Tennessee Greentimes - Spring 2017

VOL. 18/NO. 1

Spring 2017

UT Gardens’

2016 Best & Beautiful

Annuals and Perennials Irrigation Success Stories from the Field

VOL. 18/NO. 1 •

Upcoming Events Tennessee Green Industry Field Day and the Tennessee Green Industry Expo

10

In the Landscape UT Gardens’ 2016 Best & Beautiful Annuals & Perennials

12

Departments From the President, Josh Woodlee...................................................................................6 News from TNLA...............................................................................................................8 Welcome, New TNLA Members.......................................................................................9 Industry News.....................................................................................................................9 Index of Advertisers.........................................................................................................19 Calendar of Events...........................................................................................................22

4

tennessee greentimes Spring 2017

Spring 2017

In the Nursery Irrigation Success Stories from the Field

20

The Tennessee Nursery and Landscape Association serves its members in the industry through education, promotion and representation. The statements and opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the association, its staff, or its board of directors, Tennessee GreenTimes, or its editors. Likewise, the appearance of advertisers, or their identification as Tennessee Nursery and Landscape Association members, does not constitute an endorsement of the products or services featured in this, past or subsequent issues of this quarterly publication. Copyright ©2017 by the Tennessee Nursery and Landscape Association.

Tennessee GreenTimes is published quarterly.

Subscriptions are complimentary to members of the Tennessee Nursery and Landscape Association Third-class postage is paid at Nashville, TN. Printed in the U.S.A. Reprints and Submissions: Tennessee Green Times allows reprinting of material. Permission requests should be directed to the Tennessee Nursery and Landscape Association. We are not responsible for unsolicited freelance manuscripts and photographs. Contact the managing editor for contribution information.

Advertising: For display and classified advertising rates and insertions, please contact Leading Edge Communications, LLC, 206 Bridge Street, Franklin, TN 37064, (615) 790-3718, Fax (615) 794-4524.

From the President Josh Woodlee

Another Year of

TNLA Would like to

Thank

the following companies for being

Membership Sponsors Gold Membership Sponsors Barky Beaver Mulch & Soil Mix, Inc. Blankenship Farms Flower City Nurseries Fuston’s Nursery Monrovia Nufarm Americas, Inc. Putnals Premium Pine Straw, Inc. Randall Walker Farms Samara Farms Southern Ag Swafford Nursery, Inc. Tennessee 811 Warren County Nursery, Inc. Youngblood & Associates, PLLC

Silver Membership Sponsors BWI of Memphis Dayton Bag & Burlap Co. Nashville Landscape Systems, Inc.

6

tennessee greentimes Spring 2017

Growing

Strong

W

ith another spring well underway, the green industry is once again going strong. I’m sure we can all say that we have been blessed with good weather and good fortune when it comes to our businesses this past year.

From all indications, sales were up across all sectors of nursery and landscaping.

I hope we can all enjoy a long and productive growing season this summer to help prepare and compensate for what is sure to be another busy digging season where we all try to handle the demand for trees.

This year, like every year, presents its own challenges. Labor is becoming an omnipresent issue among growers and landscapers alike. Marketing in a new era of social media and internet advertising is a daunting but necessary prospect. Anticipating and keeping up with demand are as hard as ever. It is important to work, as an association, to help tackle these issues and join together as a single unified voice to preserve what we’ve all worked so hard to build.

One of the main events on our calendar this year is once again the tradeshow. As most would attest, last year’s show was very successful with the addition of the social events. Events were sold out well beforehand and brought in several new customers to help facilitate new business for our members. We’re looking forward to building upon that this year and making it even better.

With these encouraging signs of progress and growth abound, it is important to know that we at the TNLA are here to help and to provide an important resource for all your industry needs. We look forward to helping you this year and beyond. Let’s all work together to make this another great year, and we’re looking forward to seeing you all again at the tradeshow this year.

