Kudos to Teleflora

Now that the superbowl is over, it's time for everybody to talk about the commercials.  I'm not a football fan so I usually don't watch them (I live in WI- am I a heretic?) but I did catch half of the game this year.  I give kudos to Teleflora for having one of the best commercials of the superbowl.  I don't have to tell anyone involved in the industry that the last number of years have been a struggle.  With the economic troubles, fresh flowers haven't exactly been the go-to gift.  For those who missed it, here it is:

Heuchera With Yellow and Orange Tones

I'm finally getting around to finishing up the Heuchera posts.  (for now)  We finally get to the plants that started Heuchera's rise to stardom.  It all started back in 2002ish with a sport of 'Whirlwind' called 'Amber Waves'.  (I don't remember the first year it was available- The Heims/Ware book gives it the year 2000 but that seems early to me- the patent was granted in 2002)  This amber colored beauty with ruffled and lobed foliage and nice pink flowers wasn't an immediate sellout the first year, but as word spread it moved well.  The second year, it sold out quite quickly.  The 3rd year it continued with strong sales, but there were complaints about it not being hardy.  I of course had planted one the first year.  It was perfectly hardy, however there indeed were problems.  For one it frost-heaved out of the ground every winter for 3 years regardless of how well I winter mulched.  It didn't bulk up in my garden well, staying only about 8" across the whole time it was planted.  I pulled it out, literally- I grabbed the plant and it popped out roots and all, in 2006 (long after we dropped this from our lineup).  I think the foliage texture is unmatched by any other amber Heuchera, but its poor garden performance really knocks this one down on the desirability scale.  Micrantha and americana are in the background, and as this is the source of all other amber and chartreuse varieties, they also have them in the background.

Improvements happen, and in the world of Heuchera they can happen quickly.  2004 brought 'Marmalade', a more vigorous plant slightly darker amber foliage than 'Amber Waves'.  This one was a much better grower, though I still had problems with it losing vigor after a couple of years.  Still, with the right site and soil conditions this one can prosper.

2004 also brought the first chartreuse Heuchera to market- 'Lime Rickey'.  This plant had nice vigor and small leaves on a dense clump.  This thing looks like a head of lettuce (in a good way).  Bright chartreuse foliage in spring turning to lime green in summer.  White flowers are nice enough, but not exciting.  I had fewer vigor issues with this one. 

2005 brought 'Creme Brulee' to the Proven Winners line, and this one was (to me) the best so far.  It had good texture and a compact form.  The flowers weren't very exciting, but who's looking at them anyway at this point- we still haven't recovered from seeing an orange heuchera!  Another breakthrough was that this one tolerated sun.  Lots of it if it didn't dry out.  We included this in our full sun butterfly garden.  Still after a few years of growing it, we found that it has the same loss of vigor issues as 'Amber Waves' and 'Marmalade'.

I had been growing H. villosa 'Autumn Bride' for a few years at this point, and it was turning out to be a great performer in heavy soils and hot humid temperatures.  Many people growing this plant realized the breakthrough that was Heuchera 'Caramel' when it hit the market in 2005.  This H. villosa hybrid (probably with 'Amber Waves' as the other parent) came to us from France.  Finally an amber Heuchera that would perform!  My clump is now somewhere between 24 and 30 inches wide.  This one is also tolerant of full sun, and needs at least some sun to show its best color.  In shade it is a sickly yellowish color.  This has become my biggest selling variety to date, far exceeding 'Palace Purple'.  Bad economy or not we still sell nearly 100 of these every year.

'Caramel'

2006 brought even more- 'Peach Flambe', which is one of the best non-villosa hybrids.  Bright foliage on a strong clump with H. sanguinea background.  'Peach Melba' is another Proven Winners plant, this one with a silverish veil over the amber foliage.  'Key Lime Pie' is also from PW, and features chartreuse-lime foliage and nice pink flowers. 

From 2007 on I've lost track as so many have now come out.  Here's a list of more, years included where possible:


'Citronelle' hit in 2007ish and is a chartreuse mutation of 'Caramel'.  It isn't as strong a grower, but it still performs well.  'Georgia Peach' is a unique color of amber tones with some red and a silver overlay.  Villosa hybrid that grows well but isn't as dense as other varieties. 

'Christa' I haven't grown, but is another villosa hybrid similar to 'Caramel'.  Looks to have somewhat better color.

'Ginger Ale' 2008ish.  A nice ginger color to the foliage with a silver overlay and yellowish flowers.  Micrantha, americana, and cylindrica are in the background of this one.  Has performed fairly well.

'Ginger Peach' I haven't grown.  Out of 'Marmalade' breeding, 2010 intro.

'Lime Marmalade' is a chartreuse sport of 'Marmalade'. 

'Kassandra' is another amber villosa hybrid from France that I have not grown.  Foliage is more lobed and less rounded than 'Caramel.

