Arrowhead Alpines
2008 Shrubs and Evergreens: Page Seven
Tamarix to Zenobia

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TAMARIX AFRICANUS EX HIDDEN LAKE

Tamarix africanus ex hidden lake bap.-  1@ $29.00

A huge tree, this is the largest Tamarix I have ever seen; the name seems questionable, but the plant is definitely cool. The original plant at Hidden Lake has a trunk circumference that must be 3’+.

 

Tamarix ramosissima 'Pink Cascade' bap.-  1@ $24.00

A named selection with masses of deep pink ostrich plumes in early summer the soft feathery foliage is reminiscent of a juvenile Cupressus. It tolerates poor dry soils and may be more floriferous if it is cut back severely each year.

 

TAMARIX RAMOSISSIMA 'RUBRA' G.-  1@ $19.00

As above but darker pink, it is about as red as Tamarix gets and very showy.

 

Tilia cordata 'Lico'  ............. S. P. -1@ $8.00

A perfect miniature Tilia, tiny leaves compact growth; we have it in our front Daphne and dwarf conifer bed where it generates much interest; it would look fantastic in a bonsai pan with just a bit of minor pruning.

 

Ulmus carpinifolius 'Jacqueline Hillier'     S. P. -1@ $15.00

A densely branched slow growing plant that may eventually reach 6’, it may in fact be a hybrid with glabra, we stumbled on this down at Gee’s and immediately grabbed it.

 

Ulmus parvifolia ‘Frosty’ (#1 ) bap.-  1@ $49.00

Dwarf but nothing like ‘Hokkaido’, these have nearly normal sized leaves, their saw teeth tipped white as if touched by frost, this is the form distributed by Mitch.

 

Ulmus parvafolia ‘Lois Hole’ (Frosty #2)           bap.-  1@ $29.00

A second version of ‘Frosty’ with leaves only ¼ -½” long, showing a bit more frost than frosty #1, on a plant that appears to be considerably dwarfer, we picked this up from Gee’s who I believe got it from Larry Stanley. To avoid the confusion or perhaps add to it we are naming it in honor of the late Lois Hole,. There is a long story behind this and if you ever make it to Alberta stop by Canada’s finest garden center and ask Bob Stadnick to tell the tale.

 

Ulmus parvifolia ‘Hokkaido S. P. -1@ $15.00

The tiniest of Elms for bonsai or trough only inches high with miniscule 1/8" leaves, I have seen this also listed as a U. sempervirens cultivar. Whatever the name it is weird, science fiction, Honey I Shrunk the Elm weird. Actually the shrunken thing possible with quarters and the results are definitely disturbing, see Bert Hickman’s quarter shrinker website for details on this disquieting phenomenon or check out the z machine at Sandia for the mega version. 

 

ULMUS PARVIFOLIA ‘SEIJU’   bap.-  1@ $24.00

Larger growing sport of ‘Hokkaido’, it forms a nice caliper tree in just a few years.

 

VACCINIUM MACROCARPON 'HAMILTON' S. P. -1@ $15.00

Prostrate, dwarf ground cover, 'Hamilton' grows very slowly with short leaf internodes; a very choice plant, ideal in an ericaceous trough or acid corner of the rock garden.

 

Vaccinium macrocarpon 'Langlois Form'       S. P. -1@ $15.00

Creeping by long runners flat to the ground, its cute but spreads quite rapidly, pendant flowers and large red edible cranberries.

 

VIBURNUM

"A garden without Viburnum is akin to life without music or art" Dirr. He has a special fondness for them and so do we. In case you hadn’t heard, he just wrote a Viburnum book and it is excellent. We urge you to buy it, without a doubt, one of the best garden books in recent years. And no I’m not getting paid to plug it although a cutting or two would not be turned down, there are some spectacular things I had never seen pictures of. A large and diverse genus it contains some of the most useful and handsome flowering shrubs. For fragrance, only Daphne can rival them. Wonderful in fruit as well as in flower, the fruits come in a range of colors from yellow to red to black to blue and every shade in between. Birds and wildlife love them and indeed a few species make delicious jam or can be eaten out of hand. We are putting in a large mixed border of them to screen the house from the nursery and give us at least a bit of privacy. The fast growing ones are ideal for this. Heights can range from 18" to 30' trees. Actually they're a lot like potato chips, once you have one ya gotta have em all. Of the 150 or so species and hundreds of cultivars, we've selected an elite group for your gardening enjoyment. Your mission if you decide to accept it is to plant all of them. Viburnum leaf beetle is a pest in some areas but not here, we are completely free of it.

