What's in Bloom
Bloom Highlights
Abelia × grandiflora ‘Keiser’
Ruby Anniversary™ Glossy Abelia
This is a horticultural hybrid between Abelia chinensis and Abelia uniflora. Both A. chinensis and A. uniflora are native to the forest and woodlands of southeastern China, with A. chinensis’s range extending into Japan, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Abelia × grandiflora is a multistemmed semi-evergreen shrub with a mounding habit due to its many arching stems. The young stems are copper to burgundy colored and pubescent. Mature stems develop grey bark that exfoliates in long strips. The stems bear leaves in opposite pairs. The glossy, dark green leaves are ovate with serrate margins and turn burgundy to purple in autumn. Leaf axils and shoot termini produce clusters of white to light pink, trumpet-shaped flowers. Each flower has five basally fused sepals, five petals fused into a funnel shape, four stamens, and two to three fused pistils. After the petals, stamens, and pistils fade and fall off, the sepals enlarge slightly and persist well into winter. This cultivar is noted for its tough, compact form and its persistent coral-pink sepals. The genus was named in honor of British surgeon and naturalist Clarke Abel, MD. The hybrid epithet is Latin for “large flowered.”
Clinopodium nepeta
Lesser Calamint
This plant’s native range spans from Great Britain to Portugal and northern Africa throughout Mediterranean Europe to Turkey, the Caucasus, and into Iran. It is found in dry grasslands, dry woodlands, and on rocky slopes. It is an herbaceous perennial with a dense, mounding, spreading habit. The stems are dark, silvery green with square ridges bearing leaves in opposite pairs. The leaves are silvery green, ovate with serrate margins, and fragrant when crushed. Leaf axils produce cyme inflorescences of tiny, white to light purple flowers. Each flower has five fused sepals, five petals fused into a bilabiate form, four stamens, and two fused pistils. The genus name is derived from the Greek words klinos meaning “bed” and pous meaning “foot,” as the cluster of flowers are said to resemble the knob-like feet of an old-fashioned bed. The specific epithet is the name of a related genus that this plant resembles.
Comantosphace stellipila
Japanese Shrub Mint
This plant is native to Japan where it grows in mountainous woodlands. It grows as a subshrub with a mounded habit with stems that branch sparingly. The stems are bright green, pubescent, and flexible with square ridges before turning brown and stiff at the base. The stems bear large hydrangea-like leaves in opposite pairs. The fragrant, green leaves are broadly elliptic to lanceolate, pubescent, and have serrate to dentate margins. Upper leaf axils produce floral spikes with paired clusters of four small flowers, giving the appearance of being whorled. Each cluster is subtended by a broadly lanceolate to cordate bract. The light purple to mauve flowers are tubular with five fused sepals, five petals fused into a bilabiate structure, four bright purple, long-exerted stamens, and two fused pistils that extend as far as the stamens. The genus name is of uncertain etymology. Some resources claim it comes from the Latin prefix com- meaning “with” or “together,” the Greek word ánthos meaning “flower,” and the Greek word phakê meaning “a dish made with lentils.” The specific epithet is derived from the Latin words stella meaning “star” and pilus meaning “hair” in reference to the star-shaped hairs on the stem and leaves.
Crataegus ‘Vaughn’
Vaughn Hawthorn
This cultivar is a horticultural hybrid of Crataegus phaenopyrum and Crataegus crus-galli and exhibits characteristics from both species. Both parental species are native to the open woodlands and streambanks of eastern North America, with C. phaenopyrum native to the southeastern United States, while C. crus-galli is native to all of the eastern United States and southeastern Canada. This hybrid grows as a medium-sized tree with a rounded crown. The stems are slender and dark coppery-brown with white lenticels and long, slender thorns. Older stems produce dark grey bark that fissures and flakes off in round plates. Stems alternately bear glossy, dark green leaves that turn red-orange to burgundy in autumn. The leaves are broadly lanceolate to ovate and lobed with serrate margins. In late spring, the leaf axils produce large corymb clusters of small, white, fragrant flowers. Each flower has five sepals, five round petals, ten to 20 stamens, and one to five pistils. In autumn, small, glossy, red pome fruits develop with edible flesh and persist on the branches into winter. The genus name is the Greek word for trees in this genus that comes from the Greek word kratos meaning “strong.”
Helianthus angustifolius ‘Berkeley Gold’
Berkeley Gold Swamp Sunflower
Helianthus angustifolius is native to the southeastern United States from eastern Texas to the Carolinas and northward to southern New Jersey, where it grows in swamps, bogs, and marshes. It is an herbaceous perennial with an erect growth habit. Its many stems are green with hints of purple and pubescent alternately bearing large, narrow leaves. The leaves are narrowly lanceolate and pubescent, with three prominent, linear veins and entire margins. Upper leaf axils and shoot termini produce showy capitulum inflorescences. Each capitulum is subtended by an involucre and is comprised of seven to 20 golden yellow, awl-like, ray florets around a central button of numerous purplish-brown, tubular disk florets. This cultivar is noted for its more compact growth. The genus name comes from the Greek words helios meaning “sun” and ánthos meaning “flower.” The specific epithet comes from the Latin words angustus meaning “narrow” and folium meaning “leaf.”
Rosa ‘Darlow’s Enigma’
Darlow’s Enigma Hybrid Musk Rose
This cultivar is a horticultural hybrid of unknown origin that exhibits characteristics of both Rosa multiflora and Rosa moschata. This hybrid grows as a large shrub with a mounding habit when left without support and will climb up to 20 feet when given a structure. The stems are bright green and glabrous with hints of red and recurved prickles that are also red. The stems alternately bear pinnately compound leaves with spiny stipules and five to seven leaflets on a red rachis. The leaflets are dark green and glossy, elliptical with serrate margins. Upper leaf axils and shoot termini produce clusters of small, fragrant, semi-double flowers. Each flower has five slightly fused sepals, five to eight or more white petals, numerous golden yellow stamens, and many central pistils that are partially enclosed by the cup-like hypanthium. In autumn, glossy red berry-like fruits develop and persist into winter. This cultivar is noted for its late bloom, fragrant flowers, and mysterious origin. The genus name is the Latin that comes from the Greek word rhódon meaning “rose.”
Chrysanthemum morifolium ‘Cosmic Lunar Pink’
Garden Mum
This late-season blooming garden mum has excellent color retention and a mounded habit, making them perfect for garden beds and containers. Frost-tolerant plants grow 14 to 24 inches tall and 20 to 36 inches wide.
Pennisetum glaucum ‘Jester’
Ornamental Millet
Colorful, attractive foliage, adding columnar and architectural interest in garden beds. Young leaves are chartreuse with subtle burgundy overlay, maturing to darker burgundy. Upright plants grow to 36 to 48 inches tall, tolerating partial to full-sun locations.
Tagetes patula ‘Durango® Flame’
French Marigold
Attractive upright plants with large colorful flowers that have excellent branching and strong stems, attracting bees and butterflies to garden beds and containers. Low-maintenance and frost-tolerant plants grow 10 to 12 inches tall and 6 to 8 inches wide.