Horticulture: Extension: Gold Medal Plants

2004 Gold Medal Winners

Chartreuse Joseph's Coat (Alternanthera ficoidea 'Chartreuse') Summer Annual * Full Sun

Like glowing beams of sunshine, Chartreuse Joseph's Coat is a dazzling, trouble-free addition to any landscape. It is prized for its eye-catching yellow-green foliage, compact growth habit, durability and nonstop color from early spring until fall frost.

Chartreuse Joseph's Coat is sometimes confused in the nursery trade because it goes by several common names including Golden Parrot Leaf, Golden Alternanthera or Chartreuse Calico Plant. Sometimes a yellow-green form of Summer Poinsettia ( Amaranthus ) is also called Joseph's Coat. Landscapers call the plant Chartreuse Alternanthera to avoid the common name confusion.

Chartreuse Joseph's Coat had many uses in the landscape. Growing just 4 to 8 inches tall, it's a favorite plant for use in formal knot gardens or as edging to define plant beds. Theme parks like Disney World in Orlando, Florida, use the plant to create intricate, eye-catching floral designs in the landscape.

Landscapers call Chartreuse Joseph's Coat an "echo plant" because it tends to enhance or echo other colors, making them appear more vibrant -- particularly magenta, purple or blue. It's also a favorite addition to container gardens and hanging baskets, where it spills over the side like froth from a bubbling stream.

Joseph's Coat is actually an heirloom plant that was popular in the Victorian era when formal gardens were in vogue. Today, thanks to the introduction of several exciting new cultivars from Mexico and South America, there is renewed interest in the plant. It is an excellent plant for today's busy gardener because it provides season-long color while requiring little routine care.

Plant Characteristics:

Chartreuse Joseph's Coat is a summer annual prized for its yellow-green foliage. Small, greenish-white flowers are borne in leaf axils, but they are usually hidden within the foliage. Plants have a compact, mounded growth habit, growing from 4 to 8 inches tall and from 6 to 12 inches wide. Leaves are opposite, ½ to 1 inch long and linear in shape. Stems as well as leaves are bright yellow-green.

Cultural Requirements:

Chartreuse Joseph's Coat is most colorful when planted in full sun, although it also will perform well in morning sun and afternoon shade. Moist, well-drained soils are essential. Like other annual plants, scheduled irrigation is required to keep plants looking their best. Light pinching (removal of the terminal shoot) throughout the growing season will keep them compact. In formal landscapes, plants are sometimes sheared to provide a uniform shape and appearance.

Plant spacing depends on the desired visual effect. In formal beds where a mass effect is required and plants are to be sheared as one unit for a uniform look, set plants 6 inches apart. In beds where plants will be viewed as individuals, a spacing of 12 to 15 inches is recommended.

Fertilize Chartreuse Joseph's Coat at planting time with a complete slow-release fertilizer such as Osmocote 18-6-12. Follow the label recommendations on the application rate. No additional fertilizer should be needed throughout the season. Place 3 inches of a fine-textured mulch such as pine straw or pine bark mininuggests on the soil surface at planting time to help maintain uniform soil moisture.

Chartreuse Joseph's Coat can be propagated from terminal cuttings.

Anise Hyssop Hybrids (Agastache spp.) 'Apricot Sunrise' - 'Firebird' - 'Tutti Frutti' - 'Blue Fortune' Herbaceous Perennial * Full Sun * Hardiness Zones 7 to 8

How many plants can you name that bloom non-stop from May until fall frost, attract butterflies and hummingbirds like magnets, have fragrant pest-free foliage, resist deer browsing, and come back each year with vigor? If that sounds too good to be true, then you need to plant one of the Anise Hyssop Hybrids and discover for yourself the award-winning qualities of this remarkable plant.

Because there are so many outstanding new selections of Anise Hyssop, the Plant Selections Committee could not agree on just one to receive its coveted Gold Medal Award. So it chose four of the best: 'Apricot Sunrise,' 'Firebird,' 'Tutti Frutti' and 'Blue Fortune.' All are hybrids produced from crosses between two species.

The native American species of Anise Hyssop, Agastache foeniculum, has long been a prized perennial herb kknown for its anise (licorice) foliage scent and its culinary and medicinal qualities. The leaves are ground and used as seasoning on meats, vegetables and salads. The leaves are also used in teas, perfume and aromatherapy. Native Americans used Anise Hyssop as a breath freshener and in poultices for various ailments. Although our Gold Medal selections are relatives of the native species, they were bred for their flowering qualities and may lack some of the herbal qualities of the native species.

Plant Characteristics:

Each of the Anise Hyssop Hybrids grows to a different height and has a different flower color, so you need to decide which one best fits your landscape plan. Apricot Sunrise is an erect, bushy plant growing 18 inches tall. It bears orange-apricot tubular flowers 1 to 1½ inches long in its leaf axils. Firebird grows 24 to 36 inches tall and produces copper-orange tubular flowers. Tutti Frutti grows 36 to 48 inches tall and produces raspberry-rose-pink tubular flowers. Blue Fortune grows 36 to 40 inches tall. Unlike the other three hybrids, Blue Fortune produces an abundance of compressed blue-purple tubular flowers in the form of a flower spike at its terminals. All selections bloom continuously from May to October and are highly attractive to insects, hummingbirds and butterflies. Their pungent foliage makes them undesirable to deer.

Cultural Requirements:

Full sun and well-drained soils are required. Fall planting is best to allow winter rooting. Once established, the plants have an exceptional degree of drought tolerance. Light pruning throughout the season will promote branching and additional blooms.

