| December 2009 HARDY PLANT SOCIETY Newsletter |
water Lily - Brooklyn Botanical Garden
HARDY PLANT SOCIETY
December 2009 Newsletter
President's Message
Well, the growing season is over for this year! I can’t say I am
particularly sorry to see it go.
Besides, the winter is when all gardens look their best. No, I am not
talking about the “good bones” or the great winter interest that we all
know should be part of our garden designs. I am talking about that
elusive imaginary garden that exists in all its perfection only in our
mind’s eye.
There is never too much or too little rain, the temperatures are perfect,
and the flowers bloom at just the perfect time for those carefully
planned combinations to dazzle. Ah yes! This is what keeps us going.
Those enticing catalogs will begin arriving if they haven’t already. I will
be pouring over them with highlighter in hand seeing them in that
perfect border.
I’m sure we all have our favorites. Fairweather Gardens and RareFind
Nursery are two that I love for shrubs, trees and some perennials.
Pickering Nursery is my favorite rose grower. Baker Creek Heirloom
Seeds, Johnny’s Select Seed and Select Seeds in Union, CT are
wonderful for veggie and flower seeds (the photos in the Baker Creek
catalog are amazing). Forestfarm is an encyclopedia that almost rivals
the old Heronswood. Brent and Becky’s Bulbs and Old House Gardens
are my sources for bulbs. All of these are also on line with more
photos and more offerings. Brushwood Nursery has a fantastic
selection of vines. LazyS’s Farm Nursery and Seneca Hill Perennials
have gone totally digital and no longer send a printed catalog. Anyone
else have a great source to share? Email me and we can get them in
the next newsletter or on our website.
Some business before we all get so involved in the holidays. Make
sure that you mail in your dues if you have not done so yet. We have
the membership form in this newsletter. If you have already done so,
thank you. Maybe you can give your unneeded form to someone else
and get them involved. Also this issue includes the flyer for the
symposium. Register early for your discount and consider
volunteering to help with soups, desserts or goodies to go with coffee.
This year such volunteers can email me with the type or name of their
intended contribution.
The Quiet Golden Age
A dazzling array of conifers exists form-fitting every design situation.
With four seasons interest isn’t it time to consider this extraordinary
group of trees, shrubs and groundcovers in the midst of this quiet
golden age of plant introductions?
In this vein I’d like to recommend gold-leaf conifers which have
adorned the landscape at Quackin’ Grass Nursery. With so many gold
cultivars I made choices based on ease of care, differing size and
availability. These will fill a range of environments and design needs in
northeastern Connecticut. May this strike a flame in the cresset of your
heart for any among my favorite class of shrubs and trees.
Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Fernspray Gold’ is an outstanding cultivar of
Hinoki Cypress with branches held nearly horizontal radiating from the
central trunk(s). Each elongated flattened branch mimics a heavily
ruffled and gilded fern frond on its edges shading to a rich dark green
at the interior of the shrub. The green darkens in winter as the yellow
burnishes to a golden orange. ‘Fernspray Gold’ develops bright yellow
foliage in full sun, greener-gold in half shade. This lovely shrub grows
upright and broad to about six feet tall by four wide with a somewhat
oval outline eventually. Use it as a specimen or in the foundation.
For a wonderful Ceramic Christmas Tree, its common name, plant
Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Lynn’s Golden. This memorable mini
composed of small, dense and beautifully articulated scallops of
golden foliage tops-off at three feet tall by two wide in fifteen years. It
looks great placed foreground in a foundation planting or as a
specimen in a rock garden. It will hold its own in a dwarf conifer
border or a heath and heather garden. With small-leaved
rhododendrons like ‘Midnight Ruby’ it would be stunning. This little
darlin’ will mound upright with an irregular conical outline.
To gaze upon Pinus sylvestris ‘Gold Coin’ in summer is to believe you’
ve been cheated from the gold-needled cultivar for which you paid
good money. But don’t run back to the seller with your Golden Scots
Pine just yet… Come winter this wonderful tree changes from
handsome gray-green of summer to a remarkable rich yellow. An
upright pyramid, it will form an amazing golden sentinel in the winter
landscape, a beacon in the dark months of the year. In ten to twelve
years it will have grown approximately eight feet tall. Place ‘Gold Coin’
in full blazing sun. Soil requirements are modest as long as it drains
well. I have one planted across from my deck beyond a pair of glass
sliding doors where I view it daily, an especially welcome sight in the
cold months.
