortest night of the year, June 21, 2011 at 1:16 p.m. EDT (17:16 UTC). Similarly, astrologers know this as the date on which the sun enters the sign of Cancer in the starry heavens.  Simultaneously it heralds the longest night of winter in the southern hemisphere. And far north of the Equator in the Artic Circle, there are 24 hours of daylight on June 21.

PLANT PHOTOPERIODISM

Plants respond to day length in direct ways. Photoperiodism is the term used to discuss plant responses to day length or more accurately, night length.  “Long day plants” (like clover, foxgloves and garden pinks) bloom as the days get longer and when the nights are short. 

After Midsummer, these plants stop blooming and other plants (like goldenrod and chrysanthemum) begin to bloom. These are called “short day plants” because they are triggered to flower as the days grow shorter (after the Summer Solstice) during late summer and fall. Well-known as a Christmas flower, the poinsettia develops its showy bracts as the year approaches the Winter Solstice, while the day length is decreasing and there are a long, unbroken periods of darkness each night.

Still other plants are “day neutral plants” because they are less responsive to the length of the dark period. Spring and Fall Equinoxes are the midway point of the solar year. (See also http://plantpreview.blogspot.com/2010/12/winter-solstice-full-moon-lunar-eclipse.html )

HISTORY & LORE

Awed by the power of the sun, for centuries civilizations have celebrated the Summer Solstice, also known as Midsummer, St. John’s feast day, or Litha. Although modern usage suggests that ‘summer begins’ at the summer solstice, the old folk calendar placed the beginning of summer on May Day (May 1) and the end of summer on Lammas (August 1). This more reasonably placed the summer solstice midway between the two, marking midsummer as the peak of old sun god’s strength.

The traditional Celtic Midsummer was celebrated on the fixed date of June 24, which coincides with the Christian feast of John the Baptist and his flower, St. John’s wort.  Faery lore held that Midsummer night was a time of magic, when pixies and evil spirits went abroad. To thwart them, people wore protective garlands of herbs and flowers. One of the most powerful of them was a plant called 'chase-devil', also known as St. John’s Wort, and is still used by modern herbalists as a mood stabilizer.

Other flower-based customs included decking the house (especially over the front door) with birch, fennel, St. John’s wort, orpin, and white lilies. Five plants were thought to have special magical properties on this night: rue, roses, St. John’s wort, vervain, and trefoil. St. John’s wort was picked by young maidens in the hopes of finding her true love.

St. John’s connection to the wilderness (from whence “the voice cried out”) was often emphasized by the rustic nature of his shrines, and by his alternate name, “the Oak King”. Perhaps the archetypal ‘Green Man’, or ‘wild man of the wood’, whose face appears through the leafy masks that adorn early Church architecture, was based on St. John.

Celts and Slavs celebrated the eve of the first day of summer with dancing and bonfires representing the sun's energy (Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, June 23), staying up all night to welcome the dawn. 

Couples would leap through the flames, believing their crops would grow as high as they were able to jump. Chinese marked the day by honoring Li, the Chinese Goddess of Light, in Spain it’s called the “Night of the Verbena (Vervain)”, while the Druids celebrated the day as the "wedding of Heaven and Earth", resulting in the present day belief of lucky June weddings. The Midsummer full moon was known as the "Honey Moon" for the mead made from fermented honey that was part of wedding ceremonies performed at the Summer Solstice.

Thanks to Mike Nichols at twpt.com and  Chiff.com for background, to Chuck Tague for the photo of St. John's wort via wqed.org, rhe Green Man is from The Glouster Cathedral's South Porch Facade, c.1455 and to Wikipedia for the bonfire photo.  

Patented Tiny Gold Barberry Grows Knee-High to a Grasshopper

Tiny Gold Adds color to G-Scale Model Rail Road Gardens, Rock Gardens, Containers & Borders

Tiny Gold Barberry (PP17084) is a truly diminutive woody shrub. Itty bitty gold leaves cover the cupcake-sized shrub 10 months of the year until winter. The small leaves attain best color in full sun, although this dwarf shrub also will grow in partial sun with a chartreuse leaf color. Brown twigs have deep grooves and a zig-zag appearance, with a sharp spine at each leaf node. Tiny Gold Barberry grows slowly to attain a mature spread of 12 to 15 inches with a maximum of 15 to 18 inches in height.  

Insignificant pale yellow flowers bloom in late spring or early summer but do not set viable seed. Northern gardeners will be happy to learn that Tiny Gold Barberru is non-flowering, therefore the plant does not set viable seed and invasiveness is a non-issue with this cultivar. 

Extremely adaptable, Tiny Gold grows in USDA Zones 5 to 9 in a wide range of soil types and exhibits average water needs, preferring well-drained soils; do not overwater. In the landscape, Tiny Gold is grown for its foliage color and pocket size.

Some landscape uses for Tiny Gold Barberry include mixed perennial borders, smaller more detailed gardens, miniature landscapes, G-scale model train landscapes and inclusion in containers for color. 

Statistics Chart for Tiny Gold Barberry (PP17084) (Berberis thunbergii 'Tiny Gold')

Plant Category:	Dwarf deciduous woody shrub grown for its leaf color and tiny size
Mature Height:	6 – 18 inches
Mature Spread:	12 – 15 inches
Mature Form:	True dwarf, rounded shrub
Branching:	Brown branches deeply grooved, somewhat zig-zag in form and bearing a single sharp spine at each leaf node.
Growth Rate:	Moderate, low maintenance, durable, no serious pests, resistant to rust
Sun Exposure:	Full sun for best leaf color, will grow in partial shade
Soil Type:	Widely adaptable, Loam, Sand or Clay
Soil Moisture:	Well-drained; adaptable to drought when established
Roots:	Wiry and yellow in color
Flower:	Pale yellow in spring
Berries:	Does not set viable seed, therefore not invasive, A patented plant will not come true from seed.
Summer Leaf Color:	Bright, cheerful yellow to chartreuse
Fall Color:	Lovely red-orange fall color, becoming deciduous in early winter  ?
pH Level:	6.1  - 7.8
Hardiness Zones:	5 - 8
Heredity:	Michal Andrusiv in the Czech Republic Registered in 2005

                                                                                                                       

When performance counts, use Garden Debut® great new plants. 

 

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