Horticulture: Extension: Gold Medal Plants

1996 Gold Medal Winners at a Glance

• Vigorous summer annual; single plant may cover 4 square feet.
• Forms a dense mat about 6 inches high; not leggy like other petunias.
• Flowers are a rose-purple and continually replace one another.
• Durable and heat tolerant.
• Plant in full sun, allowing room to grow.
• Amend soil with composted bark or rotted manure.
• Incorporate 10-10-10 at 2 lbs. per 100 square feet and follow up with liquid fertilizer every two weeks.
• Excellent in hanging baskets; pinch back as necessary to encourage branching.

• Flowering deciduous shrub growing to 3-4 feet and spreading up to 5 feet.
• Attractive flowering shrub known for beauty, fragrance and low maintenance.
• Spicy, fragrant white flowers about 1/2 inch across appear during July and August.
• Flowers top to bottom for four to six weeks, giving way to small brown capsules that ripen in late fall.
• Clethra forms new sprouts from the crown that can be separated and transplanted.
• Low-maintenance plant, flowering in full sun or partial shade.
• Prefers well-drained, slightly acid soils; ideal around lakes, ponds and water gardens.
• Prior to bud break, apply 1 lb. 10-10-10 per 100 square feet; repeat after summer blooms.

• Herbaceous perennial growing 5 feet high with equal spread.
• Native plant, tolerating summer heat, winter cold, poor soils and drought.
• Flowers resemble that of garden pea; color varies -- deep blue to creamy yellow to pure white.
• Flowers borne near tips of gray-green branches having three-lobed leaves.
• Best in full sun, becoming leggy in shade.
• Ideal background plant in the perennial border.
• Grows in clumps, spreading slowly; divide every two to three years in fall.
• At planting, incorporate 1 lb. 10-10-10 per 100 square feet.
• Upon establishment, fertilize with 10-10-10 in spring and again in late summer.
• After first frost, prune the plant close to the ground to prepare for next year.

• Flowering deciduous shrubs or small trees with attractive flowers and interesting bark.
• 'Lipan' -- Upright, muti-stemmed small tree reaching 10-15 feet, light orange to dull red fall color, rosy-lavender flowers in July and August, bark becoming whitish-beige with age.
• 'Sioux' -- Small tree reaching 10-15 feet, light maroon to bright red fall color, dark pink flowers in July and August, exfoliating bark with gray-brown new bark.
• 'Tonto' -- Semi-dwarf multi-stemmed shrub growing 8-10 feet, bright maroon fall color, large fuchsia-red flowers in July and August, bark exfoliates to cream and gray-brown at maturity.
• 'Yuma' -- Multi-stemmed shrub reaching 10-15 feet, dull yellow-orange fall color, flowers are bi-colored medium lavender in July and August, exfoliating bark reveals light gray color.
• Best planted in fall or late winter; needs well-drained soil and ample water during first year.
• Select three to five main trunks and raise canopy by removing lower branches; prune in late winter.

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