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Penny Carnathan
Penny’s a Nurture And Hold (NAH): Nah, I won’t pull that out yet, it’s still got a green shoot. She likes dragonflies, lady bugs and new stuff only after weeding, pruning and fertilizing.
Kim Franke-Folstad
Kim’s a Want It Now (WIN): Everything pretty, everything now. She will resort to full-spectrum insecticides in desperate situations, and believes it’s her duty and right to buy new plants every weekend.
Both advocate Plant Choice (SOMEthing besides crotons. Please!), lots of color and low maintenance. We don’t agree on everything, but we’re smart enough to learn from each other - and from you.
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A new contest, kind of, with plant winners, sort of. [Kinda-sorta new plants to maybe love. Maybe]
Posted Sep 19, 2009 by Loren Omoto
Updated Sep 19, 2009 at 11:31 PM
I got an email the other day that said, “No more guessing! Here are the American Garden Award winners ... Share the news!”
I’m all about sharing, so I was more than happy to do that. But I’d never heard of this contest (and for good reason, it turns out). When was it? Who held it? Did these winners ever prove their stuff here in Florida?
It took some digging (thankfully not in the hot sun) but I finally got answers. The American Garden Award is a new non-profit organization, another one aiming to spread the joy about great new plants on the market. This summer, it put six kind-of new plant varieties in 15 botanical gardens around the country and asked the public to vote on their favorites using thier cell phones.
It didn’t go so well.
“We were really disappointed in the total” number of votes, said Nona Wolfram Koivula, who’s serving as a spokesperson for the new group.
So, like, how many votes were there?
“I don’t want to say. It’s that few.”
So, for what it’s worth: six plants, three winners, a few voters willing to spend some cell minutes. (Actually, most of the votes came in as texts, so if those were Verizon voters, they didn’t actually spend any minutes at all. Just sayin’. )
All the plants have been around for about three years, so they’re available if you want to look for them, Nona says. The southern-most garden participating was in Texas, so it’s not a sure bet any of these will survive Florida. But the most likely for us is the third-place winner, Pentas ‘Nothern Lights Lavender.’
Here’s what the “share the news!” announcement says about it:
“These large 4 to 6 inch clusters of star-shaped florets covered the tropical looking 18 to 24 inch plants. This breeding breakthrough pentas performed throughout the country, showing off its tolerance to northern temperatures as low as 50 degrees, as well as its love for rigorous southern heat.”
In first place was Rudbeckia ‘Tiger Eye Gold.’ Black-eyed Susans tend to do well here, so this might be good here. Or not.
Here’s the description: “‘TigerEye Gold grabbed the attention of voters with its incredibly prolific display of brilliant 3-inch golden blooms. Voters also appreciated the compact habit of the 16 to 24 inch tall plants. The long-lasting golden dark eyed blooms made a strong statement while showing their hybrid tolerance to heat, humidity and powdery mildew. This most popular winner guarantees fantastic season-long color in gardens, mixed containers and landscapes.”
And the 2nd-place winner, something to plant for winter if you like it, was Petunia ‘Baby Duck Yellow.’
Here’s what they say: “This petunia won because voters loved the way it brightened and blanketed the garden with its multitudes of soft yellow trumpet shaped blooms. Voters saw that the 1.5-inch blooms didn’t wilt in summer’s heat, humidity or rain. Blooms completely covered the 18 to 24 inch plants that didn’t need deadheading or cutting back. Fast growing ‘Baby Duck Yellow’ spreads 30-36 inches and will rapidly fill-in gardens and containers.”
Nona says you can see all three at the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival, March 3 to May 16.
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Reader Comments
Posted by (Susan Gillespie) on September 20, 2009
Love these, Penny, especially the petunias. My question though is why they collected the votes via cell phone? How many actual gardeners are cell phone texters? Without revealing too much about how cell phone challenged I am——-let’s just say I wouldn’t know how to vote via text without instruction.
Posted by (Chip) on September 20, 2009
Maybe it was the way they did the contest that was the problem. I would not even bring a cell phone into a garden like that[ so not to disturb others} and I am guessing that maybe a lot of folk’s feel this way. If I was told of the contest in advance I would bring it and just turn it on long enough to vote then turn it back off! the petunia’s would have been my pick!
Posted by (Iluvpumpkins) on September 20, 2009
I love rudbeckia! So when and where can we buy these plants? Janice
Posted by (Susan Gillespie) on September 20, 2009
Next phone will have a qwerty board———-doing it otherwise takes too long. I could have called by the time I get it all typed out. Ha! I know, I am showing my age bracket.
Voting online would be awesome. And they DO need to add more info like where to buy, do those pentas attract butterflies and hummers and did they try them in most of the zones. They are all very pretty flowers.
Posted by (Susan Gillespie) on September 20, 2009
I do love the red pentas and the hummingbirds and butterflies love them too. I’d love some of those cuttings. How did you do them?
I like petunias every winter and would love to know which ones do the best here.
Posted by (Susan Gillespie) on September 20, 2009
Thanks Penny—-and Carol. I will give this a try. It will make those freezes less painful if I have backups.
Posted by (Susan Gillespie) on September 20, 2009
is it too late in the season to get those? I tried the duranta sausedge and love the color but lost a few in the drought. I will get more—-I like that lemony green color that much. My garden budget wasn’t big this year. I guess nobody’s was. Yeah for cuttings and seeds and starter plants——-and the girls (and guys) from The Dirt.
Posted by (Janna) on September 21, 2009
I haven’t had much luck with pentas cuttings, but I think I was cutting them in the wrong place. Since they are working well for Penny, I’m going to try again. I was not prepared for the freezes last year and like most of you, I will be armed with backups this year just in case Jack Frost decides to sneeze on my yard again. Like Penny, I have red hots cuttings I can share along with cat’s whiskers, if anyone wants those. Looking forward to the flower farm visit! (Also looking forward to petunias for winter - love all the color!)
Posted by (Susan Gillespie) on September 21, 2009
Oh Janna, I would love some of those red hot cuttings but I won’t be able to make the outing at Florida Friendly Farm. Work calls. And I love Cat’s Whisker’s but have never had luck getting them through a winter. I always have to replace them. I kinda gave up on those even though they are adorable.
Posted by (Susan Gillespie) on September 21, 2009
Both the cat’s whiskers and the phillipine violet come in white and lavender. I’ve tried both colors for the cat’s whiskers and lost them both in the winter. The phillipine violet, as you know, scatters all over the place and although winter can knock them down they come back and flourish. Glad yours found it’s happy spot. It seems to sprout up in semi shady spots and really suffers when it gets too dry. I’m about to go out there and dig some up for a friend. If anyone wants some I’d be glad to share.
The Phillipines bloom in the fall, BTW, so yours should be flowering soon.
Posted by (Janna) on September 21, 2009
Thanks for the Winter Warning on the Whiskers. I just got them this year so I didn’t know how they’d do when cooler weather approaches. I’ll keep some cuttings in pots in case they need to be moved!