| |
START WITH AWARD-WINNING VARIETIES FOR BEST GARDENING RESULTS
Fast-forward your mind...you're in the garden center, it's elbow-to-elbow people, and the display tables are crammed with hundreds of flats of young plants.
Will you select varieties that are proven performers, or will you settle for whatever's the cheapest, closest to your shopping cart, or appears to have the prettiest blooms?
I've mentioned All-America Selections and Perennial Plants of the Year before in this column, and I highly recommend looking for these designations when ordering seed or buying plants this spring.
Prior to 1932, there were no industry standards for evaluating plants and flowers. This led to problems of questionable improvement of new varieties, inadequate seed supplies for new varieties and biased variety testing. The AAS was formed to solve these problems.
AAS judges compare and rate new plants and cultivars with the industry's best. Only those new plants deemed superior are given the coveted AAS award.
The judges are volunteers from the seed industry, universities and botanical gardens throughout the U.S. and Canada. Since they don't know the original source of the seed and do not score their own entries, they remain impartial. Their evaluations are based on color, disease resistance, insect and weather tolerance, uniformity, uniqueness, fragrance and, for vegetables, flavor, texture and productivity.
Most seed catalogs will include the AAS symbol somewhere in the variety description, and it may also appear on the plastic stake inserted in trays of AAS seedlings.
Perennial Plants of the Year are selected by the Perennial Plant Association. You can't go wrong planting one or more of these Perennial Plants of the Year:
1998: Echinacea purpurea 'Magnus'
1997: Salvia x 'Mary Night'
1996: Penstemon digitalis 'Husker Red'
1995: Perovskia atriplicifolia
1994: Astilbe x 'Sprite'
1993: Coreopsis verticillata 'Moonbeam'
1992: Veronica x 'Sunny Border Blue'
1991: Heuchera micrantha 'Palace Purple'
1990: Phlox divericata
While I'm on the subject of picking and planting winners, here are the "best bet" annuals from the 1996 annual flower trials at the University of Minnesota Morris experiment station:
Marigold: Alyssum Cheers White, Wonderland White, Antigua Yellow
Melampodium: Medallion
Petunia: Purple Wave, Heavenly Lavender, Merlin Pink, Pink Storm, Rose Madness.
Rudbeckia: Indian Summer
Salvia: Reference, Silver, Victoria
Snapdragon: Liberty Crimson
Verbena: Quartz Scarlet
Zinnia: Short Stuff Orange
·
If you want to be as trendy as Martha Stewart, you'll want to plant "mesclun" this spring. Mesclun is the name for "designer greens" that are the rage for health-conscious Americans. Mesclun, an import from France, refers to tender young lettuces and other greens that are low in calories, high in nutrition and very tasty.
Traditional French mesclun calls for chervil, arugula, lettuce and endive in precise proportions. You may come across seed mixes that include lettuces (Bibb, Romaine, oakleaf and crisphead), arugula, endives, mustards, purslane, chicory, cresses, parsleys, fennels, escarole and tender wild greens.
Many gardeners choose to pick mesclun just before the meal, serving it simply with only a bit of light vinaigrette dressing. Mesclun can also be stir-fried or wilted in butter and served with fresh vegetable dishes or pastas.
|
|
|
 |
| |
|
 |
| |
PUTTING DOWN ROOTS:
A Delightful Blend of
Gardening Wisdom, Wit
and Whimsy
$10 + $2 for shipping
by Cliff Johnson |
 |
 |
| |
|