Josh Woodlee 2017 TNLA President

The Tennessee Greentimes is the official publication of The Tennessee Nursery & Landscape Association, Inc. 115 Lyon Street McMinnville, Tennessee 37110 (931) 473-3951 Fax (931) 473-5883 www.tnla.com Email: mail@tnla.com Published by Leading Edge Communications, LLC 206 Bridge Street Franklin, Tennessee 37064 (615) 790-3718 Fax (615) 794-4524 Email: info@leadingedge communications.com Editors Dr. Bill Klingeman Dr. Amy Fulcher Associate Editors Dr. Donna Fare Dr. Nick Gawel Dr. Frank Hale Dr. John Sorochan TNLA Officers President Josh Woodlee David’s Nursery 1st Vice President Justin Stelter JS Gardening, LLC 2nd Vice President Jon Flanders Botanico, Inc. 3rd Vice President Bert Driver Bert Driver Nursery Secretary-Treasurer Cody Walker Walker Nursery Co. Associate Director Milton Whitsett Griffin Greenhouse Supplies Ex-Officio Kim Holden Holden Nursery Executive Director Louree Walker

tennessee greentimes Spring 2017

7

News from TNLA

Meet Your New

TNLA Leaders!

At

TNLA’s Business Meeting, held on October 7 during the 2016 Tennessee Green Industry Expo in Nashville, Tennessee, the following new TNLA officers and director for 2017 were elected and installed. C

President Josh Woodlee David’s Nursery McMinnville, TN (931) 607-3996 davidsnursery@ gmail.com 1st Vice President Justin Stelter JS Gardening, LLC Franklin, TN (615) 596-1696 justinstelter@ gmail.com 2nd Vice President Jon Flanders Botanico, Inc. McMinnville, TN (931) 934-2868 jon.flanders@ botanicohq.com 3rd Vice President Bert Driver Bert Driver Nursery Smithville, TN (615) 597-9560 bert@bertdriver nursery.com SecretaryTreasurer Cody Walker Walker Nursery Co. McMinnville, TN (931) 668-4622

Associate Director Milton Whitsett Griffin Greenhouse Supplies Knoxville, TN (865) 546-9608 Ex-Officio Kim Holden Holden Nursery Mascot, TN (865) 933-7165 holden58@aol.com 8

tennessee greentimes Spring 2017

New TNLA Members

Welcome, TNLA New Members!

Active Beard Property Maintenance Dwight L. Beard 2808 Foster Avenue Nashville, TN 37210 Crown’s Landscaping & Garden Center Cameron Crownover 202 3rd Avenue SE P.O. Box 891 Winchester, TN 37398 Ervin & Son Nursery David Ervin 1300 Glenn Road Cookeville, TN 38501 Oakes Daylilies Ken Oakes P.O. Box 268 Corryton, TN 37721 Shadow Plants Jennifer Shadow P.O. Box 6 Huntland, TN 37345

Associate Mike Brown’s Wholesale Nursery, LLC Charles M. Brown 525 Holtzclaw Lane Hustonville, KY 40437 TriGreen Equipment Davey Britton 340 9th Avenue North Franklin, TN 37064

Affiliate Robert Burns, Ph.D. UT Extension 120 Morgan Hall 2621 Morgan Circle Knoxville, TN 37996

Industry News

Congratulations to the 2015 and 2016 Graduates of the

Tennessee Master Nursery Producer Program!

By Amy Fulcher, Extension Specialist and Associate Professor for Sustainable Ornamental Plant Production and Landscape Management

The

Tennessee Master Nursery Producer (TMNP) Program is a professional development program for nursery crop producers that is led by the University of Tennessee with support from TSU and the USDA. It is the first program of its kind in the nation and was designed to provide Tennessee nursery producers with the best information possible in order to enhance their profitability and environmental, economic and community sustainability. During 2015–16, growers from throughout the state logged in from their homes or offices to access the latest information on container and field production, irrigation, fertilization, substrates, pruning, propagation, integrated pest management, economics and marketing.

Growers who successfully complete the TMNP are rewarded! Graduates have been eligible for 50% cost share on Tennessee Ag Enhancement Program (TAEP) grants, rather than the standard 35%. In addition, since the launch of the online program in 2014, graduates reported an estimated value of $12,008 per graduate from applying practices learned in the program that, in turn, reduce costs and/or increase crop quality. The TMNP program is possible due to financial support from a TDA Specialty Crop Block Grant.

