Sunday, February 12, 2006

New England Grows - the trade show for the New England plant industry - is a joy for plant geeks. There are three days crammed with lectures, up to four scheduled at one time, which makes the toughest part of the day deciding which lecture to attend.

And there is the trade show floor, with about 750 vendors offering everything from the plant-label makers sold by South Portland's Retail Service Co. on West Broadway to a monster dump truck that dumps both to the rear of the truck or to the side (being sold by a non-Maine company).

Fortunately for those who attended his lecture, Allan Armitage led a photographic and descriptive tour of the trade show floor, looking for the best, newest and most interesting plants being shown. Using the newest of technologies and helpful guides including the University of Maine Extension's Lois Berg Stack, Armitage toured the vendors the first evening the show was open. The next day he presented a lecture using photos of plants offered by the vendors, and he explained why these new plants are better than their predecessors.

Armitage is one of the top 10 plant gurus in the nation, a professor at the University of Georgia and author of 10 plant books, including the standard classroom and reference text "Herbaceous Garden Perennials, a Treatise of Identification, Culture and Garden Attributes."

The vendors on the floor of the trade show are trying to sell their plants to your local nursery and garden center, and they may not persuade every garden center to buy their plants, so some of these selections may not be available near you this summer. But ask for them or check at other nurseries.

"The speed of the lead determines the pace of the pack," Armitage said in urging the owners of garden centers to order the newer varieties.

Armitage listed 70 different cultivars in his handout, showed pictures of most of them, and discussed more than that.

A little bit of vocabulary here. Veronica is an old-fashioned flower, and it is a species. "Royal Candles" is a cultivar, which Armitage called "the best Veronica introduction in recent years." The cultivars are Veronicas or other species that are developed by hybridization or found naturally and reproduced in nurseries until there are enough plants to offer to the market.

Begonias are an annual, and sort of a grandmotherly plant, but Armitage listed seven of them on the floor as exciting plants.

"Ever since 'Red Dragon Wing' came out, people have been starting to look for what they can do with begonias," Armitage said.

And once hybridizers get hold of a plant, watch out. These begonias have blossoms but they're really minor. Their selling point is their striking, vibrant foliage in shades of gray/green, burgundy, cream and silver. The cultivars included "Rainbow Reef," "Devil's Paradise," "Hurricane Bay," "Tradewinds," "Reggae," "Fireworks" and "Benitochiba."

One of the first plants Armitage mentioned was Yucca "Golden Sword." Yucca is an old plant from the Southwest, and Central and South America that isn't used enough in American gardens. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it is good in Bangor and western Maine as well as on the coast. It has spiky yellow and green leaves in its variegate form, and when it flowers, has gorgeous, huge white blossoms. The older, solid green leaf variety has been around Maine for several generations.

Dianthus are growing in popularity. Dianthus gratianopolitanus "Firewitch" was named this year's plant of the year by the Perennial Plant Association, but Armitage either did not find it on the floor or chose not to mention it. He did mention "Bath's Pink," which was an award winner in 1994, and "Neon Star" as winners. The common name is pinks, and these plants are spreaders and evergreen, so they make great ground covers.

Hellebores were a hot plant last year, and Armitage mentioned three of them, "Brandywine," "Niger," and "Foetidus," but seemed to favor "Brandywine."

A perennial he likes - calling it "the next great Echinacea," which is a current popular perennial - is Gaillardia, and the only one he mentioned is "Fanfare," but he praised it profusely. Gaillardia is a North American native with showy, long-lasting blossoms, and "Fanfare," which is hardy to zone 4, has tubular red-and-yellow flowers. He praised a Leucanthemum - this used to be called Shasta daisy - "Esther Reed" for its gorgeous double white flowers, but another one he liked is "Snowcap." Both are long-lasting, white blooms.

Armitage praised the entire species of American native perennial geraniums, but specifically mentioned only one: "Expresso," which has coffee brown leaves with pale pink flowers that last a long time in the garden. This is different from the geranium in cemetery boxes, and has the common name Cranesbill.

These are just a few of the new plants entering the market this growing season. But these plants come highly recommended by Armitage. Since Armitage runs the trial gardens at the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga., (www.uga.edu/botgarden), he knows plants, and he recommends only the best.

SPROUTING BULBS

A lot of gardeners are noticing that their garden plants - usually bulbs such as daffodils, tulips, crocuses and hyacinth - have sprouted above the ground. They are up because of the unseasonably warm winter so far, and gardeners are worried that it will hurt the plants.

It should not be a problem, says Diana Hibbard, a horticultural aide at the Cumberland County office of the University of Maine extension.

"Chances are what they are seeing is leaves," Hibbard said. "Those leaves may burn, but it is not going to affect the blossom. They have plenty of means to survive, so it shouldn't result in any permanent damage."

Hibbard would not advise covering any of those plants now. But if a real cold snap is forecast - probably around 0 degrees - and there still is no snow cover, that is the time when you could consider mulching those shoots.

Tom Atwell can be contacted at 791-6362 or at:

tatwell@pressherald.com