Juniperus horizontalis ‘Mother Lode’ originated as a sport on ‘Wiltonii’,
the Blue Rug Juniper. Though a moderate grower this golden form has
proven extremely slow here at the nursery having spread less than two
feet by one inch thick in five years, testament that once established
‘Mother Lode’ can well tolerate adverse conditions for it is planted in
sandy scrabble! It will grow quicker in better soil and modestly layer as
it goes. Among stone and boulder this groundcover is like a pool of
molten butter seeping from a pore in the ground burnishing to a gold-
bronze in winter. It would be formidable quilted among other mat-
forming junipers and creeping phlox on a sandy bank performing the
duty of erosion control.
From evergreen and small we go to deciduous and enormous.
Metasequoia glyptostroboides ‘Ogon’ (a.k.a. ‘Gold Rush’) is a beautiful
gold-needled Dawn Redwood selected in Japan. Hard to miss, this
Chinese species believed to be extinct until its discovery in China can
mature at one hundred fifteen feet! ‘Ogon’ will rise to thirteen feet by six
feet wide in ten years and estimated to top-off at sixty feet, much
smaller than its big green brother. In spring the lovely new growth
emerges soft yellow and remains all summer ‘til late season. In autumn
before the needles fall they change color ranging from golden bronze
to rich orange brown. Beautiful in winter the outline of this gentle giant
is an upright, statuesque pyramid clothed in rich cinnamon-brown bark
supported by a heavily muscled and fluted trunk which will develop in
time. Set them paired in rows along a grand alee affording them plenty
of room to grow. As Dawn Redwood is content in quite moist, even wet
conditions use one as a lawn specimen near a body of water with a
weeping willow as a cohort. This would make a spectacular addition on
a large property, a park or an estate. But for goodness sake: do not
plant one too close to a building!
We are in the midst of a silent renaissance resplendent with all brand of
green life. Ignite your garden with the gift of golden-wrapped light.
Wayne M. Paquette
Quackin’ Grass Nursery
16 Laurel Hill Road
Brooklyn, CT 06234
860 779-1732
www.QuackinGrassNursery.com
UPCOMING SPEAKERS
DECEMBER 16
Andy Brand will be our speaker in December. Andy has been involved
in agriculture his entire life. During his childhood he worked in his
family’s vegetable garden. After graduating from UConn with a BS in
Environmental Horticulture and an MS in Plant Science, Andy spent two
years operating a plant tissue culture lab at the Plant Group in North
Franklin. For the past 18 years he has been employed at Broken Arrow
Nursery in Hamden where he is currently the nursery manager. Andy is
a past President of the Connecticut Nursery and Landscape Association
and recently received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the UConn
College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Alumni Association. He
has put his interest in native plants to use as a volunteer for the New
England Plant Conservation Program where he helps monitor historical
sites of endangered native plants.
Besides his love for plants, Andy is an avid naturalist. He is a
cofounder and past President of the Connecticut Butterfly Association
as well as a long-standing member of the New Haven Bird Club. In
Hamden, he works hard to protect the town’s open space and natural
resources as a member of the Hamden Land Conservation Trust and the
Inland Wetlands Commission. Andy has spoken to many groups
statewide on a range of topics including native plants, new and
unusual ornamentals, butterfly gardening, butterflies of Connecticut
and their life histories and how to attract more wildlife to your yard.
Berried Treasure: Spectacular Fruit for Connecticut
Landscapes
A plant’s fruit display can be as impressive as its flowers or foliage and
sometimes even more spectacular! Andy will reveal the diversity of fruit
available to CT gardeners from the glowing, violet, berry-like drupes of
Callicarpa dichotoma to the vibrant red berries of Arisaema triphyllum.
A collection of both herbaceous and woody plants will be presented as
we discover the beautiful treasure of fruit.
