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Classic City Garden Awards - 2007
- the very best plants from the Gardens at Athens -
Athens, GA, has enjoyed a wonderful history and has long been known as "The Classic City". People who visit enjoy the small town feel with the big town amenities, including good theater, good music, good dining and exceptional gardens. Without doubt, the gardens are the best, and the best garden is the UGA Trial Garden, renowned for new crop introductions and real time evaluation of annuals and perennials. We want to share the All Stars of the Garden; that is, those plants which outshone all others for the entire season. Some call them Armi's all stars, but Classic City Awards are a bit more refined and professional. These are the finest plants in the garden and should be produced, distributed and sold throughout the country.
The UGA trial gardens were full to the brim again this year and trying to select the best dozen plants in the entire garden is always a daunting task. But for better or worse, we did. Please allow us to say "Kudos and Congratulations" to the companies involved in the breeding and distribution of these fine winners. As for the rest of you, find them, grow them, sell them and then go to the beach with your profits.
All plants in the garden are graded (1-5, 5 being best) every two weeks for their "horticultural" merit. Obviously, since the garden is located in north Georgia, all the winners exhibit exceptional tolerance to heat and humidity. The following not only graded out extremely well, but also were the subject of oohs and aahs by our staff and others visiting the garden. In no particular order, here are the plants that kept us coming back time and time again.
PanAmerican Seed Co.
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Common Name: Periwinkle
Vinca 'Titan Pure White' PanAmerican Seed
All vinca remained disease free all summer which was a blessing after all the extremes we encountered this summer. 'Titan Pure White' from Pan American seed was the one of these Vinca that was surpassed all others. The plants were sturdy despite being covered by numerous flowers. The flowers were a clean white with a small yellow eye and were abundant for months.
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Ball Floraplant
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Common Name:
Lantana 'Landmark Sunrise Rose' Ball FloraPlant
Many lantanas tend to fluctuate between profuse flowering to sparse flowering. 'Landmark Sunrise Rose' from Ball FloraPlant has been an exciting exception. Every week, this cultivar was completely covered in bright rose clusters of blooms. The heat had no affect on these plants or on the color intensity of its blooms. This is truly a great lantana.
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Ecke Ranch, Paul Ecke Ranch
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Common Name:
Osteospermum 'Crescendo Primrose' Paul Ecke Ranch
2007 was another year of disbelief that any plant could survive much less thrive under truly harsh conditions. The osteos were planted in our brutally scorching parking lot flower bed again this year and many cultivars thrived. 'Crescendo Primrose' from Paul Ecke Ranch was outstanding for the entire summer. The plants were constantly covered in primrose yellow blooms while its neighbors were still generating foliage with very few flowers.
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Goldfisch
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Common Name: Interspecific geranium
Ivy Geranium 'Caliente Coral' Goldfisch
The Caliente series of ivy geraniums has performed well for us in Georgia. This year, the prize is awarded to 'Caliente Coral' from Goldfisch. This ivy geranium produced so many flowers that it formed a large coral red ball in its hanging basket. Heat was no deterrent for this plant as it bloomed and bloomed through all extreme conditions it received.
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Dummen U.S.A.
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Common Name:
Petunia 'Sweetunia Soft Pink Morning' Dummen
'Sweetunia Soft Pink Morning' grew in our cement parking lot oven bed with the osteos where it was allowed to pour over the bed edges. This cultivar produced endless pink rimmed, white throated blooms being covered for months. We always trim the petunias to prolong their lives and 'Sweetunia Soft Pink Morning' responded well to the trim. Within two weeks, this petunia was once again engulfed by lovely blossoms.
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Athens Select
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Common Name:
The summer of 2006 was ideal for our scaevolas. It was a crowded field, and many cultivars performed excellently. One in particular, however, provided deep blue flowers densely arranged on the many flower stems. This cultivar was 'Cajun Blue'. Its many arms presented us with innumerable small blue fans, which we wish we could have used to cool us in July and August. There were so many flowers that month after month, the blue masked the foliage. Are there too many scaevolas coming on the market? The answer is no if they look as good as this one. Congratulations to Athens Select and thank you to DuPont Nurseries in Louisiana for introducing this cultivar.
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