A slow-release fertilizer such as Osmocote applied at planting time and as a topdressing in early spring each year on established plants will provide sufficient season-long nutrition. Follow label directions on application rate.

Wait until early spring to prune back established plants because fall and winter pruning may decrease cold hardiness.

Anise Hyssop Hybrids are propagated from cuttings or root divisions.

Summer Snowflake Viburnum ( Viburnum plicatum var. tomentosum 'Summer Snowflake' Deciduous Shrub * Full/Part Sun * Hardiness Zones 5-8

Photos: Michael Dirr

Not many shrubs bloom continuously from spring to fall, then end the growing season with bright red fruit and rich, wine-red fall leaves. But Summer Snowflake Viburnum does just that.

The vibrant, snow-white flowers are show-stoppers in the spring landscape. Then as spring blossoms fade and other plants begin their summer growth phase, Summer Snowflake Viburnum gears up for an encore performance, flowering repeatedly throughout the summer and fall, often as late as November. "It's a great transition plant," says Dottie Myers, Atlanta landscape architect,"because it blooms when other plants are not blooming."

Summer Snowflake Viburnum is a deciduous shrub, so it's best to plant evergreens nearby to mask its winter nudity. Little Gem Magnolia, Henry Anise-tree or Japanese Cryptomeria -- three other Gold Medal winners from years past -- are excellent companion plants. Use Summer Snowflake Viburnum as a single specimen or in groups of three to five plants for added interest in the landscape. It grows smaller and is more compact than many other viburnums, reaching 4 to 8 feet tall at maturity.

If Summer Snowflake Viburnum has one flaw, it's a lack of drought tolerance. Water is essential during periods of limited rainfall, or leaf-scorching and a decline in bloom will result. Drip irrigation is recommended to keep the plant looking its best.

Plant Characteristics:

Summer Snowflake Viburnum is an upright deciduous shrub growing 4 to 8 feet tall and 3 to 4 feet wide. Leaves are opposite, 2 to 4 inches long and 1 to 2 inches wide. Leaf veins appear sunken or creased, adding textural interest to the foliage. Flowers are borne in flat clusters, 2 to 4 inches wide on top of the branches, giving the plant a layered effect. Each flower cluster consists of many snow-white outer flowers surrounding a group of inner, less showy flowers. The flowers give way in late summer to clusters of bright red fruit that fade to black. A wine-red leaf color signals the end to another growing season.

Few pests seem to bother Summer Snowflake Viburnum. However, drought and wet feet will cause leaf scorching or die-back.

Cultural Requirements:

Moist, well-drained soils are essential ingredients for success with Cummer Snowflake Viburnum. A full sun environment is ideal if irrigation can be provided during periods of limited rainfall. A location providing morning sun and afternoon shade is also acceptable.

Set plants 6 to 8 feet apart to allow them to achieve their full potential as shrubs. Wait until the plants are well established before fertilizing, then apply two to three light applications of a complete fertilizer such as 16-4-8 during the growing season.

Prune as needed after spring flowering by thinning excess branches within the canopy. Spring blossoms form on the previous season's growth, while repeat blooms form on new growth.

Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) Deciduous Tree * Full sun * Hardiness Zones 4 to 10

Photos: Michael Dirr

Most people associate Bald Cypress ( Taxodium distichum ) with the Okefenokee Swamp or the Florida Everglades, there they see it growing in large colonies called groves, with its roots submerged in water and its branches draped in Spanish moss. But you don't have to live in a swamp to grow Bald Cypress. Although the swamp is its preferred habitat, the tree is surprisingly adaptable to dry sites as well.

Bald Cypress is a native American tree with a wide growing range. It's a common wetland plant from Delaware to Florida and from Indiana to Texas. It has prehistoric roots in the evolution of our planet, and it likely was a common species in the landscape when dinosaurs roamed the earth.

Bald Cypress is a deciduous conifer. It grows to a large, stately tree, reaching 70 feet or more at maturity, so it's best used in large, open spaces such as parks or large residential properties. It is often overlooked as a highway tree, and it is spectacular when used in clusters of three or more along a pond or lake. However, its large size may limit its use in small residential landscapes.

Bald Cypress was one the most highly rated trees among the more than 200 species in an Auburn University evaluation program. In addition to being a tough, widely adaptable tree, it develops an attractive pyramidal growth form that requires little pruning.

Plant Characteristics:

Bald Cypress prefers sites in full sun. It adapts to both wet and dry soils, but prefers soils that are acidic. It is a large, deciduous tree, growing 50 to 80 feet tall and 20 to 30 feet wide. It has soft-textured, flat needles, ½ to 3 / 4 inch long, spirally arranged around the twigs. The emerge yellow-green in spring and turn bright green by summer, then bronze-orange in fall before dropping. As the tree ages, the bark becomes fibrous and turns reddish-brown, making a dramatic statement in the winter landscape.

Male and female flowers are formed separately on the tree. The male flowers are drooping panicles, 4 to 5 inches long, while the female flowers are more compressed along the stems. Female flowers develop into round 1-inch cones that turn brown in fall.

Cypress knees, vertical root extensions, are commonly seen on trees submerged in water. They aid in oxygen absorption. Knees do not form on plants growing on upland sites.

Cultural Requirements:

Bald Cypress has a strong taproot system and is hard to transplant from the wild. It is best planted from a container. The tree tends to develop a natural pyramidal form and requires little pruning. Fertilize established trees on upland sites once in spring with a complete fertilizer such as 16-4-8 or 12-4-8. Avoid fertilizing trees growing in standing water because the fertilizer may be harmful to the biology of the pond or lake.

top