If you have questions about the Tennessee Master Nursery Producer Program, please contact Dr. Amy Fulcher at afulcher@utk.edu, or call her at 865-974-7152. Please check our website — www.tnmasternursery.com — for updates and detailed information about the online program topics, cost, etc. For questions about applying for or becoming eligible for TAEP or other TAEP questions, please contact Mr. Clay Dunivan at clay.dunivan@tn.gov, or call him at 615-837-5348.

From the TMNP committee and me, congratulations to the 2015 and 2016 Tennessee Master Nursery Producer Program graduates! C

2015 Tennessee Master Nursery Producer Program Graduates Alan Carter

Danny Hildreth

Carl Keel

Cherry Creek Nursery

Hildreth Brothers Nursery

Keel Nursery

Sofia Cruz

Phyllis Hunter

Michael Lorance

Garcia’s Nursery

American Heritage Trees

Cherry Springs Nursery

2016 Tennessee Master Nursery Producer Program Graduates Beth Blankenship

Faron Green

Martin Scott

Blankenship Farms and Nursery

Faron Green Nursery

Hidden Valley Nursery

Dwight Bottoms

Joey Haston

Nancy Smith

Haston Farm Nursery

Savory

John Hines

William Wanamaker

Hale and Hines Nursery

Wanamaker Nursery

Bottoms Brothers Nursery

Johnny Bottoms Bottoms Brothers Nursery

Tommy Culwell Triple C Nurseries

Lori McAlister

Matt Vehr

Tennessee Naturescapes

Colorburst Plant Farm

Jonathon Flanders

Gerry Nokes

Randy Youngblood

Gerry Nokes Nursery

Youngblood Farms

Botanico

Scottie Riddle Riddle Plant Farm

tennessee greentimes Spring 2017

9

Upcoming Event

Tennessee Green Industry Field Day in Knoxville, June 20, 2017

By Amy Fulcher, Extension Specialist and Associate Professor for Sustainable Ornamental Plant Production and Landscape Management, The University of Tennessee

The

Tennessee Green Industry Field Day will be held at the UT Gardens in Knoxville on June 20, 2017.

Highlights for 2017 include walking tours

by Amy Fulcher, Frank Hale, Sue Hamilton, Bill Klingeman, James Newburn, Alan Windham and graduate students, as well as a series of topics based on your feedback from 2016!

Lecture topics will include: • “ Landscape Design with Stormwater Management in Mind: Design Principles for the Self-Taught Designer,” Brad Collett, UT Assistant Professor, recent Fullbright Scholar and LEED Accredited Professional • “ Impact of the 2016 Drought on

10

tennessee greentimes Spring 2017

Mature Trees,” Wayne Clatterbuck, UT Forestry Professor • “ Native Bees and Pollinators,” Dr. Bill Klingeman, UT Professor, Urban Landscape and Nursery Research • “ Diseases of Turf,” David Shell, UT Department of Plant Sciences

Back by popular demand Tours of the nursery and landscape research facility and the UT Gardens will be in the morning!

New for 2017 The lunch, vendor time and lectures will be in air-conditioned C.E. Brehm Animal Sciences Building, just a 5-minute walk from the UT Gardens. You’ve probably

noticed the Brehm Arena as you’ve driven to previous Field Days. Our Lecture Hall will seat more people, and the indoor location will allow our vendors to set up out of the wind, rain and heat.

Registration will begin at the UT Garden Plaza as in years past, but it will move to the Brehm Building at 9 a.m.

If you are interested in sponsoring the event or having a vendor booth, please call Louree Walker at 931-473-3951, or email her at tnurseryassn@blomand.net.

Pesticide points will be applied for. Early registration deadline is June 9, 2017.

