Horticulture: Extension: Gold Medal Plants
1998 Gold Medal Winners
| Athens Gem Plectranthus
(Plectranthus 'Athens Gem') |
If you're looking for a tough, unusual annual for your landscape, consider the award-winning qualities of Athens Gem Plectranthus.
Unlike most annual plants grown for their flowers, the foliage is the most outstanding characteristic of Athens Gem Plectranthus. The leaves are thick and fuzzy, yellow green in the center with a pure green border. When touched, the plant gives off a spicy fragrance much like fresh oregano.
Athens Gem Plectranthus is a great plant for the garden or patio pots or for enhancing statuary, boulders or even mailboxes. It combines well with shrubs having dark green foliage as well as a wide variety of herbaceous perennials and herbs. Ease of propagation and excellent pest resistance are additional benefits that helped earn Athens Gem Plectranthus a Georgia Gold Medal Award.
Plant Characteristics:
Plant Type: AnnualPlant Size: 18 to 24 inches high with an equal spread
Leaves: Fuzzy, yellow-white in the center with a green border, 2 to 3 inches long having a fragrant, spicy scent
Flowers: Tiny white inconspicuous flowers in mid-summer
Cultural Requirements:
Exposure: Full sun to shade. Does best where it is shaded from the hot afternoon sun.Soils: Moist, well-drained soils enriched with organic matter are preferred. Does equally well in coastal sands and north Georgia clays.
Fertility: A single application of a complete, balanced fertilizer, such as 10-10-10 (1 lb. per 100 sq. ft.) in early spring is recommended.
Propagation: Take cuttings taken just below a node. They will root in 7 to 10 days in water or soil media.
Summer care: If plants become too large for the space or lanky in growth, they can be pinched back to encourage branching and thicker growth.
| Japanese Aster (Kalimeris pinnatifida) |
Toughness, durability and a long bloom period helped earn Japanese Aster a Georgia Gold Medal Award for superior performance. Landscape professionals rave about this herbaceous perennial. It adapts to a wide variety of soil types and provides consistent color from May to August with a minimum of care.
Having pure white, double, daisy-like flowers, Japanese Aster lends a bright spot to perennial borders or shrub beds and combines well with a wide variety of plants. In garden centers, it is sometimes labeled Asteromoea instead of Kalimeris . By any name, it's still a winner in the landscape.
Plant Characteristics:
Plant Type: Herbaceous perennialHardiness: Zones 4 to 8 (throughout Georgia)
Plant Size: 2 feet high and 2 feet wide
Flowers: White, double daisy-like flowers with yellow stamens, 1/2- to 1-inch across with many flowers per stem
Cultural Requirements:
Exposure: Full sun preferred, but will adapt to light shade.Soils: Moist, well-drained fertile soils enriched with organic matter is preferred. Will adapt to coastal sands and north Georgia clays.
Fertility: A light application of a complete, balanced fertilizer in March or April will encourage strong new growth. Avoid heavy fertilization because it will result in soft, succulent stems that may break or become floppy late in the season.
Propagation: Divide the clump in spring or fall every 2 to 3 years.
Winter Care: Cut back the old foliage to ground level in early March to make way for new growth originating from the crown.
| Bottlebrush Buckeye (Aesculus parviflora) |
Few plants can match the summer flowering spectacle of bottlebrush buckeye with its tall, upright spikes of white flowers. A native shrub from South Carolina to Alabama and Florida, bottlebrush buckeye is a large, mounded shrub for a shady understory planting under pines or shade trees.
Bottlebrush buckeye looks particularly nice when grown in groups of three to five plants as a background plant behind herbaceous perennials or smaller shrubs. Coarse, pest-free foliage adds textural interest to the landscape in summer and seasonal interest in fall as it fades from deep green to bright yellow. Pest resistance and tolerance to deer browsing are additional award-winning qualities.
Plant Characteristics:
Plant Type: Deciduous shrub
Hardiness: Zones 4 to 8 (throughout Georgia)
Plant Size: 8 to 12 feet high with a spread of 8 to 15 feet
Leaves: 5 to 7 leaflets per leaf stem, each 3 to 8 inches long
Flowers: Large, white spike-like panicles of small white flowers, 8 to 12 inches long and 2 to 4 inches wide
Cultural Requirements:
Exposure: Shade is preferred, but it will adapt to sunny sites with supplemental irrigation.Soils: Acid, well-drained soils are preferred.
Fertility: Light fertilization in the spring after the foliage emerges.
Pruning: Very little needed except to shape and encourage branching. Old plants can be pruned back close to ground level to rejuvenate them.
Trident Maple
(Acer buergeranum)
|
Trident maple was introduced from China in 1890 and has been in the nursery trade for many years. However, due to short supply, its merits have not been fully appreciated.
Trident maple is an excellent small shade tree for the landscape or city street tree planting. It is particularly attractive when grown as a multi-trunk tree next to a patio. It grows well in full sun or partial shade and is adapted to a wide variety of soil types. The bark takes on a mottled orange-gray appearance with age and is a striking feature, particularly in the winter landscape. Fall brings a collage of leaf colors, ranging from red to orange and yellow.
Plant Characteristics:
Plant Type: Deciduous treeHardiness: Zones 5 to 9 (throughout Georgia)
Plant Size: 25 - 35 ft. tall with an equal spread
Leaves: Lustrous green in summer, turning red-orange-yellow in fall. Three-lobed (hence the name trident), 1 1/2 to 3 1/2 inches across
Bark: Becomes gray-brown-orange and exfoliates with age to provide a scaly appearance
Cultural Requirements:
Exposure: Full sun to partial shade. Also tolerant of wind, salt and air pollution.Soils: Well-drained soils preferred. Adapts to coastal sand and north Georgia clay.
Fertility: Make one to two applications of fertilizer, such as 16-4-8, per growing season. Apply near the drip-line area or edge of the canopy.
Pruning: Shape as a single trunk or multi-trunk specimen. For best results, start shaping it as a young tree.