JANUARY 27
We kick off the new year with a friend Chuck Carberry. Charles
Carberry is the current Director of the Landscape Architecture Division
of CleanScape. He has over 20 years of experience in the landscape
and design industry and is a Licensed Landscape Architect. He is an
award winning designer with wide ranging experience. His design
experience includes over 10 years of master planning and construction
for the City of Providence and in the 435 acre Roger Williams Park.
Charles integrates the environment and a unique design style that sets
him apart from the industry mainstream.
In his talk entitled Tools of the Trade; the Design Process, Chuck will
help us understand how to go about designing our gardens.
FEBRUARY 12 (Rescheduled from November 18th)
Hortiholic and plant evangelist Russell Stafford is also a returning
speaker. He is founder, owner, webmaster, nursery manager,
propagator, shipping and telemarketing supervisor, data entry
specialist, custodian, and all other positions at Odyssey Bulbs, an on-
line mail order nursery specializing in cool and uncommon geophytes.
In what should be his spare time, he attempts solvency by designing,
tending, and writing and speaking about gardens and plants. He
formerly served as curator and head of horticulture at Fernwood
Botanic Garden in Niles, Michigan, as horticultural program coordinator
at the Center for Plant Conservation (then located at the Arnold
Arboretum in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts) and in various other
horticultural capacities. He lives, works, and plays with plants in South
Lancaster, Massachusetts.
Russell will help us with the GREAT NATIVE PLANT DILEMMA in a talk
called Beyond ‘Moonbeam and ‘Annabelle’; Native Plants that Don’t Get
Enough Attention. Native plants are all the rage in gardening circles.
Yet many of the most adaptable and ornamental Eastern North
American natives are scarcely seen in the trade or in the domestic
landscape. Plantsman Russell Stafford will talk up some of his favorite
"natives," while attempting perhaps unsuccessfully to skirt the
controversial topic of native versus exotic plants. He may also pitch
some "exotic" plants that are arguably as "native" as many or most of
the plants sold under that rubric.
2009-2010 SPEAKERS CALENDAR
Fall 2009
Dec. 16 Andy Brand, Broken Arrow Nursery – “Berried
Treasure: Spectacular Fruit for Connecticut Landscapes”
Winter/Spring 2010
Jan. 27 Chuck Carberry – Tools of the Trade: The Design Process
Feb. 10 ------ Note: Rescheduled from November 18th -
Russell Stafford – “Beyond ‘Moonbeam’ and ‘Annabelle’ –
Native Plants That Don’t Get Enough Attention
March 6 - Symposium
Adam Wheeler, Broken Arrow Nursery – Scrambling,
Rambling and Sprawling: A Closer Look at Weeping Plants
Roy Diblik, Northwind Perennial Nursery – Perennial
Plant Communities: “The Know Maintenance Approach”
March 24 Ruth McCormick/Triplebrook Nursery
April 28 John Bieber and Darrell Trout – Introduction to Daphnes”
Summer Jonathan Lehrer – Pushing the Zone? Picnic 2010
GENERAL MEETING INFORMATION
Socializing and goodies will begin at 7:00PM with the speaker
scheduled for 7:30 PM. Members whose last names begin with the
letters N-Z are asked to bring goodies in December.
Directions to The Solomon Welles House, Wethersfield, CT
From the Silas Deane Highway (Route 99) turn East on Nott Street. The
house is located at the intersection of Nott Street, Hartford Avenue and
State Street. The street address is 220 Hartford Avenue, Wethersfield,
CT.
From I 91, take exit 26 and follow signs to Motor Vehicle Department.
The house is just beyond the MVD building at the intersection of Nott
Street, Hartford Avenue and State Street.
There is a circular drive in front of the house and people may stop there
to unload anything that they are bringing to the meeting. There are two
handicapped spaces to the left of the house on this semicircle. To get
to the main parking area, you must follow the driveway around the left
side of the house to the area below and behind it. A pathway leas to
the house from the parking are and you may enter the house from either
the front door the side kitchen door.