Stay tuned for more information on how to register! C

In the Landscape

UT Gardens’

2016 Best & Beautiful

3 1

Annuals and Perennials

By Susan Hamilton, Ed.D., Director of the UT Gardens; James Newburn, Assistant Director; Holly Jones, Kitchen Garden Manager, The University of Tennessee

Top Annuals of 2016 Best In Show Capsicum (Ornamental Pepper) Sedona Sun (New!) Add spice to the landscape with this wonderful new variety of spreading ornamental pepper. With a 12" to 14" spread and 10" to 12" height, this is an ideal landscape bedding plant. It is loaded with upright chili peppers that are above the foliage. Plants have fruits that are shades of yellow and orange at the same time for a bright summer display that transitions well into a great fall seasonal look.

(PanAmerican Seed) (Photo 1)

Top Seed Cultivars Capsicum ‘Hot Pops Purple’ (New!)

the other colors, Really Red is disease resistant, heat and drought tolerant and blooms earlier than some other cultivars.

Rich, true red flowers on very uniform plants makes it ideal for mass planting.

(PanAmerican Seed) (Photo 3)

Top Rooted Cutting Cultivars Artemisia Quicksilver™ (New!) An absolutely wonderful foliage plant that pairs nicely with almost any flower color in the landscape bed or mixed container.

Known by many as Dusty Miller, this plant has soft-textured, silver foliage and is drought and heat tolerant. This cultivar’s growth habit is uniform, and plants maintain a low height of 8" to 10".

(Proven Winners) (Photo 4)

Calibrachoa Superbells® Hollywood Star (New!)

Purple and orange, pea-sized peppers rise above the foliage and make for a showy display, whether in a landscape bed or in a container. (PanAmerican Seed) (Photo 2)

This bright fuchsia-pink calibrachoa is set off with a bright yellow throat surrounded by a band of deep purple. This selection for 2017 has also been bred for disease resistance. (Proven Winners) (Photo 5)

Vinca Titan® Really Red

Lantana Lucky™ Red (New!)

A fabulous new color added to this top-performing vinca series. As with

Rich, deep red-orange flowers give an outstanding performance. Drought, deer

12

tennessee greentimes Spring 2017

2

4

1: A Top Seeded Annual for 2016 — Capsicum ‘Hot Pops Purple’ (ornamental pepper). 2: Our Best in Show Winner for 2016 — Capsicum Sedona Sun (ornamental pepper). 3: Vinca Titan® Really Red.

and disease resistant, this lantana attracts pollinators and has thrived in the heat of summer, and the color blended nicely into the fall landscape. (Ball FloraPlant)

Top Series Ipomoea, Sweet Caroline series These sweet potato vines love the heat and humidity, so they thrive in our southern gardens. Sweet Caroline now has nine cultivars within the series, with a variety of leaf shapes and colors: from heartshaped to maple-leafed, and lime-green to copper to black in color. It’s a vigorous grower, but it takes hard pruning well, if needed. (Proven Winners) (Photos 6 – 8)

Vinca, Valiant™ series Flowers offer bright, pure, consistent color and make this series a standout. A vigorous growth habit and large flowers create mounds of color that can withstand

13

5

7

9

11

14

6

8

10

12

15

4: A Top Rooted Cutting Cultivar — Artemisia Quicksilver™ (foreground) with Supertunia® Vista Bubblegum petunia.

5: Calibrachoa Superbells® Hollywood Star. 6: Ipomoea Sweet Caroline Sweetheart Jet Black sweet potato vine.

7: Ipomoea Sweet Caroline Light Green sweet potato vine (foreground). 8: Ipomoea Sweet Caroline Raven sweet potato vine (foreground). 9: Vinca Valient™ Apricot. 10: Vinca Valient™ Orchid. 11: Canna ‘South Pacific Scarlet’.

12: Supertunia® Vista Bubblegum petunia. 13: Angelonia Archangel™ Blue Bicolor (photo courtesy of Ball FloraPlant).

14: Begonia Megawatt™ Rose. 15: Calibrachoa Caberet Sky Blue (photo courtesy of Ball Horticultural).

almost anything that nature throws at it.