'Tiramisu' & 'Miracle' showed a lot of promise for having chartreuse foliage with red veins.  Plants don't always meet the expectations of the hype and pictures however.  The red viens were only present in cool weather, so most of the summer they were chartreuse.  Muddy chartreuse in the case of 'Miracle'.  'Tiramisu' was a poor grower for me, and is currently the only villosa hybrid I've killed.  'Miracle' grew well enough, but I don't like the color and removed it. 

'Electra' came out in late 2009 and was widely available in 2010.  This one lived up to the promise of pictures and hype and is everything that 'Tiramisu' wasn't.  Red veins are present year round, with the exception of maybe spring as the new foliage fills out, at which point mine was eye-hurtingly bright chartreuse.  Villosa hybrid.

'Electra' in spring before the veins turn red.

'Electic Lime' is a chartreuse villosa hybrid that also came out in 2009.  This one is a villosa hybrid similar to 'Citronelle' but I believe it will be bigger in all aspects. 

'Southern Comfort' hit the market in 2009 and is villosa hybrid similar to 'Caramel' but has bigger leaves and will get taller.  It also has better color in the shade.  Turns burgundy in fall and winter.

'Tara' is a very lobed villosa hybrid with chartreuse foliage and some red tones in the center.  I have not grown this one, but like the looks of it.

'Midas Touch' was a 2010 release.  I saw it at some trade shows and like the look of it.  New growth is bright peach and matures to gold and finally the same ginger color as 'Ginger Ale'.

'Havana' excited me quite a bit as being the first chartreuse Heuchera with rose-red flowers.  The foliage has some silver overlay and can get some red veining in fall.  It was however quite a slow mover.  Also a bit of a slow grower and took quite a long time to bloom.  We'll see how it performs in the garden.  A 2010 introduction with micrantha, americana, sanguinea, and cylindrica in the background.


My sad 'Havana' in November.  I will be moving it to a better site in spring.

'Peach Crisp' is a 2010 intro with ruffled and lobed amber foliage.  Looks very good, full sun for best color.

'Pear Crisp' is new for 2011 and is the chartreuse counterpart to 'Peach Crisp'.  Like all chartreuse variaties, will probably scorch with too much sun.

I didn't get a lot of pictures for this post.  2 great online resources for images:
http://www.lucsperennialworld.com/heuchera/index.html
http://www.terranovanurseries.com/gardeners/heuchera-c-82_23.html

Botanophilia goes live!

In the past, I've posted about getting a mail-order nursery set up.  The time has come for the reveal.  The website is now live, hopefully everything works correctly. I will still be doing some page editing, but the products are all enabled and credit card processing should be working. Take a look and let me know what you think!


www.botanophilia.com

What's that smell?

We woke up this morning trying to figure out why it smelled like we had a sewer leak.  Checked all over the house, no problems.  I walked into the kitchen (where the plant stand is) and had a "duh" moment. In the night Sauromatum venosum opened.  Not super strong smelling, but enough to notice throughout the house.  Moving it to take pics didn't help any.  Unfortunately the spathe has already fallen and I had to hold it up for a full shot.  I was storing the bulb in my basement until I could plant it in the greenhouse in March.  It had other ideas and sprouted a few days ago.

 If it was nice enough outside (it's currently incredibly windy and we have 6' snow-drifts outside) I would go for hand pollination.  This is one cool (but horrid smelling) aroid.  Anyone with experience overwintering it in zone 5?  I have a small offset I will try in the garden.

January Mystery Plant

This month's mystery plant is taken from my trip to the Chicago Botanic Garden.  I very much want to add one of these to my collection some day.  Can you guess what it is?  By the way, I've enabled anonymous comments, so anyone can guess.

A winter trip to Chicago Botanic Garden

On Jan 19th, we were scheduled to attend the MidAm trade show. Being that I didn't want to get up at 4am to make it to the show site by 8:30, we decided to go on Tuesday the 18th and stay overnight. So what to do during the day? Go to Chicago Botanic Garden of course!  Although the temperature wasn't too bad, the wind was cold and made it hard to stay outside for very long.  I did brave the cold for some shots of the dwarf conifer garden, but mostly these are greenhouse pictures.  Enjoy the photo tour!

First stop: Dwarf Conifers!  I have a great love of dwarf conifers, but I haven't concentrated on gardening with them very much.  Mainly because I know my "disease" will make me spend way more than I should on them!  Here are some that I thought were nice and may add to my gardens some day.  Some of them aren't dwarf at all, but they are nice specimens.

Larix decidua 'Cherry Valley' and Abies concolor 'Compacta'

The tag was buried for the weeping larch, not sure which one it is.  Also didn't see a tag for this cute little spruce.

 Picea engelmannii 'Bush's Lace' is a great spruce with pendulus branch tips.  Very elegant and worthy of garden space.  Xanthocyparis (Chamaecyparis) nootkatensis 'Pendula' does great in the midwest.  I don't know why gardeners are afraid of this plant. 

I didn't get a tag for this one either, but it appears to be Picea orientalis.

