UT Gardens Newsletter, January, 2010

January Plant of the Month

by Sue Hamilton, UT Gardens Director

The American arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis) is an easy and adaptable evergreen that can thrive in almost any landscape situation. Hundreds of cultivars and varieties have been introduced that allows this native, northeastern U.S. plant to fill almost any landscape niche. From miniature selections like 'Mossy' growing to just 1 foot tall and 'Hetz Midget' growing to 2 feet to 'Green Giant' growing up to 30 feet tall, these plants can fulfill many uses in the landscape. Cultivars also tolerate a range of soil conditions. American arborvitae can be found growing in the wild in swampy, damp conditions as well as in the dry cracks and crevices of rocky cliffs. It can equally tolerate a wide range of light conditions, thriving in light shade to full sun.

One of my favorite features of American arborvitae is its fine foliage texture. The evergreen, scaly foliage grows in fan-like sprays making for a soft, fine texture. Some stellar selections are valued for their striking foliage colors, too, like the bright gold foliage of 'Yellow Ribbon,' 'Lutea,' and 'Sunkist;' the orange-bronze color of 'Rheingold' and 'Fire Chief;' and the showy variegated foliage of 'Sherwood Frost' and 'Wansdyke Silver.' I like to have a gold or variegated selection in my landscape to brighten up my winter garden.

Many different forms along with varied sizes and colors allow for a range of landscape uses of American arborvitae. For a privacy screen and nice backdrop plant, you can't beat 'Green Giant,' 'Smaragd,' 'Emerald Green' and 'Degroot's Spire.' Round and spherical forms like 'Bowling Ball,' 'Rheingold,' and 'Hetz Midget' make good foundation plants or good decorative container plants. Pyramidal forms such as 'Emerald Green,' 'Sunkist' and 'Yellow Ribbon' can make nice specimen or accent plants.

For ideal performance, I recommend growing American arborvitae in a well-drained soil in full sun to part shade. Foliage density will loosen up in too much shade. In hot and dry weather, periodic, deep waterings are advisable, especially when these plants are grown as foundation plants. Maintain a good 3-to-4 inch layer of mulch around the plants. Fertilizer and pruning are not required, which is another added benefit!

Monthly Gardening Calendar and Tips
by Research Horticulturalist Jason Reeves, UT Gardens in Jackson

Outdoors

Continue to keep the leaves off of your lawn. This is especially important on cool- season lawns, which continue to photosynthesize during the winter. We have the tendency to let the seemingly ever-falling oak leaves build up during the cold days of winter, but on a dry, warmish day, you can mow both cool-and-warm season lawns to help groom the lawn and mulch the leaves. Avoid heavy traffic on cool-season lawns when it is cold enough for the grass to be frozen, since frozen grass is easily broken and the crown can be severely damaged.

In the event of wet snow, brush it off evergreens as it accumulates or as soon as possible after the storm. Use a broom in an upward, sweeping motion. As seen at the UT Gardens Jackson last year, heavy, wet snow can cause serious damage.

Avoid using salt to melt show and ice from your walk and driveway. Salt can be harmful to your plants. Instead, use environmentally friendly products which are available at home improvement stores.

As long as the ground is not frozen, you can continue to plant new trees and shrubs, just tuck them in with a 2-or-3 inch layer of mulch.

Pansies will benefit from their withered and cold-damaged blooms being pinched.

Indoors

Check stored garden produce such as potatoes, turnips, winter squash, apples and pears for bad spots which may lead to decay. Remove and use those right away. Be sure the remaining produce is spread out to allow for good airflow.

Rotate your house plants regularly to keep them shapely. New growth may need to be pinched back to promote bushy plants. Keep an eye out for insect outbreaks, and quarantine them until the pest is under control. Wipe dust off large leaf plants like dumbcane (Dieffenbachia) and rubber plant (Ficus elastica).

For some added color and fragrance during the bleak days of January and February, check out your local garden center for leftover paperwhite and amaryllis bulbs that are likely to be on sale now. Look for bulbs that are firm and have not sprouted.

To keep your paper whites from flopping over, add alcohol. For details, check out this web site from Cornell: http://www.hort.cornell.edu/miller /bulb/pickling_your_paperwhites.pdf.

Once your poinsettias begin to languish, it is often best to add them to the compost pile.

