New plants '96

Flower & Garden Magazine, Dec, 1995 by Doug Hall

Also new from Fairweather: Daphne odora `Alden's Regal Red,' a slowgrowing, evergreen shrub with perfumed white blooms in early spring (Zone 7 to 9); Ilex opaca `John Wister; a non-fruiting male holly of pyramidal form, selected for its rich green leaves that do no yellow in winter (Zone 5 to 9); and evergreen viburnum awabuki `Chindo,' whose white, springtime blossoms are followed by pendulous masses of red fruits (Zone 7 to 9).

Cornus Kousa `Heart Throb' is a striking red-flowered form of kousa dogwood. It's available from Trans-Pacific Nursery.

Camellia Forest Nursery continues its work toward developing camellias with greater cold hardiness. Camellia japonica `April Kiss' (shown) is compact in size, bearing small, formal flowers in late February, March or April, depending on the climate. It's hardy into the warmer reaches of Zone 6.

Cotinus coggygria `Cumulus Cloud' (shown), a green-leafed smokebush, was selected for its garden performance in Northern areas. It grows to 8 feet and tops its branches in July with amber puffs. Eastern Plant Specialist will offer it, along which several new hybrid rhododendrons and flame-flowered azalea `Mountain Gold,' hardy to minus 25 degrees.

Hydrangea macrophylla `Tovelit,' originally from Denmark, will be offered by Greer Gardens. Its globe-shaped flower heads are tightly packed with starshaped, lavender-pink florets. New rhododendrons from Greer include `Dad's Indian Summer,' a vivid red-and-yellow bicolor, and frilly pink `Pom Pom' (shown).

Container Plants

Some passion vines grow too lustily for windowsill gardens. That's not the case with three new varieties from Logee's Greenhouses: lacy-leafed `Amethyst,' bearing 4-inch blossoms through much of the year; pink, candy-scented `Star of Kingston' (shown); and sparkling white `St. Rule,' a compact and intensely fragrant variety. All are ideal container specimens for south-facing windows.

Also from Logee's is Brugmansia suaveolens variegata, a white-flowered angel's trumpet whose foliage is handsomely edged in creamy white. Two silver-spotted angelwings, `Dracula' and `Clearwater Revival,' are among Logee's new begonians; the latter sports dense umbels of pure white blossoms throughout the year.

The warm coral heart of epiphyllum `Pat Barrett' (shown) stands out against the paler shades of the long outer petals. This hybrid orchid cactus will be listed by Gray/Davis Epiphyllums.

Hybrid ephiphyllums offered by Rainbow Gardens include satiny magenta `Tyrolean,' shell-pink `Rosa Maria' and dark sunset orange `Red Bird.' The broad white petals of epiphyllum `Lily Dache' are banded with pink along their lightly ruffled edges--a unique look for an orchid cactus. Also from Rainbow Gardens is the heavy-blooming Easter cactus `Mira' (shown).

Collectors of rare and unusual forms of Hoya need look no further than the catalogs of Hill n' dale and Green: Plant Research. Both will offer recently collected Hoya species and clones from the wilds of Asia.

The extravagant flowers of orchids never fail to dazzle. An intense red lip contrasted against bright yellow characterizes hybrid Cattleya Lovely Laurel `Chicago Sunrise.' Phalaenopsis Hausermann's Gold `Goldmine,' an easy-to-grow moth orchid, blooms in a soft tint of yellow touched with orange at the lip. Look for these and other new hybrids in the Orchids By Hausermann catalog.