The plants are very disease resistant, are heat and drought tolerant and are available in a wide range of colors. Valient™ comes in Apricot, Burgundy, Lilac, Orchid, Punch and Pure White, and all performed well. (PanAmerican/Keift) (Photos 9 & 10)

spreading plants, which make it ideal for containers or landscape beds. Extremely tolerant of summer heat, humidity and drought, this variety always performs well. (Proven Winners) (Photo 12)

Tried and True

(alphabetical order)

Canna ‘South Pacific Scarlet’ This 2013 All-America Selections ornamental seed winner is valued for its heat tolerance, compact habit and uniform habit that still has us singing its praises.

(Photo 11)

Petunia Supertunia® Vista Bubblegum This visitor favorite always attracts a lot of attention because of the rich, pink profusion of blooms on mounding and

Awesome Annuals

Begonia The Megawatt™ series is outstanding because of the huge blooms on vigorous plants held up with study stems. We tested Megawatt™ Pink Bronze Leaf, Megawatt™ Rose Green Leaf and Megawatt™ Red Green Leaf, and all performed well. These plants are ideal for landscape beds, hanging baskets and containers. (PanAmerican Seed) (Photo 14)

Angelonia Angelface® Perfectly Pink (New)

Calibrachoa

Always a winner for its heat and drought tolerance, Perfectly Pink is new for 2017 and has a rich, pink color that shows up even in bright sunlight. (Proven Winners)

Cabaret® Sky Blue (New)

Archangel™ Cherry Red Archangel™ Blue Bicolor

StarShine™ Pink

Both of these have huge blooms!

(Ball FloraPlant) (Photo 13)

Beautiful, soft yet rich lavender blue with a purple center with a pale yellow eye.

(Ball FloraPlant) (Photo 15)

This showstopper has a bright-yellow star shape contrasting with a hot pink background. (Selecta)

tennessee greentimes Spring 2017

13

In the Landscape Continued

20 18 22

16

17

19

21

23

16: Calibrachoa Superbells® Coralberry Punch (photo courtesy of Proven Winners). 17: Canna Cannova Mango.

18: Capsicum NuMex Easter ornamental pepper. 19: Coleus French Quarter (foreground). 20: Coleus Ruby Slipper.

21: Cyperus King Tut™ (photo courtesy of Proven Winners). 22: Interspecific impatiens Bounce Violet 17. 23: Marigold Taishan Mix (photo courtesy of Ball Horticultural Company).

Superbells® Coralberry Punch™ Performing exceptionally well in Jackson, the flowers had a rich, coral margin and a dark throat with a yellow eye.

(Proven Winners) (Photo 16)

Superbells®

Pomegranate Punch™ Flowers are truly the color of pomegranates with a dark eye. (Proven Winners)

Canna Cannova Mango This seed-grown, first-season flowering canna is a new color in this series.

Plants are a great landscaping choice and offer a very manageable 3' to 4' tall height while being unlikely to lodge. Mango is a great addition to the wonderful Cannova series. (Ball Ingenuity) (Photo 17)

Capsicum Besides the varieties that garnered our top prizes this year, some of our favorite ornamental pepper standouts from previous years still deserve recognition for their outstanding performance including: Chilly Chili and Sangria from

14

tennessee greentimes Spring 2017

PanAmerican and NewMex Easter, a 2014 AAS bedding plant winner. We valued the plants where multi-colored fruit stood up above the foliage. (Photo 18)

Coleus Always adding a great foliage color contrast to flowers in mixed containers, landscape beds and large hanging baskets, coleus are favorite companion plants. Ball FloraPlant had some outstanding new varieties including: Inferno in a russetorange color; French Quarter with pink, burgundy and green classic leaf pattern; and Ruby Slipper in a solid velvetyred color. (Photos 19 & 20)

Cyperus For an exotic foliage plant for any landscape that can be used as a water plant or in the ground, we love King Tut™ and Prince Tut™ Egyptian papyrus from Proven Winners’ Graceful Grasses® line. Strong stems hold up sprays of finetextured, hair-like leaves, creating a sparkler, fountain effect. Prince Tut™ reaches only about 2.5', about half of King Tut™, which can get up to 4.5' to 5' tall.

(Proven Winners) (Photo 21)

Impatiens The Big Bounce™ and Bounce™ varieties of interspecific impatiens thrive in sun and shade and are disease resistant to downy mildew. Big Bounce™ Pink, Bounce™ Bright Coral and Bounce™ Violet 17 are all new colors within their respective series. Their name comes from their ability to bounce back after wilt.

