By Dan Rahn
University of Georgia
Volume XXVIII |
Since 1994, the Georgia Plant Selections Committee has been
helping Georgia
gardeners improve their landscapes with beautiful, proven
plants.
The committee is made up of nurserymen, flower growers,
landscapers, landscape
designers, garden center managers and University of Georgia
horticulturists.
Each year they select an annual, perennial, shrub and tree
from a long list
of nominees and awards them Georgia Gold Medals. This year
they added a flowering
vine. Only the best of the best can earn the top honors.
The 2003 Georgia Gold Medal Winners are:
Annual: Mexican zinnias (Zinnia
angustifolia ‘Star Series’).
These beauties thrive with little care, tolerate drought, heat
and humidity
and bloom nonstop from spring until fall frost. The “Star
Series” gives you
a choice of planting solid colors or combinations.
Native to hot, dry regions of Mexico, it actually prefers dry
soils. Once established,
Mexican zinnias will provide a fiesta of color with little
routine care.
The plants are mound-shaped, 12 to 18 inches high and 12
inches wide. They’re
resistant to mildew and bacterial leaf spots that plague other
zinnias, and
insect pests are seldom a problem. They prefer full sun and
well-drained soils.
Perennial: Miss Huff lantana (Lantana
camara ‘Miss Huff’). Most
lantanas aren’t winter-hardy, but Miss Huff is a proven
perennial, at least
in hardiness zone 7.
Miss Huff blooms continuously from spring until fall frost.
It’s drought-tolerant
and attracts butterflies like magnets, but repels deer with
its pungent foliage.
A shrub that grows 6 feet tall and 10 feet wide, its flowers
are dense heads,
2 to 3 inches wide, of pink, orange and yellow florets. It
grows in coastal
beach sands and north Georgia’s heavy clay, but does best
moist, fertile soils
enriched with organic matter.
Flowering Vine: Crossvine (Bignonia
capreolata). This is the
first vine to get a Georgia Gold Medal. A native, flowering
vine in moist, woodland
soils from Maryland to Florida to Louisiana, crossvine is a
tough, evergreen
vine that produces a reliable spring display of fragrant, deep
red, tubular
flowers.
Butterflies and hummingbirds enjoy its nectar-rich, April
blossoms. It’s heat-
and drought-tolerant and deer-resistant. Several cultivars are
out there, including
“Jekyll” (orange flowers) and “Tangerine Beauty” (ruby-
tangerine flowers).
Crossvine gets its name from the cross-like look of the pith
in its stem. It’s
a vigorous climber (30 to 50 feet). Leaves are dark green,
turning reddish purple
in winter. Plant it in moist, acidic, well-drained soils in
full sun to partial
shade.
Shrub: Henry anise-tree (Illicium henryi). This
isn’t really
a tree but a coarse-textured, evergreen shrub 6 to 8 feet tall
and wide. It
thrives in dense shade or partial shade, an excellent choice
for woodland settings.
Henry anise-tree has glossy, pest-free foliage and pink to
deep crimson flowers
in April to May. Deer avoid its aromatic foliage, which smells
like licorice
when crushed.
This is the cream of the crop among the several anise-tree
species on the market.
Plant it in moist, well-drained soils. A complete fertilizer
each spring and
water in dry times will keep it looking its best.
Tree: Chinese fringe tree (Chionanthus
retusus). If you want
a small flowering tree that’s not a dogwood, this is a sure-
fire choice. In
late April to early May, its pure-white, strap-like flowers
come in such profusion
that you often can’t see the foliage.
Chinese fringe tree’s grayish-brown bark exfoliates into
paper-like curls as
the plant ages. Pest-resistant and drought-tolerant, it can be
a large, multistem
shrub or small tree, reaching 15 to 25 feet tall.
Its leaves are oval, 3 to 4 inches across and lustrous, dark
green. It’s deciduous,
but the leaves often persist into December. It adapts to full
sun or partial
shade and prefers moist, well-drained soils.