 

VIBURNUM X ‘ALLEGhANY’ ..... G.-  1@ $19.00

Rhytidiophyllum x lantana Mohican; globose growth habit, dark green, coriaceous rugose leaves, disease resistant, abundant flowers in the spring, brilliant fruit later.

 

VIBURNUM ‘ANNE RUSSELL’ .. G.-  1@ $19.00

Carlesii x Burkwoodii backcross 6'h x 8'w, compact, fragrant early flowering hybrid.

 

VIBURNUM BODNANTENSE ‘PINK DAWN’ G.-  1@ $19.00

Grandiflorum x farreri; deciduous, winter blooming, well-branched shrub with densely clustered fragrant pink flowers from deeper buds; may be zapped by late frosts.

 

VIBURNUM X ‘BURKWOODII’ s.p.-  1@ $19.00

Carlesii x utile semi-evergreen 8-10' high with very fragrant, pink buds open to white flowers that are longer lasting than carlesii, with an intense Daphne odora fragrance, works well with Rhododendron.

 

Viburnum x Burkwoodii 'Chenaultii' bap.-  1@ $29.00

Essentially an improved Burkwoodii 'Chenaultii' is semi-evergreen and produces its fragrant flowers about a week later than Burkwoodii.

 

Viburnum x Burkwoodii 'Mohawk' bap.-  1@ $29.00

A superb plant, Egolf backcrossed burkwoodii to carlesii and selected Mohawk for its reddish pink buds which open into intensely fragrant white flowers, excellent disease resistance and a rich orange red fall color make Mohawk a winner.

 

Viburnum carlesii 'Cayuga' bap.-  1@ $29.00

The result of a 1953 Egolf backcross to Carlcephalum’, 'Cayuga' has much better disease resistance than carlesii and a finer texture than Carlcephalum’; the Daphne scented flowers are pink in bud opening to white in 5” cluster, an outstanding plant

 

Viburnum carlesii Chesapeake bap.-  1@ $39.00

Cayuga x utile, an Egolf cross made in 1962 at the National Arb, the plant is lightly fragrant, 6’ high x 10’ wide after 16 years; this is a sister seedling to Eskimo.

 

Viburnum carlesii 'Compactum' bap.-  1@ $39.00

A 1953 Hoogadorn introduction that is less than half the size of the species with good leaf spot resistance, Dirr calls it one of the best dwarf clones available but rarely found in modern landscapes.

 

Viburnum cassinioides  BAP.-  1@ $29.00

Famous for its color changes, the berries turn from green to pink to red to blue then black, and perhaps better known for turning bottoms pink and red and occasionally black and blue in schools across the United States during stricter times. Alas this classic plant has become all too scarce in recent years, it is no longer politically correct in schools or Iraqi prisons. It’s ok to chop off infidel’s heads and blow up kids however dog collars are an outrage to Muslim sensitivities. Maybe we could see if our Aussie allies could turn up a Platypus or two, ya get tagged on your privates by one of those and cracky you’ll be talking (platypus venom is the most painful substance known). But I digress; Witherod is a cool plant that survives as a cult classic among kinky gardeners everywhere.

 

Viburnum x ‘Conoy’ ............. S. P. -1@ $15.00

An Egolf backcross of Viburnum X Burkwoodii ‘Park Farm Hybrid’ x Viburnum utile; a low spreading evergreen plant with glossy dark green leaves, clusters of dark pink buds open to slightly fragrant white flowers, foliage is exceptionally clean.

