{"id":6131,"date":"2023-07-10T08:00:08","date_gmt":"2023-07-10T12:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christensensplantcenter.com\/news\/?p=6131"},"modified":"2023-07-05T15:56:48","modified_gmt":"2023-07-05T19:56:48","slug":"new-favorites-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christensensplantcenter.com\/news\/new-favorites-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"New Favorites in Perennials, Grasses & Shrubs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome back \u2013 I hope that everyone had a great holiday. Whew! Spring is finally over! For me, summer is a time of slight relaxation. 2023 is humming along and I have a month until I must start 2024. (Let\u2019s not think about that!).<\/p>\n

I wanted to check with everyone and make sure you all saw some of the new plant varieties at the nursery \u2013 if not, come on in as there are more newbies here and incoming.<\/p>\n

There are a couple of new plants that I am excited about. Of the hundreds of new cultivars every year it is hard to know what to choose. Sometimes, I throw dice, sometimes I look at the magic 8-ball, and sometimes it has to do with a catchy name (I am a sucker for a catchy name!). Then I do some research and decide if the name is catchy enough! Check some of these out:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

First off, we have 2 new ferns \u2013 are you ready? \u201cGodzilla\u201d and \u2018Metallicum\u2019. In this case, it was the names!! I was never a fan of Metallica (nor any of those big-hair bands!) but Godzilla is not only a great movie but also a great song (Blue Oyster Cult). \u2018Godzilla\u2019 is thought to be a cross of pictum (\u201cPainted Fern\u201d) and felix femina (\u201cLady Fern\u201d). It has the upright habit of a lady fern and the colorful foliage of a painted fern. \u2018Metallicum\u2019 is an older variety but returning to the market. Nearly identical to a painted fern this one has redder coloration.<\/p>\n

\"Holy<\/span><\/p>\n

I have a couple of newer grasses this year, as well. My favorite is the Andropogon gerardii cultivars. Check out \u2018Holy Smoke\u2019 (Cheech and Chong movie ??), \u2018Blackhawks\u2019 (again with the movie?), and Red October (another movie!). \u2018Holy Smoke\u2019 and \u2018Blackhawks\u2019 both are going to be 4-5\u2019 tall and \u2018Red October\u2019 is a dwarf coming in at 2-4\u2019. All 3 are native prairie grass and rock hardy. All 3 also have purple-green leaves and get varying shades of red from mid-late summer through fall.<\/p>\n

\"Puffer<\/span><\/p>\n

I also have a couple of new Hydrangeas! Please don\u2019t tell Chris!!! They are a secret. The one I am most excited about is Hydrangea paniculata \u2018Puffer Fish\u2019, \u201ca Bobo on steroids\u201d! It has white flowers that age lime and pink. They will typically send another flower at this same time and rebloom over top of older blooms. It gives the effect of double flowers \u2013 very showy. It seems everyone likes the compact habit of the \u2018Tuff Stuff\u2019 so take a look at this one \u2018Pop Star\u2019 . This one is from the Endless Summer people. This is a typical blue or pink lacecap (macrophylla). However, \u2018Pop Star\u2019 is far more compact (and looks far denser) than the traditional \u2018Endless Summer\u2019. Its biggest claim to fame is that it reblooms much faster than a traditional \u2019Endless Summer\u2019.<\/p>\n

\"Endless<\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, I haven\u2019t been able to get my hands on Jeffery\u2019s Weigela \u2018Bubbly Wine\u2019. If you were unaware, Jeff Good is now the patent holder of Proven Winners\u00ae Weigela \u2018Bubbly Wine\u2019. I will let him tell you all about it. I on the other hand will tell you about a relative of Weigela \u2018Midnight Wine\u2019 with darker, shinier burgundy leaves and a 12\u2019 tall about 3\u2019 wide habit. W. \u2018Midnight Wine Shine\u2019 is also much denser. Finally, W. \u2018Very Fine Wine\u2019 is a dwarf \u2013 30×30\u201d with better hardiness and heavier rebloom.<\/p>\n

\"Midnight<\/span><\/p>\n

Before I let you go \u2013 let\u2019s talk Ilex crenata \u2018Sky Pencil\u2019 I have not grown this personally and we have not had it at the nursery before. Everyone is yelling at me about this plant. Everyone wants it and I keep saying it is not hardy enough for us, you keep saying it is! I have special ordered this plant in the past and those that have put it in the landscape have told me they are hardy. So, this year I will stock a few. Ilex crenata \u2018Sky Pencil\u2019 is a female ilex and will need a pollinator to bloom (any ilex that blooms at this same time will work.) \u2018Sky Pencils\u2019 get to be about 6-8\u2019 and 2\u2019 wide \u2013 yes, with a very<\/em> columnar habit. It is a very dense tightly branched shrub. Considered a solid zone 6 possibly a zone 5 \u2013 it may all depend on the winter. Berries or not, it is a good-looking plant!<\/p>\n

Have you tried these new varieties? Let us know what you think of them! We welcome your feedback on the plants we stock.<\/p>\n

I hope to see you around the plant center, checking out all the new stuff!<\/p>\n

\"Kim<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome back \u2013 I hope that everyone had a great holiday. Whew! Spring is finally over! For me, summer is a time of slight relaxation. 2023 is humming along and I have a month until I must start 2024. (Let\u2019s not think about that!). I wanted to check with everyone and make sure you all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":6133,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[103,18,22,8,6],"tags":[34],"class_list":["post-6131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2023-posts","category-about-us","category-landscaping","category-perennials","category-plants","tag-kim-roth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christensensplantcenter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christensensplantcenter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christensensplantcenter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christensensplantcenter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christensensplantcenter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6131"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.christensensplantcenter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6161,"href":"https:\/\/www.christensensplantcenter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6131\/revisions\/6161"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christensensplantcenter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christensensplantcenter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christensensplantcenter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christensensplantcenter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}