(Selecta) (Photo 22)

Marigold Taishan® marigolds received perfect scores in Jackson in west Tennessee. They are valued for their shorter, stronger stems and better branching. Taishan® Yellow and Taishan® Orange were evaluated along with Taishan® Gold Improved, a new variety. (PanAmerican Seed.)

(Photo 23)

Pentas One of the best pollinator attractants in our gardens, pentas is not only heat and drought tolerant but also blooms till frost.

‘Graffiti Pink’ and ‘Graffiti White’ from Benary Seed have been on the market for

In the Landscape Continued

24

25

27

26

28

29

30

24: Petunia Supertunia® Vista Fuschia Improved. 25: Verbena Superbena® Royale Peachy Keen (photo courtesy of Proven Winners). 26: Zinnia Zahara® Red. 27: Echinacea ‘Cheyenne Spirit’. 28: Echinacea ‘Feeling Pink’. 29: Monarda Sugar Buzz® Bubblegum Blast (photo courtesy of Walters Gardens). 30: Penstemon Red Rock.

several years and are excellent varieties, as always. (Benary Seed)

Petunia New from Proven Winners is Supertunia® Vista Fuchsia Improved.

Similar to the tried and true favorite Vista Bubblegum, it has a vigorous, mounding growth and season-long bloom but with a richer, darker-pink color. It tolerates heat and humidity with never a lull in flower production. (Proven Winners) (Photo 24) ColorRush™ Pink is valued for its vigor that holds up to wind, heat and rain. It’s also available in ColorRush™ Purple.

(Ball FloraPlant) A most unusual petunia, Night Sky is a rich deep purple that speckled with white when temperatures are cooler in spring and fall. We had it in containers, and it attracted a lot of attention. (Selecta)

Verbena Superbena® verbenas are rebloomers that are heat tolerant and ideal as spillers and fillers in containers. Superbena® Royale Peachy Keen and Superbena® Royale Romance (a wine red) are both new colors for 2017. (Proven Winners) (Photo 25) The EnduraScape™ series is valued for being heat tolerant, powdery mildew resistance, and is more likely to bloom continuously throughout the

16

tennessee greentimes Spring 2017

summer. EnduraScape™ Magenta, EnduraScape™ Purple Improved and EnduraScape™ Pink Bicolor are new color colors. (Ball FloraPlant)

Vinca In addition to the Valiant™ series designated in our “Top Series,” the Titan® series are also vigorous, heat- and drought-resistant growers with prolific bloomers, available in a variety of colors that will fit any scheme in a full-sun container or landscape bed. Titan® Blush Improved was new this year.

(PanAmerican Seed)

Zinnia Improvements in zinnia breeding include blooms holding their color longer before fading and larger bloom size. Zahara® fits the bill on this, and XL Fire Improved, XL Yellow and XL White were top performers. (PanAmerican Seed) (Photo 26)

Promising and Proven Perennials Echinacea Seed-grown varieties that flower the first year have made a big splash in the past several years, garnering AAS awards, and we find that they perform well in heat and

drought conditions. ‘Cheyenne Spirit’ is a wonderful mix of colors that vary from purple to reds to soft-yellows and white.

‘PowWow Wild Berry’ will brighten any garden with its rose-purple flowers.

Plants are very floriferous and have a good branching habit and height uniformity. ‘Feeling Pink’ is a 2016 FleuroSelect Gold Medal winner and is a compact variety (about 20") loaded with blooms.

Bright rose-pink flowers contrast nicely with dark green foliage. (Photo 27 & 28)

Monarda Sugar Buzz® series This new beebalm series offers short, compact plants growing to just 16" to 24" tall and wide, which is perfect for the front of the border. Plants are covered in long-lasting flowers that are great pollinator attractors. These selections form domes of color with fat 2"+ blooms on plants with candy names: Cherry Pops, Lilac Lollipop, Grape Gumball and Bubblegum Blast. As cultivars of a native species, they are easy to grow.

They display above-average resistance to powdery mildew and prefer full sun.

