Page 2C
Take Home a Winner
By Dan Rahn
Georgia Extension Service
If you think Hollywood’s a tough
place to break in a new act, take a
look at your yard. The most sped acu
lar new landscape plant in the world
would have an uphill struggle getting
into that place.
“It takes up to 10 years to get a
promising new plant into the trade as
a well-accepted landscapeplant,” said
Gary Wade, a horticulturist with the
University ofGeorgiaExtension Ser
vice.
The main hurdle a plant must clear,
Wade said, is a matter of supply and
demand. If it’s not popular, the de¬
mand is low. So growers don’t sup
ply many. So it can’t become popu
lar, because few people ever see it.
That vicious supply-and-demand
cycle can hurt you by keeping great
plants in short supply. Some plants
that could be prized additions to your
landscape never make it there.
That’s why the Georgia Plant Se
lection Committee, a group of about
30 members that includes scientists
with the University of Georgia Col
lege of Agricultural and Environmen¬
tal Sciences, came up with a plan.
They created the Georgia Gold
Medal program.
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Each year, Wade said, the com¬
mittee names a plant a Georgia Gold
Medal winner in each of four catego¬
ries: trees, shrubs, herbaceous peren
nials and annuals,
Nominated plants are tested at four
Georgia sites: the Coastal Gardens in
Savannah and the UGA experiment
stations in Tifton, Athens and
Blairsville.
Herbaceous plants are tested for
one to two years and woody oma
mentals for three to five years.
To become a Georgia Gold Medal
winner, a plant must excel in five
criteria: consumer appeal, low main
tenance, survivability, ease of props
gation and seasonal interest,
When the winners are decided,
Wade said, the committee lets nurs
ery and greenhouse growers know
well in advance. That way they can
get a good supply ready when the
public gets the word,
The program puts everybody on
the same track in the supply-and
demand cycle. So Georgia Gold
Medal plants have something in com
mon with the growers, retailers, land
scapers and homeowners. They’re
all winners,
(Dan Rahn is a news editor with
the University of Georgia Coopera
live Extension Service.)
Georgia Gold Medal
A New Shrub for Georgia—Pink Chinese
By Janies T. Midcap
Georgia Extension Service
A new plant with a strange name
is at our doorstep. And it’s brought a
lot of questions. Do I want one?
Where would I plant it? How would
1 take care of it?
Pink Chinese loropetalums were
collected in China and Japan and
introduced into the Southeast just a
few years back. Nurseries have been
growing more of them, and they’re
available now at most retail garden
centers.
One question has already been
answered. Pink loropetalums are
truly outstanding. They've been se¬
lected as a Georgia Gold Medal win¬
ner for 1997.
These shrubs have outstanding
flowers and superior qualities that
make them a winner for Southern
landscape.
Loropetalums' flowers are breath¬
taking. The bright pink color and
profusion of blooms present a spring
delight.
The plant and its evergreen foli¬
age are covered by the masses of
pink flowers. The strap-shaped pet¬
als are narrow, a quarter-inch wide
and three-quarters of an inch long.
There are many petals in each
flower and a flower at the base of
each leaf. The long and short stems
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of last year’s growth are completely
covered with flowers.
After the spring rush of flowers,
new growth begins. The leaves are
small, about one inch wide and two
inches long, with the new ones a
reddish pink to a dark maroon when
they first appear.
The leaves turn a deep green with
a reddish cast as they mature and
remain evergreen on the shrub.
Young plants first develop into a
low mound with strong horizontal
branches. As new plants become es¬
tablished, vigorous upright branches
develop, forming an upright, rounded
growth habit.
Mature shrubs are expected to
reach six to 10 feet in five years.
With time and age these loropetalums
could be trained into multistemmed
small trees.
Loropetalums are very tolerant of
pruning and can easily be maintained
at five to six feet. They look best
when individual long shoots are re¬
moved rather than being sheared.
Train older plants into small trees by
simply removing the lower branches.
Plants can be used as individual
specimen shrubs or miniature trees,
as medium to tall screens or as back¬
ground evergreen hedges. They
would also be useful as a group of
shrubs in a mixed border of flower¬
ing shrubs.
These shrubs bloom best in full
l.
IM?
v v>&
“Pink Chinese Loropetalum”
sun or high light. They will survive
and tolerate deeper shade but will
have fewer flowers.
Loropetalums are easy to grow,
being nearly insect- and disease-free.
Water new plantings until well es¬
tablished. Established plants are
drought-tolerant and grow well in
sandy or clay soils.
Fertilize in early spring and again
in summer to promote good growth
on young plants and maintain good
evergreen foliage in the winter. Once
they’re established, these plants are
care-free.
The pink loropetalums are Gold
Medal winners. They’re attractive,
easy to grow and can enhance new
and established landscapes.
(Dr. Jim Midcap is a horticultur¬
ist with the University of Georgia
Cooperative Extension Service.)