HARDY PLANT SOCIETY – SPRING SYMPOSIUM
MARCH 6, 2010
Join us at the Hardy Plant Society’s 9th Annual March Into Spring
Symposium, March 6th at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church at 371 Wolcott Hill
Road, Wethersfield, CT.
Scrambling, Rambling and Sprawling; a Closer Look at Weeping Plants-
Our favorite self professed plant geek, Adam Wheeler will discuss the
care and ornamental appeal of weeping plants and showcases many
unique pendulous cultivars available. At Broken Arrow Nursery, Adam
is responsible for propagation and the acquisition and development of
new plants.
Perennial Plant Communities-“The Know Maintenance Approach” - Roy
Diblik’s thoughtful way to design perennial plantings welcomes fresh,
contemporary styles and plant diversity integrated with responsible
maintenance concerns. Endless plant patterns can be created using
regionally dependable plants which can economize time and costs
related to upkeep. Roy is co-owner of Northwind Perennial Farm
located in Burlington, Wisconsin. His recent work includes a planting
at the Art Institute of Chicago and in spring of 2009 a new lakeside area
for the Shedd Aquarium. He has recently written a book called Small
Perennial Gardens “The Know Maintenance Approach.”
The symposium starts at 10 am, and will include our renowned lunch of
hearty soups. The cost for non-members is $35 until Feb. 20, $40
thereafter. Members pay $5 less. And for those non-members who wish
to partake of this annual event we make a special offer: you can choose
to become a member for the remainder of our membership year for the
low cost of $5 per individual, $7.50 for a couple!"
Directions to St Paul’s from I-91
Take exit 26 (Old Wethersfield) Marsh St., at Main St., go straight across
to Church St., travel West, at traffic light cross Rt. 99 (Silas Deane Hwy)
and continue to 4-way stop sign, turn left onto Wolcott Hill Rd., the
Church is about 1 block down at the corner of Westway, turn right onto
Westway, Parking lot entrance is on Westway
To purchase tickets in advance mail your check, (payable to Hardy
Plant Society), along with a stamped, self-addressed return envelope, to
Leslie Shields, 25 Johnson Ave., Plainville, CT 06062. If you have
questions about this event, contact Leslie at (860) 747-8175 or by e-mail
at selchie1@aol.com.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Name
________________________________________________
Address
________________________________________________
Phone
___________________________
______________________________________
Before 20 February
______Member $30 _____Non-member $35
After 20 February
______Member $35 _____Non-members $40
Ticket requests received after 20 February will be held at
the door.
THE HARDY PLANT SOCIETY OF NEW ENGLAND
CONNECTICUT CHAPTER
The HARDY PLANT SOCIETY (HPS) of New England, Connecticut
Chapter is a friendly and informal gathering of plant lovers. The stated
purpose of HARDY PLANT SOCIETY is to cultivate and promote interest
in plants that are hardy in New England, from the tiniest herbaceous
plants to giant trees and all between. As our membership draws from a
broad range of interests the exchange of ideas and knowledge among
our group is dynamic!
HPS holds a series of evening lectures from September to April. These
meetings are held on the fourth Wednesday of the month except
November and December when the meetings are held on the third
Wednesday. There is no meeting in February. A coffee hour precedes
the meetings. The December meeting also includes a holiday
celebration. At meetings there is often a raffle and/or auction of
donated plants.
Our group presents the HARDY PLANT SYMPOSIUM held on the first
Saturday in March. We host two presentations in an all-day affair. This
event is always interesting and informative. And a lunch consisting of
soups and breads is provided by members who really know how to
cook!
We invite you to join HARDY PLANT SOCIETY. The annual dues are $25
for a single membership and $30 for a family membership. The
membership year begins September 1 and ends August 31.
HPS was formed in 1994 and has since incorporated, achieving 501 (c)
(3), non-profit status.
______________________________________________________
Annual Dues:
_____ Individual $25.00 _____ Family $30.00
Name(s):
____________________________________________
Address: ____________________________________________
____________________________________________
Phone Number: _______________
Email _____________________
Would EMAIL ALONE be for acceptable?
_____ YES _____ NO
Please send to Tina Knowlton, 191 Middle Haddam Rd.
Portland, CT. 06480
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