Hummingbirds, butterflies and bees are attracted to the plants’ sweet nectar.

(Walters Gardens) (Photo 29)

Penstemon Red Rock® This outstanding, disease-resistant cultivar tolerated our heat, humidity and dry conditions. Rose-pink flower spikes with large individual flowers result in quite a show. Its compact growth habit (at 18" to 24") required no staking. (Photo 30)

In the Landscape Continued

31

32

33

31: Sedum ‘Dazzleberry’ (photo by Chris Hansen). 32: Sedum ‘Firecracker’ (photo by Chris Hansen). 33: Sedum ‘Lime Zinger’ (photo courtesy Walters Gardens).

Sedum SunSparkler® series Hybrid sedum

The SunSparkler® Sedum series is an exciting heat-tolerant group of sedums bred by Chris Hansen. They make firstclass groundcover plants, ideal for mass planting and use in decorative containers (especially troughs), and they are perfect for the front of a mixed border or rock garden.

‘Blue Pearl’ has intense blue foliage that makes this unique new selection a great

choice for landscape or patio. It remains colorful all summer long, unlike other varieties. Large, contrasting hot-pink flowers clusters dance above the foliage in late summer. It’s useful as a colorful groundcover or as a feature in rock garden or container.

‘Cherry Tart’ is noted for its super compact habit, growing only 6" high by 10" wide and producing cherry-red foliage and clusters of deep-pink flowers in late summer. It is being touted as “perfect for

a water-wise landscape” and for having the ability to retain its color all summer long, unlike other sedums.

‘Dazzleberry’ has impressive dustyblue foliage and giant 9" raspberry flower heads. It grows 8" tall and 18" wide.

(Photo 31) ‘Firecracker’ is a groundcover with shiny, cherry-red foliage from April thru November! Plants form 6" tall and 18" wide mounds of colorful foliage that combines superbly with other droughtproof perennials. Firecracker’s compact habit also allows for a multitude of uses, including mixed container plantings on your deck, edging along walkways and a green roof. (Photo 32) ‘Lime Twister’ is a variegated sport from ‘Lime Zinger’ that has cream-colored edges on every leaf. No sun scorching.

‘Lime Zinger’ is more compact, growing only 4" high and spreading 18" wide, but it is unique because of its bright lime-green foliage, which has a cherryred picotee edge. (Photo 33) xSedoro ‘Blue Elf’ (the first ever intergeneric hybrid between Sedum and Orostachys) has steel-blue tufted foliage rosettes and numerous lateral branches that elongate away from the center, closely resembling the Orostachys parent. It grows to a very tight and ultra-compact height of only 3' tall and will reach 15" wide.

Plants are smothered with hundreds of dark-pink flowers in late summer. C

18

tennessee greentimes Spring 2017

Index of Advertisers

Barky Beaver Mulch & Soil Mix Inc........................................................19 www.barkybeaver.com

Boshancee Nursery, Inc.............................................................................18 www.boshanceensy.com

Braun Horticulture......................................................................................10 www.braungroup.com

Center Hill Nursery.....................................................................................22 www.centerhillnurseries.com

Cowart Mulch Products, Inc.....................................................................15 www.cowartmulch.com

D & D Agri....................................................................................................18 Fairview Evergreen Nurseries.....................................................................7 www.fairviewevergreen.com

Hidden Valley Nursery................................................................................22 www.hiddenvalleynursery.com

John Holmlund Nursery.............................................................................21 www.jhnsy.com

Leading Edge Communications..................................Inside Front Cover www.LeadingEdgeCommunications.com

Lee-Smith, Inc...............................................................................................3 www.lee-smith.com

Low Falls Wholsale Nursery.....................................................................19 www.lowfallsnursery.com

McHutchison Horticultural..........................................................................7 www.mchutchison.com

Mid Tenn Turf, Inc.................................................................................8, 22 www.midtennturf.com

Motz & Son Nursery...................................................................................19 Neely Coble Co............................................................................................17 Pleasant Cove Nursery.................................................................................8 www.plantlocator.com

Richey Nursery Company, LLC...................................................................8 www.richeynursery.com