As the cold days bear down, look through all the seed catalogs and dream of lush, warm days.

Now Showing

Be sure to get outside this month and visit the UT Gardens to enjoy the following plants putting on a wonderful show in the winter landscape:

Holly

- Enjoy the beauty of the many different hollies throughout the UT Gardens. Whether evergreen or deciduous, our hollies are loaded with an abundancee of showy berries that brighten the win Drops of Gold Holly

ter landscape. Some of my favorites you will want to check out include the deciduous hollies like Ilex verticillata 'Winter Gold' and 'Winter Red;' evergreen selections like Ilex 'Red Beauty' and 'Dr. Kassab;' and the bright yellow and green foliage of Japanese holly, Ilex crenata 'Drops of Gold.'

Coral Bark Maple (Acer palmatum) -- You'll easily spy the three cultivars in our collection with their bright coral-pink branches.

Conifer

s -- We have a stellar collection of more than 400 evergreens throughout the UT Gar conifer with snow 3

dens and many have unique, showy colors you ought to see such as plum, gold, blue and bronze.

Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) -- This perennial bulb always blooms at the first o

f the year. It is a great naturalizing bulb and performs well under deciduous trees. You can't miss the nodding bell-shaped white flowers.

Japanese Cornel Dogwood (Cornus officinalis)

-- The three selections we have in the UT Gardens all begin to flower early in the year. If the temperature doesn't stay too low, you'll be able to enjoy the bright yellow flowers of this small tree this month. If you are not familiar with this dogwood, you owe it to yourself to check it out.

Italian Aru Arum

m (Arum italicum) -- The beautiful variegated winter foliage of this perennial is putting on a show in the wildflower and native plant areas of the UT Gardens.

Bloodtwig Dogwood, Yellowtwig Dogwood and Redtwig Dogwood (Cornus) -- All of these shrub-type dogwoods are valued for their colorful bark and branches during the winter months. Many wonderful cultivars have been introduced that have either improved or formed new, bright colors. Most notably in our Gardens are 'Arctic Sun,' 'Arctic Fire,' 'Midwinter Fire,' 'Winter Flame' and 'Bud's Yellow.'

Holiday Express at the UT Gardens
Holiday Ex Holiday Express Logo

press, presented by UT Gardens and Mark Fuhrman Complete Landscape Services drew more than 8,500 visitors this year, raising public awareness and support for the UT Gardens. Because of the success, creator Mark Fuhrman has agreed to partner with the Gardens again next holiday season to bring back the event.

In addition to the hard work of Mark Fuhrman, his business partner Jeanne Lane, and the UT Gardens staff, student interns and volunteers, Holiday Express would not have been possible without the generosity of:

Media sponsors: Knoxville News Sentinel and WBIR-TV, Channel 10

Corporate Sponsors: UT Federal Credit Union, Kati and Jim Blalock, Clarence Brown Theatre, Ellenburg Nursery, Knoxville Blue Print, McBride Company, LLC, Schmid & Rhodes Construction Company

In-Kind Sponsors: All Occassions Party Rentals, Claiborne Hauling Contractors, Clarence Brown Theatre, Hines Fine Soils, Pumps of Tennessee.

The Samuel Smith White Pine Recognized as a Tennessee Landmark Trees
The Tennessee Urban Forestry Council is proud to recognize the Samuel Smith White Pine as one of Tennessee's Historic and Landmark Trees. To learn more about this spectacular tree and other Tennessee's Landmark and Historic Trees, visit the Tennessee Urban Forestry Web site at http://www.tufc.com/landmark.htm.

New Gardening App for the iPhone
10-20 Media Inc. has released the 'GardenPilot iPhone App,' expanding the company's online lawn and garden marketplace reach into mobile media. This initial release of the searchable garden app features more than 14,000 illustrated plant information pages to assist the researching gardener in plant selection and local retail sourcing. The GardenPilot plant search app allows the user to search a plant database by common or botanical name or to search by category with plant characteristics. With a plant selected, the user can then search for local retailers who sell that plant. Local is defined by the phone's GPS location or the ZIP code entered when using the web app.

