Phlox ‘ Jeana ’
Typically , grower in the hort industriousness investment trust plant life trials ( like the ones atPenn StateI visited last year ) to find out from factual research which plants they should put into yield and then market like crazy .
But householder need trial run of plants that are already on the market so they ’ll know which ones to grease one’s palms at the local nursery or from their favourite catalog . That ’s precisely whatMt . Cuba Trial Gardensare for , but because they target native plants , they ’re testing not only horticultural performance – specially disease - resistance – but their ecologic value , too – especially their appeal to pollinators .
Phlox ‘Jeana’
Mt. Cuba can do this because their research does n’t depend on diligence financial backing , thanks for their nice fat endowment !
I recently receivedthis reportfrom Mt. Cuba harbinger the results of their Phlox trials and was so impressed , I bugged Horticultural Research Manager George Coombs to explain the process to me . He confirm that almost all the 94 sun - loving phlox they try out over three years were bought at retail and are wide available to steady nurseryman . Still , he ’s seen his retail - focus trials also impact cultivator ’ industrial plant pick , which ultimately benefits menage gardeners .
Coombs says the goal of Mt. Cuba ’s trials is wide-eyed – to make home gardener more successful . Modestly he adds that their best - results flora are n’t the “ end - all - be - all but the plants DO perform well for most people . ” Well , what more can you ask ?
The top performing artist in theirPhlox - for - Sun trialswas the Phlox paniculata ‘ Jeana , ’ which is a new one to me and at 5 foot tall , I might not have even guessed it was a Phlox . It actually won in both categories – pull in the most butterfly AND do the full horticulturally ( disease - resistance , etc . ) It prime from mid - July through early September .
Mt. Cuba ’s Delaware localisation makes it a bully topographic point to test for powdery mildew , a disease that afflicts plant in humid region like the Mid - Atlantic where we take heed “ It ’s not the passion ; it ’s the humidity ” dozens of times each season .
Butterfly activeness in Mt. Cuba ’s trial garden was monitor by Pollinator Watch , a chemical group of 25 dedicated Volunteer of all geezerhood who are enrolled in a certificate plan at Mt. Cuba . Coombs told me is “ very invested . ” I wish I lived close enough to enroll myself .
Carexes at the Scott Arboretum
Mt. Cuba ’s previous aboriginal - plant trials have treat : Monarda , BaptisiaCoreopsis , Heuchera , Echinacea , andAster .
Carexes at the Scott Arboretum
Next up : Helenium ( Sneezeweed ) and Carex , with 80 mintage to test for a miscellany of garden uses , most promisingly to put back lawns !
Helping gardener line up native plants that do wellin gardensis badly needed , so kudos and thanks to Mt. Cuba for their hard workplace and loyalty to not just promoting indigen but helping gardeners succeed with them . That ’s my destination , too , in collectingvideos on that very subject . Too many list ofallnative plants in a realm may aid in ecological restoration project but in cope with homeowner with successful garden plants , not so much .