The garden has 3 greenhouse biomes that are beautifully planted.  The first one we visited was the arid house.  I didn't take notes on what the varieties were, mostly for my benefit so I don't seek them out!  I don't have room in my house for more plants!

    

 
 
 

 

 
 













Next up is the tropical house.  Again no notes taken, in fact there were a few things that I would have like to find more info on but I couldn't find tags.

No there isn't anything wrong with this Colocasia, that's how it grows!

 

 
 
 
Last stop, the semi-tropical hosue.  Still no notes, but readers may recognize more plant material here.  Some plants here are even quite hardy, to zones 6 or 7.  This house features some nice topiaries, including a massive dinosaur covered with Piper nigrum, Black Pepper.  Very cool.  Also featured was a bog-garden with some nice carnivorous plants.

 

Burgundy, Red, and Purple Heuchera

The Heucheras that everyone is familiar with would be the various burgundy varieties.  They can lend fantastic color contrast or color echoes to the garden.  Many of them have some amount of sun tolerance.  This is where the bulk of hybridizing work has been done.  The variety of sizes, shapes, foliage color, flower color is unmatched in the genus.  You can find one for nearly any garden site except maybe hot, dry, baking sun. 

'Palace Purple' put coral bells on the map as a great garden plant.  It is tolerant of sun and shade.  While it prefers consistently moist well-drained soils and some afternoon shade like other Heuchera, I've seen it growing in dry clay in the sun.  It wasn't thriving, but it didn't seem to be suffering either.  An overall great performer and still worthy of garden space.  This variety was produced from seed for a long time, leading to color and performance inconsistency.  It was recently reselected and clonaly propagated as 'Palace Purple Select'.  also 'Absi' and 'Molly Bush' are clonal selections that are superior to seed forms as well.  This is often sold as a form of H. micrantha, however it is definitely a selection of H. villosa purpurea. 

'Swirling Fantasy' is a nice burgundy selection with some silver overlay.  It's been a great performer in my gardens reaching nearly 24" wide.  This variety features rosy pink flowers in profusion in June which are loved by hummingbirds.  Sanguinea and americana are definitely in the background. 

'Obsidian' is the reigning champion of darkness.  This is the "blackest" of the Heuchera varieties and is a good performer as well.  Some sun tolerance, I have not trialed it in the heat of the day though.  White flowers.  Micrantha, villosa, and americana are in the background.

'Blackout' is another good dark variety.  This one is more sensitive to sun, keep it in morning sun only.  I believe villosa is in the background, not sure what else is.

'Hollywood' is a great burgundy selection with some silver overlay to the foliage.  Great profusion of rose flowers.  It seems a little slower and smaller than 'Swirling Fantasy' so far.  It's also darker and has more silver on the foliage.Flower production from a small plant has been very good though.  Micrantha, cylindrica, americana according to Terra Nova.  Must have sanguinea somewhere as well for the flower color.

'Beaujolais' is one of my favorite burgundy villosa hybrids.  It has some silver overlay to the foliage indicating americana heritage and pinkish flowers indicating sanguinea in the background as well.  It's been a good performer, grows somewhat larger and looks great in mass plantings.  Sun and heat tolerant as well, but looks its best with morning sun and afternoon shade.  May fade, picture is from July on a plant with some afternoon sun.

'Mahogony' has been a great performer for me so far.  Fast growth and a dense mound does well in full sun.  White flowers are fairly nice. 

'Plum Royale' is a fantastic purple selection.  Purple is a fairly recent color breakthrough in Heuchera breeding, as most were some shade of burgundy before.  It has a good amount of silver overlay.  White flowers are fairly nice and in proportion to the mound size.  This one has the best color with some sun, but scorches with too much.  Morning sun until 11 or 12 seems to do best here.  Americana, micrantha, and sanguinea in the background.  One of my favorites.

'Shanghai' is another purple selection.  the foliage is more deeply cut than 'Plum Royale' and less glossy, but it has a similar color and silver overlay.  White flowers are more profuse than 'Plum Royale'.  Micrantha, americana, and sanguinea are in the background.  Turns more burgundy for fall and winter.  Another new favorite. 

'Fire Chief' has expanded the selection closer to red than before.  This variety has fairly nice pink and white flowers produced in proportion to the mound.  Somewhat compact and slow growing for me.  Micrantha, sanguinea, and villosa are in the background.  Darker burgundy for fall and winter.

'Autumn Leaves' is even more red than 'Fire Chief' and has an almost velvet-looking quality to the foliage.  The flowers are less attractive on this variety, I removed them.  Villosa and americana background, this is likely to be a great performer.  It has grown well for me so far.

There are many other great varieties that I don't have room to talk about.  Check out 'Milan', 'Rave On', 'Dark Secret', 'Chocolate Ruffles', 'Black Beauty', 'Root Beer', 'Cherry Cola', 'Purple Petticoats', 'Brownies', and  'Mocha'.