Make Room in Your Garden for These Exciting 2010 AAS Winners! Echinacea Pow Wow Wild Berry

You've seen these wonderful plants in the UT Gardens for the past two years as All-American Selections (AAS) trials. Based upon our evaluations and the other 39 AAS test gardens, nine winners for 2010 have been selected. We will have all of the 2010 winners on display in the UT Gardens this summer, and you will also be able to buy them at garden centers and nurseries. For photos and details of each of the winners, go to http://www.all-americaselections.org/Winners.asp.

Join the UT Gardens Volunteer Program
After a much-deserved winter break, the UT Gardens Volunteer Program is about to bloom again! The Gardens will host a short, informal meeting at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, February 10 in the South Greenhouse (adjacent to the UT Gardens) to kick off the 2010 season. Current, new, and potential volunteers are welcome to attend. We will have some great volunteer opportunities this year, including our Adopt -a- Spot program, training to become a Certified Gardens Guide, helping to document the garden with photographs, and the ever-popular Work with the Gardens Staff days. Whether you're a Master Gardener or just like to look at pretty flowers, we have a spot for you. We will also continue our fun and educational Lunch and Learn sessions this year; we're already scheduling some great topics for spring.

If you've ever thought about volunteering at the Gardens, now is the perfect time to get started. Call 865-974-7256 or e-mail ewillis2@utk.edu for more information.

Have Mower, Will Travel?
You are invited to participate in Project EverGreen's GreenCare for Troops program. GreenCare for Troops is a nationwide outreach program coordinated by Project EverGreen that connects local green industry professionals and volunteers with men and women serving our country in the armed forces. GreenCare is in the process of helping more than 2,400 volunteers provide free lawn and landscape services to more than 9,000 military families nationwide. To learn more about how you can get involved, go to http://projectevergreen.com/gcft/.

The Dirt on the "It's Complicated" Vegetable Garden
Ever since the movie "It's Complicated" was released in theaters, the online garden community has been buzzing about Jane's (Meryl Streep) vegetable garden, according to Deborah Netburn of the LA Times. She goes on to say that the gardens' "lushness, colorfulness, perkiness...well, it's almost pornographic. One doesn't know whether to envy it, or to be concerned about anyone that eats from it." Learn more about how this outrageous veggie garden was created especially for the movie at L.A. at Home http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/home_blog/2009/12/the-dirt-on-the-its-complicated-vegetable-garden.html.

Plant of the Year
Each year, plant organizations and societies select and promote a plant of the year that they feel has outstanding characteristics and is worthy of being promoted. For 2010, the following plants have been selected and are definitely worth checking out for a place in your garden.

Bbaptisia 2010 Perennial Plant of the Year

Annual - Nicotiana (Flowering tobacco) www.ngb.org
Perennial - Baptisia australia (Blue False Indigo) www.per ennialplant.org
Herb - Anethum graveolens (Dill) www.herbsociety.org
Vegetable - Greens www.ngb.org
Conifer - Dwarf Selection: Ginkgo biloba 'Mariken' (Dwarf Ginkgo)
Full-size Selection #1: Taxodium distichum 'Peve Minaret' (Bald Cypress)
Full-size Selection #2: Larix decidua 'Puli' www.conifersociety.org

Calendar of Events

Beat the Winter Blues Wine & Cheese Party

February 5 wine and cheese

A magical evening of wine, cheese, live music and beautiful blooming flowers to benefit Ronald McDonald House.

Location: Stanley's Greenhouse, 3029 Davenport Road, Knoxville, TN
Date: Friday, February 5, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Cost: is $30 per person, and proceeds from the event will benefit the Ronald McDonald House. Guests will also receive a 10 percent discount on any purchase made that evening.

For more information or to reserve you place, call 865-637-7475.

The Great Backyard Bird Count, February 12-15
The National Audubon Society and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology are calling on everyone to "Count for Fun, Count for the Future!" During last year's count, participants turned in more than 93,600 checklists online, creating the continent's largest instantaneous snapshot of bird populations ever recorded. We hope you'll join us again and help spread the word, since the success of the count depends on people tallying birds from as many locations as possible across the continent. For more information, visit www.birdsource.org/gbbc/.

Dogwood Arts House & Garden Show, February 19-21
The Dogwood Arts House & Garden show is the largest house and garden show in Tennessee for the home improvement and gardening enthusiast. It is a unique marketplace to shop, compare and save on a total selection of home and garden related products and services.