 

Viburnum davidii Longleaf BAP.-  1@ $29.00

Low compact 3-5' high mound of thick dark green evergreen foliage. A beautiful species that is borderline hardy (its doing well in a garden just a few miles from here), pink buds open to dull white flowers in dense clusters, followed by spectacular blue oval fruits has survived here if placed carefully.

 

Viburnum dentatum ex Hidden Lake G.-  1@ $19.00

Seed grown these have great potential for wildlife hedges, they will set abundant fruit and if the animals get out of hand the shoot make excellent arrows, just knapp a bit of flint and your deer problems are history.

 

Viburnum dentatum 'Blue Muffin' S. P. -1@ $15.00

There is a plethera of dentatums all with a good display of blue berries, blue muffin i think is one of the best.

 

Viburnum dentatum 'Perle Blue' S. P. -1@ $15.00

Showy clusters of creamy white non-fragrant flowers are only part of the deal; it is a heavy fruiter with large clusters of attractive blue berries. Not to be confused with blueberries, these blue berries are suitable for avian winter munchies, if you are in need of pie you’ll have to fashion some arrows from the nice straight stems and shoot four and twenty of those pesky blackbirds.

 

Viburnum dentatum 'Fireworks' S. P. -1@ $19.00

A compact somewhat columnar form with large crops of bluish black fruit and excellent red fall color

 

Viburnum farreri (fragrans) ‘candidissimum’       G.-  1@ $19.00

The rarely offered white flowered form, I believe these are from a Roy Lancaster collection in Gansu (the species was introduced by Purdom and Farrer back around 1910). It blooms in winter in mild climates and very early in spring here. The clusters of berries are also quite ornamental as they change from red to black.

 

Viburnum farreri ‘nanum’ S. P. -1@ $15.00

The dwarf form of this fragrant early blooming species; boldly collected by the master himself, it takes balls to dress up like a monk and sneak in to steal cuttings and seed from a Chinese monastery garden especially back in 1910. Flowers may be zapped by late frosts some years but it is generally reliable here. 

 

Viburnum foetidum f. rectangulatum            G.-  1@ $19.00

A gift from the nice folks at Spring Meadow, this may actually go back to a Crug Farm collection. It is a tall evergreen shrub with branches spreading geometrically at right angles, the tubular white flowers are in terminal cymes followed by brilliant red fruits, I suspect it will prove tender here but should be a great plant a bit further south.

 

VIBURNUM X ‘HURON’ ........... bap.-  1@ $29.00

Lobophyllum x japonicum semi-evergreen dense branched; globose habit 7'h x 9'w; lush foliage turns purple in fall; prolific white blooms; for best fruit set plant with ‘Chippewah’.

 

Viburnum japonicum variegatum G.-  1@ $19.00

Japonicum is a fantastic looking evergreen Viburnum that needs considerable protection north of zone 7, leaves are large with a deep green tropical look, the fragrant clusters of white flowers are also most attractive. Variegatum is an unstable streaked form. We cut from the best shoots.

 

VIBURNUM LANTANA ‘MOHICAN’   G.-  1@ $19.00

A very dense, compact, globose bush having heavy dark green foliage, creamy white flowers appear with the foliage in may, early ripening orange red long lasting fruit.

 

Viburnum lantana 'Variegata' S. P. -1@ $15.00

A streaky dusted variegated form that is fairly stable, individual leaves up close look great, however when viewed from a distance it looks to me like it is infested with spider mite, however visitors to the nursery rave about it in the garden.

 

Viburnum nudum 'Winterthur' S. P. -1@ $15.00

Oh no a naked Viburnum, call out the censors and bleep it from the landscape. Well with the Winterthur name, maybe we can pass it off in the guise of art and trick the rubes. Creamy white flowers in may, which give rise to a spectacular fruit display, the berries slowly changing from hot pink to bright blue; the deep green leaves turn a lovely wine red in autumn. The species has a distinct preference for acid sites.

 

Viburnum opulus 'Roseum' S. P. -1@ $15.00

Great cold tolerance and a prolific bloomer however it will require Photoshop and a bit of imagination to turn this sucker pink, the snowball heads of sterile flowers are greenish white in bud turning white and later, well, I don’t know but I would not call that color pink.

