Classic City Garden Awards - 2009
- the very best plants from the Gardens at UGA -
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 our very own Gardens at UGA, 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 Gardens at UGA 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. Although we do not always know who bred these fine plants, all are available to through distributors.
All annual plants in the garden are graded (1-5, 5 being best) every two weeks for their "horticultural" merit. Perennial data is taken at time of flowering. 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.
Grolink
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Common Name: Copperleaf
Acalypha 'Showtime' GroLink
Copperleaf has become a far more important plant group in recent years and in the landscape or in a mixed container, 'Showtime' caught everyone's interest. Big, bold and colorful, these plants make a loud statement.
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Syngenta
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Of the dozen or so angelonias we trialed this year, many of them performed very well. Two stood out, 'Angelmist Spreading White' from Ball Hort, and 'Carita Raspberry'. The compact habit and the continuous flowering even through the hot summer months caught our eyes but it was the unique bright color (everyone loved the raspberry flavor) that took this cultivar to be the top vote-getter among angelonias.
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Benary Flower Seeds
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We have been tiring of wax begonias in the last decade, not that they arent functional, only that they are rather common. It is difficult to stand out in such a crowded field, but the large leaves, flowers and stature of this begonia made it a winner. We categorized this as a thriller for the mixed container, comporting well with many of our fillers on this list.
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Grolink
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Once again the age divide came to light in the choosing of this coleus as a CC winner. There was lots of arguing about which colei were deserving of this award, and Two Egg was a wonderful performer. I hated the name and argued against it, but was outvoted by the Gen Xers around the table, who thought the name was awesome. No argument from our visitors, it received more than its fair share of flags.
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Athens Select
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As busy as 'Two Egg' is with all its colors, 'Mariposa' exudes a classic elegance in the container or landscape. Its deep maroon colors were eye-catching and its performance was excellent. People came back to it time and again to admire its beauty.
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Athens Select
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Not to toot our own horn, but we haven't witnessed a finer gaillardia in a very long time. 'Georgia Yellow', an Athens Select premiere, exhibits a floriferous blooming habit and no sign of legginess that is often seen with other gaillardias. Plants were essentially never out of bloom, quite different than many of the other gaillardias on trial. Deadheading was not necessary as the rounded fruit added another ornamental dimension to the plant. 'Georgia Yellow' asks for little fuss, provides a lot, and given room to grow, can liven up any garden space with its sun-bright blooms.
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PanAmerican Seed Co.
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It is often written that gomphrenas are very much underappreciated, perhaps because they don?t have any real bright yellows or oranges, but mainly because they kind of blend in with the rest of the landscape. Not so any longer. We debated about including this big, tall selection in this prestigious group of winners, but it did all we asked for and more. Usually globe amaranth would be a spiller or filler, but this one stood 5' tall and it flowered continuously. It was a little too tall in our climate but the rosy red flower color, and the bursting "fireworks" habit of the flowers was unique. This great plant?s name was truly fitting.
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Proven Winners
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Common Name: Alyssum
As skeptics of unfounded claims, we were not at all impressed with the rhetoric coming out of pack trials this spring about how wonderful this plant would be in the heat. Yadda, yadda. Heard it all before. When we received it, we planted it in the shade, hoping it would survive, and in full sun, knowing it would burn up. Not only did it not burn up in full sun, it lit the place up with its fragrant large clean white flower clusters. And just to make us feel even worse, it looked very good in the shade as well. How wonderful to be wrong!!
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Syngenta
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Common Name: Ivy Geranium
The dark green ivy-like leaves, the long flowering time and the self-cleaning features of the Caliente series made us fans since it was first introduced. The orange flowers on this selection were almost iridescent and plants could easily be pointed out from a distance. Of all the classes of geraniums, the ivy series and the hybrids have made exceptional breakthroughs in a thoroughly confused and crowded stage. Like a beacon on a rocky shore, 'Caliente Orange' shone brightly.
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The breeding of pennisetums has been nothing short of spectacular in the last 10 years. From feather grass (Giant Burgundy grass), to millet ('Purple Majesty', 'Jester') to napier grass ('Prince', 'Princess'), these plants just keep getting better. All stood out in the gardens this year, but it was impossible to ignore the flags in this winner. ?Fireworks? provides a mélange of leaf color nice vigorous (but not aggressive) growth and handsome flowers.
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What an outstanding introduction! Even at Pack Trials, this one stood out. So we were anxious to see what it would do in the real world. It did not disappoint! Of all the plants in the garden, this probably received the most attention throughout the season. The chartreuse foliage combined with the sterile dark flowers was an excellent combination, resulting in oohs, aahs and dozens of flags. In the interest of full disclosure, plants declined badly in September, both foliage and flowers falling apart. However, it provided immense pleasure when we needed it and we expect it to be around for some time.
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Danziger Flower Farm
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The portulacas are a bit like relatives - they come and they go. The Pazazz series compares favorably with many of the other better established series of purslane, but visitors and staff always commented on the color of Salmon Glow. None of the cultivars of purslane can boast of flowers that remain open as long as we would like, but the combination of flower power, color and vigor made 'Pazazz Salmon Glow' a winner.
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