Location: Knoxville Convention Center
Show hours: Friday, Feb. 19 and Saturday, Feb. 20 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 21 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

UT Gardens Conifer Symposium Conifers for Gardeners, February 27
A One-Day Symposium on how to grow and use conifers in the Midsouth.

Saturday, February 27, 2010
8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Location: University of Tennessee Visitor Center, 2712 Neyland Drive, Knoxville, TN,
For directions: http://admissions.utk.edu/undergraduate/visit/directions.shtml.

American Conifer Society Members: $40; UT Gardens Members: $40; Non-members: $45. Register online at http://web.dii.utk.edu/agStore/pc-2709-2412-conifers-for-gardeners-symposium.aspx, or call 865-974-8265.

Come and learn about some of the most beautiful and low maintenance plants you can have in your garden. The day includes educational seminars teaching you how to grow and design your garden with conifers combined with a guided walk through the UT Gardens conifer collection. This exciting symposium will conclude with an exclusive conifer plant sale of some of the most beautiful and choice selections for the Midsouth.

The symposium includes lunch, educational seminars, tour and sale. The UT Gardens are an official American Conifer Society Reference Garden. An ACS Reference Garden Grant provides funding in support of this symposium. For more information, call 865-974-7972 or e-mail sueham@utk.edu or http://utgardens.tennessee.edu/.

Schedule
8:30 a.m. Welcome-Duane Ridenour

8:45 a.m.   "Go Cone Crazy: A Craving for Conifers"-Flo Chaffin

9:45 a.m.    Break

10:00 a.m. "Great Conifers Worth Knowing from the ACS West TN
                     Reference Garden" -Jason Reeves

10:45 a.m. "Great Conifers Worth Knowing from the ACS East TN
                     Reference Garden"- Andy Pulte

11:30 a.m.   Buffet lunch

12:30 p.m. "Hiding From the Neighbors: Green Privacy Screening" - Hugh Conlon

1:15 p.m.    "How To Use Conifers and Companion Plants in the Landscape"-                     Sue Hamilton

2:00 p.m.     Break

2:15 p.m.    Guided walk through the UT Gardens Conifer Collection -                     Sue Hamilton, Andy Pulte, Jason Reeves and Duane Ridenour

3:00 p.m.    Conifer Plant Sale

The 21st Annual Nashville Lawn & Garden Show, March 4-7
Location: Tennessee State Fairgrounds

As Tennessee's premier horticultural event, the show annually attracts more than 22,000 people and is one of the largest gardening shows in the South. We are pleased to announce that the show has been named a Top 20 Event for winter 2010 by the Southeast Tourism Society of the USA.

The event will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, except for Sunday when the doors close at 5 p.m. The cost is $10 for adults, $9 for seniors (age 65 and up) and $1 for children 12 and under. Four-day show passes are $15, and discounts are available for groups of 15 or more adults. You can purchase tickets online through the show's Web site starting February 1.

For more information, call 615-876-7680 or visit www.nashvillelawnandgardenshow.com.

East Tennessee Daffodil Show, March 20
Location: Knoxville, Hollingsworth Auditorium on the University of Tennessee Campus

Come see a wide variety of flowers and vendors at the East Tennessee Daffodil Show. For more information, contact Margot Emery, 865-640-2055.

Sue Hamilton
Director, UT Gardens
sueham@utk.edu

James Newburn
UT Gardens Assistant Director
jnewburn@utk.edu

Jason Reeves
UT Gardens Curator, Jackson
jreeves@mail.ag.utk.edu

Beth Willis
UT Gardens Trial & Volunteer Coordinator
ewillis2@utk.edu

Andy Pulte
UT Lecturer in Public Horticulture
apulte@utk.edu

Become a Friend of the UT Gardens

There are a variety of ways you can support the UT Gardens.
For more information go to http://utgardens.tennessee.edu/support.html

The University of Tennessee Gardens located in Knoxville and Jackson are part of the UT Institute of Agriculture. Their mission is to foster appreciation, education and stewardship of plants through garden displays, collections, educational programs and research trials. Some 4,000 annuals, perennials, herbs, tropicals, trees, shrubs, vegetables and ornamental grasses are evaluated each year. Both gardens are Tennessee Certified Arboreta and American Conifer Society Reference Gardens. The gardens are open during all seasons and free to the public. Visit http://utgardens.tennessee.edu/support.html/ornamentals for more information.