 

VIBURNUM PLICATUM ‘LANARTH’ BAP.-  1@ $29.00

A selection from Van Meter and son, with larger flowers than the species, strong horizontal branching habit, 12'x12', its wonderful for the layered effect in the landscape.

 

Viburnum plicatum 'Popcorn' S.p.-  1@ $15.00

A David Leach selection, the branches do look like someone superglued rows of popcorn balls on them; even Punnett who largely disdains Viburnum was taken with it.

 

VIBURNUM PLICATUM ‘SHasta’ S.p.-  1@ $15.00

Perhaps the best of the large Plicatum types Shasta will get big and spread twice as wide as it is tall, with large flowers smothering the horizontal branches, it needs to be grown where the layered habit can be properly displayed.

 

VIBURNUM PLICATUM ‘SHOSHONE’ S.p.-  1@ $15.00

Compact shrub with fine textured foliage, masses of small flowers, and persistent fruit, a seedling of Shasta every bit as nice but on a smaller scale 5'x 8'w.

 

Viburnum x ‘pragense’ ........ G.-  1@ $19.00

A hybrid made in Prague around 1955, rhytidophyllum x utile, the lustrous rugose leaves, glossy above and stellate tomentose beneath, are a bit smaller than rhytidophyllum, and almost evergreen here. The clusters of pink buds open to reveal creamy white flowers, it is an imposing specimen that can reach 8-10 feet in size.

 

Viburnum prunifolium ... S.p.-  1@ $15.00

A childhood favorite, we always used to eat the fruit, which is more raisin like than prune, with flat watermelon seed to spit out, this is more tree than shrub, reaching 9m.

 

Viburnum x lantanaphyllum 'Emerald Triumph'             G.-  1@ $19.00

An extremely hardy (it has withstood –38f) plant selected by the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, this V. lantana x V. rhytidophyllum cross has outstanding emerald green foliage and clusters of white flowers that are followed by red fruit that changes to black when ripe.

 

Viburnum sargentii 'Chiquita' S.p.-  1@ $15.00

A rare bi-generic hybrid with Musa basjoo with fleshy clusters of 8” yellow fruit, just kidding, how about white pinwheel flowers with prominent purple stamens and scarlet berries in fall along with yellow-orange fall color.

 

Viburnum sargentii 'SUSQUEHANNA' G.-  1@ $19.00

Yet another National Arb plant, selected from Japanese seed, it can reach 15’ with a corky trunk and abundant flat-topped clusters of flowers followed by striking clusters of scarlet fruit, it is one of the most commented on of all the Viburnums in our garden.

 

Viburnum tinus ................... bap.-  1@ $39.00

Cultivated since antiquity this evergreen Viburnum is very showy but requires protection north of zone 7, we are propagating from a half a dozen clones that we have raised but not yet named, all of them are different and all are so good its hard to pick a favorite.

 

VITEX AGNUS CASTUS ............. G.-  1@ $19.00

a dieback shrub here but top hardy a little further south, with blue flowers attractive to butterflies and aromatic foliage that looks a bit like Cannabis. We have a mix of both pink and blue forms, see picture in wayside catalog. 

 

Vitex incisa .............................. S. P. -1@ $19.00

Similar to Vitex negundo but more deeply cut, incisa is wide ranging, however this is a form that is hardy here.

 

Vitex rotundifolius ......... S. P. -1@ $15.00

A cool new plant for this season native to the beach dunes of Korea, Spring Meadow calls it zone 5 hardy but it sure looks tropical and exotic, a spreading plant with attractive round glaucous silvery blue fleshy leaves and light blue flowers

 

Weigela florida 'Bristol Snowflake'   bap.-  1@ $19.00

Very showy white flowers, unique for a Weigela, 'Bristol Snowflake' is great in combination with 'Midnight Wine' or as a stand-alone novelty.

