2010 Plant Dividends

One of the benefits of membership in the Friends of the Frelinghuysen Arboretum is that you get a plant dividend each year. Chosen from a number of beautiful specimens, these plants are great introductions to wonderful specimens.

All members may pick up their dividend either at the Members-only Party and Plant Sale, Friday afternoon, April 30th (details here) or during the Plant Sale Main Event, Saturday, May 1st. Plant dividends will also be available for pickup the following week (through Friday) at the Haggerty Education Center, from 9-4:30 daily.

What, you are not a member? Join now to be able to attend the Members-only Party and Plant Sale, to get your plant dividend and to enjoy the benefits of membership all year long. Membership information is available here.

Here are this year's dividend choices:

Plant Sale Dividend 2010 - Agastache ‘Black Adder’

Description and Use

This upright, clump-forming giant hyssop (2-3' tall x2’-3’ wide) is easily grown in average, medium moisture, well-drained soil.  It does best in full sun but will tolerate part shade.  Noted for its long summer-to-frost floral display of tubular, 2-lipped, smoky red-violet flowers that bloom in showy, bottle-brush, terminal spikes (to 6-8" long). Flowers appear in many-flowered verticillasters (false whorls) which are densely packed to form the flower spikes. Flowers emerge from nearly black buds. Intensely aromatic (anise/licorice scented), lance-shaped to ovate leaves are blue green.

This perennial is recommended for use in borders, herb gardens or butterfly gardens. Agastache is also a good container plant.  It provides color and contrast in the difficult heat of summer and makes a bold statement in the garden.  Flowers are attractive to bees, hummingbirds and butterflies. Agastache seed is a favorite of the goldfinch.

Culture Tips

Self-seeding will not occur with this sterile cultivar resulting from a cross between A. rugosum and A. foeniculum. Plants will perform poorly and may not survive winter in hard clay soils that retain moisture.

Plants tolerate heat and some dry soils once established. Leave leaf and flower stems up during the winter for additional protection, cutting back the dead stems in late winter to early spring. Deadhead spent flowers to promote additional bloom.

Crown/root rot may develop in poorly drained soils.  A sandy/gravelly mulch will protect plant and help to avoid onset of rot. No serious insect or disease problems. Watch for rust, powdery mildew and leaf spot.

Plant Dividend 2010 - Heuchera ‘Plum Pudding’

Description and Use

Choose this herbaceous perennial for its stunning foliage in deep plum purple with even darker veins.   'Plum Pudding' is a hybrid coral bells cultivar. It is a clump-forming perennial which features large, shiny, silvery, plum-purple leaves with dark-purple veining and conspicuous but non-showy whitish flowers. The rounded, lobed, long-petioled leaves form a basal mound (to 8" tall) which may spread to 16" wide. Tiny whitish flowers borne in open, airy panicles appear in June-July on slender wiry stems rising well above the foliage mound (typically to 26" tall). This coral bell is more compact than most others.

Plum Pudding is best grown in organically rich, medium moisture, well-drained soils of medium moisture.  Avoid full sun for best coloration.  Scorch and general foliage decline usually occur if soils are allowed to dry out. If grown in full sun, consistent moisture is particularly important.

Heucheras are good bee and hummingbird plants, plus they are deer resistant. If you want fantastic foliage without slug damage, try coral bells!

They can be massed as a ground cover or group. Use in rock gardens, flowerbed borders and open woodland gardens. They are effective as an edger along paths or walkways. ‘Plum Pudding’ looks good combined with Japanese painted ferns other coral bells and chartreuse-to-blue-green plantain lilies, barrenwort, false spirea and violets.

Culture and Tips

Remove stems of faded flowers to encourage additional bloom. Some gardeners prefer to remove flower stems before flowering because flowers are not showy and plants are usually grown for their foliage texture and color.

Side dress with compost or manure in fall. Fertilize in spring with a complete organic fertilizer.

In cold winter climates, a winter mulch applied after the ground freezes will help prevent root heaving which is common in heuchera.

Divide clumps in spring every 3-4 years.

No serious insect or disease problems.

It is best to leave leaves on plants throughout the winter to protect crowns. Old leaves can be safely cut in spring before new growth appears.

Plant Dividend 2010 - Sempervivum ‘Bronco’

Description and Use

“Sempervivum” in Latin means "living forever", a fairly true statement as this plant which will spread, regardless of drought and hot sun. The only thing they seem to resent is squirrels digging them up. Even then, the unearthed "hens" and all their "chicks" can be easily repositioned in the soil.  ‘Bronco’ features tightly packed dark green, sharp tipped upright rosettes mottled with burgundy.

Needing very little water, sempervivums are perfect for rock gardens and desert-type landscaping. In soils too moist, they will rot. They will grow in poor soil and do best in full sun - however, they will also grow in shadier spots, but won’t spread as vigorously.

Culture and Tips

With their unusual, geometric arrangement of thick fleshy leaves, sempervivums are not grown for their flowers.  They do however bloom, although the flowers may be less than spectacular. The petals are always in multiples of eight, and look like small pink, purple, or sometimes yellow stars.

The largest plant in the grouping will grow a long stalk straight out of the center, then the flowers will appear. Once the flowers have finished, the "mother plant" will die back. When this happens, remove the debris and simply fill the empty space with a little gritty medium and add one or two of the smaller offsets growing at the outer edges of the clump.

Invest in specially formulated potting mix for succulents to provide the excellent drainage they require to thrive. Sempervivums propagate easily: each of the smaller rosettes that forms around the perimeter of the main plant is connected by a stolon that will wither once the rosette forms roots. At that time, the rosette can be transplanted and will begin its own cycle of producing more rosettes as it matures. With the right conditions, these colonies of plants grow and spread quite fast during a single season.

Plant Dividend 2010 - Viburnum nudum (Take 2 plants)

Description and Use

Also known as the Possumhaw or Smooth Witherrod viburnum.  Grown as a rounded, upright-stemmed deciduous tree or shrub, this underutilized plant may reach up to 8’ in height with a spread of up to 6’. It’s fruit, ½ “ long oval drupes, are a psychedelic polychromic pleasure come fall and through winter.  It prefers sun - partial shade and moist, well drained soil. The species will not thrive on chalky or alkaline soils.

This native of Eastern low woods, swamps and bogs is a remarkable shrub for several reasons including its glossy, attractive leaves. Creamy white flowers (3/16" across) in flat-topped clusters bloom in late spring. In late summer the immature green, pea-sized berries begin their metamorphosis - changing to shades of bright pink and then on to hues of bright blues and wild grape, electric oranges and lacquer reds.  The berries provide sharp contrast to the foliage, and will remain on the plant after the foliage drops to provide excellent winter interest.  As an added attraction the 3”-5” wavy edged leaves turn to an eye-catching rich burgundy in autumn.  Disclaimer: this viburnum has many positive attributes but a particularly pleasing scent is not among them.  Once established, it requires very little care and offers much to recommend it.

Culture and Tips

Easily grown in average, medium to wet, well-drained soil in full sun to part shade. Prefers moist loams, but tolerates a wide range of soils including boggy ones. Prune as needed immediately after flowering. Pruning off spent flowers will eliminate late summer fruit display. For best cross-pollination and subsequent fruit display, plant shrubs in groups rather than as single specimens.

No serious insect or disease problems.

Grow as a specimen/accent plant or in groups. Recommended for shrub borders, foundations, hedges or roadside plantings. This is a good selection for low spots and peripheries of water gardens, streams or ponds, or naturalized areas.