Each year the Georgia Plant Selections Committee awards
four
plants its coveted Georgia
Gold Medal for outstanding garden merit.The committee is made up of growers, landscapers, landscape
designers, garden center
managers, botanical garden horticulturists and University of
Georgia faculty.The group chooses an annual flower, a herbaceous perennial,
a shrub and a tree from
long lists of nominees. They always select
“blue-blood” winners, and the first
winners of the new millennium are no exception.Durability, versatility, pest tolerance and consumer appeal
will make the Georgia Gold
Medal winners for the year 2000 extremely marketable.Growers are already gearing up to make these great plants
available for Georgia gardens
and landscapes.
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Annual Winners
Sun-loving Coleus are phenomenal bedding
plants taking the landscape
and garden center industries by storm. They’re proving that
coleus aren’t just for shade
anymore.
Among the many sun-loving coleus on the market, the
committee singled out four as
favorites.
- “Amazon” has chartreuse and gold foliage.
- “Solar Flare” boasts iridescent chartreuse,
green and burgundy tones.- “Red Ruffles” has brilliant red foliage with
hints of green and ruffled-edged
leaves.- And ‘Purple Ducksfoot’ has purple-green foliage shaped
like — you guessed it — a
duck’s foot.
Sun-loving coleus are great as bedding plants in the
landscape or in containers. Few
plants can match the nonstop color they provide April until
first frost.
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Herbaceous Perennial
Winners
David and Robert Poore phlox bloom in the
late-summer heat when other Phlox
paniculata tend to get mildew and shur down.
David phlox is white and fragrant, while Robert Poore is
bright pink. Both grow to
about 4 feet high, making them excellent background plants in
the perennial border.
They bloom four to six weeks, beginning in late June, and
can be pushed to bloom in the
fall. Both hold up well as cut flowers.
Gardeners who have failed miserably with the old garden
phlox need to try David or
Robert Poore. They can make even the weekend gardener a
green-thumb success.
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Shrub Winner
“Alice” Oakleaf Hydrangea is
among the best of the new,
superior selections of Hydrangea quercifolia.
Like other oakleaf hydrangeas, Alice produces 10- to
14-inch-long panicles of showy
sepals in late spring. But each sepal may be the size of a
half-dollar, compared to the
normal dime size.
The resulting floral display is sure to be the highlight of
the garden. As the summer
progresses, the flowers fade from white to rosy pink,
combining
well with the pinks and
purples of herbaceous perennials.
Alice grows about 12 feet high and 12 feet wide. It’s best
used as a single specimen or
as a background plant in the perennial border.
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Tree Winner
Little Gem Magnolia is a perfect choice
for
large houses on small lots
and other landscapes that need plants for small places.
Magnolia grandiflora ‘Little Gem’ grows about 12
feet wide and 20 to 25 feet
tall. It’s excellent for the corner of a home, as a backgound
plant in the perennial
border or as a hedge plant to define space or screen a
view.
The leaves are smaller than other magnolias and are
pest-free. Fragrant flowers begin
in June and are borne sporadically through the summer and
fall.
Little Gem magnolia is a tough plant for tough sites. Once
established, it’s very
drought-tolerant, making it an excellent candidate for water
wise gardens.