 

Weigela florida 'Carnival' bap.-  1@ $19.00

A French tetraploid introduction you may have seen it in Europe under the name ‘Courtalor’, being tetraploid, the azalea-like flowers have a thick texture and true to its name come in red, pink and white.

 

WEIGELA florida ‘FLORIBUNDA VICTORIA            bap.-  1@ $19.00

A shrub with dark rose colored flowers and attractive dark green to maroon leaves.

 

Weigela florida 'French LaceÔ' bap.-  1@ $19.00

Perhaps the best variegated Weigela, with bright yellow edged leaves and dark red flowers, developed by Andre Briant Nursery.

 

Weigela florida 'Newport Red' bap.-  1@ $19.00

Vigorous growing form, with purple red flowers and greenish winter stems to 5-6' tall.

 

Weigela florida 'Pink Princess' S. P. -1@ $15.00

An Iowa state university selection with excellent cold hardiness and abundant lavender pink flowers on 5-6’ tall shrubs, it is an older selection but still well worth growing.

 

Weigela florida 'RUBIDOR' bap.-  1@ $19.00

Another Andre Briant introduction, this was found as a branch sport of ‘Bristol Ruby’ with the same red flowers but with bright neon yellow foliage.

 

Weigela florida 'Sunny Princess' bap.-  1@ $19.00

A variegates sport of ‘Pink Princess’ clean and neat narrow bands of gold encircle each leaf, its considered hardier than variegata.

 

Weigela florida 'Wine and Roses' bap.-  1@ $19.00

Developed by Herman Geers of Holland its a great improvement over ‘Java Red’; dark burgundy purple foliage and electric rose pink flowers, this has gotten a lot of press and rightly so. Herman was in the states last year visiting Spring Meadow and wanted to come see Arrowhead, he’s quite a plantsman, we spent the day looking at plants in a cold windy drizzle (he collects dwarf woody stuff) we could easily have spent days talking.

 

Weigela maximowiczii ...... S. P. -1@ $12.00

Maximowiczii looks quite similar to middendorffiana, and subsessilis, all three are yellow flowered and very different from the Weigela florida cultivars you generally encounter in gardens. Weigela will cross with Diervilla although I don’t know if any of the yellow species has been attempted.

 

Weigela subsessilis 'Canary' S. P. -1@ $15.00

Subsessilis is a Korean species, relatively new to western cultivation; with yellow flowers that fade to pink, producing a multicolor effect. 'Canary' is a free flowering selection that I believe originated with Dick Lighty from the mt. Cuba Center.

 

Weigela sp. Aff floribunda HC 970509 S. P. 1@ $19.00

Dan’s collections from N. Honshu in 1997, 8’ plants with 8” leaves and whorled racemes of pink flowers; we have been particularly impressed by the size and quality of the flowers, a nice change from your typical weigela.

 

Wikstroemia Gemmata ..... S. P. 1@ $19.00

What can I say once again we have a few cuttings to offer, it has been a challenge to container grow but has recently come into its own, producing bright yellow clusters of Daphne flowers for months on end. This was originally collected by Jim Waddick in Wen Chuan, Sichuan in 1989 and is probably the hardiest member of a largely tropical genus of 70 or so species. For now, I would only recommend it to those who can grow the elite Daphnes; if you can make it happy, it will knock your socks off. Since I wrote the above, I have talked to Jim; he collected it from a crumbling rock wall with barely an inch of soil. He says Kew determined it to be Gemmata no hedging about aff, it survived outside in his zone 5 garden for a number of years but eventually lost it.

 

Xanthorhiza simplicissima   Pan.-  1@ $24.00

A monotypic member of the Ranunculaceae Yellow root is native to eastern American woodland, it is a suckering creeping knee high woody thing with pendant panicles of brownish purple flowers. Dirr speaks highly of it and it is a wonderful groundcover for wet woods. the roots make a nice yellow dye.

 

Zenobia pulverulenta ..... S. P. 1@$15.00

A choice little monotypic ericaceous shrub from the Southeastern states, with nodding clusters of waxy white fragrant bells, Punnett thinks quite highly of it, of course it grows for him and I mostly kill it.

 

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