Samara Farms...............................................................................................5 www.samarafarms.com

Smith Seed Services..................................................................................22 www.smithseed.com

Surface Nursery Inc......................................................Inside Front Cover www.surfacenursery.com

Swafford Nursery....................................................................... Back Cover www.swaffordnursery.com

Tennessee 811............................................................................................10 www.tnonecall.com

Thomas Nursery..........................................................................................22 www.thomasnurserytrees.com

Tree Equipment Design, Inc.......................................................................7 www.treeequip.com

Wellmaster Carts........................................................... Inside Back Cover www.wellmaster.ca

tennessee greentimes Spring 2017

19

In the Nursery

Irrigation Success Stories from the Field

A

team at the University of Tennessee has initiated a series of irrigation projects at several nurseries. At some projects, we help nursery producers monitor their irrigation applications and the moisture level of substrate in containers and soil in field production with moisture sensors. At other nurseries, we test novel irrigation-scheduling strategies such as on demand (watering when plants dry to an established threshold), daily water use (replacing the amount of water used by the plant and lost to evaporation each day) and leachatebased irrigation (maintaining a desired ratio of water applied to water leached from containers).

The Southern Risk Management Education Center, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the UT Institute of Agriculture have made these projects possible through their generous support. The projects mentioned above and others from across the nation are being featured in a “Success Story” series that began in the Fall 2016 issue of Tennessee GreenTimes.

20

tennessee greentimes Spring 2017

In this issue, we focus on a container example in which changing container substrates reduced the nursery’s water demand. To learn more about the techniques and irrigation scheduling strategies mentioned in the Success Stories, please consult the UT resource for nursery owners and irrigation operators “Nursery Irrigation: A Guide for Reducing Risk and Improving Production” at http:// plantsciences.utk.edu/tnsustainable nurserycrops.htm. Limited print copies are available. To request a copy, email your name and mailing address with the request to afulcher@utk.edu.

Team members: Amy Fulcher, Extension Specialist and Associate Professor, University of Tennessee Department of Plant Sciences Brian Lieb, Extension Specialist and Associate Professor, University of Tennessee Department of Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science Jeff McHugh, Extension Assistant,

University of Tennessee Department of Plant Sciences Wesley Wright, Research Associate, University of Tennessee Department of Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science Whitney Yeary, Extension Assistant, University of Tennessee Department of Plant Sciences Quinn Cypher, Extension Assistant (former), University of Tennessee Department of Plant Sciences

Saving Water and Increasing Plant Survival by Refining Container Substrate (Holly Hill Farms) Holly Hill Farms had to irrigate their container nursery constantly to keep the plants from drying out, driving up pumping costs and management time. Rhododendron, Kalmia, Leucothoe and Pieris were particularly troublesome. They sometimes experienced a 50% loss with Rhododendron. Why? Brothers David and

John Farrow determined that the problem was their very porous substrate (nearly 100% pine bark and a small percentage of sand). While it had served them well previously in preventing black root rot of hollies, it was time for a change. Their porous substrate dried out quickly, causing their irrigation pump to run all day just to keep up.

They turned to Andrew Ristvey, Extension Specialist with the University of Maryland. Andrew helped Holly Hill Farms develop a new substrate with higher water-holding capacity and less airfilled porosity that allowed them to better manage their irrigation timing. In just one year, Holly Hill Farms reduced its pumping time from 10 hours to 8 hours per day, which decreased electric bills by 7% to 8%, reduced its labor cost (since John didn’t need to monitor container moisture levels as closely) and minimized the need for irrigation while overwintering.

In the new substrate, plants also developed roots and established faster, making them marketable sooner. Another benefit to increasing the substrate moisture retention was reducing nutrient loss through leaching, which improved nutrient management and reduced fertilizer expenses.

And because they no longer have to constantly run irrigation within their current production area, they now have water available to expand production.

The Farrows were awarded the Conservation Operation of the Year from their Soil Conservation District in 2010 and certified as an Agricultural Conservation Steward by the Farm Stewardship Conservation and Assessment Program of the Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts in 2015 for their dedication and hard work to protect natural resources. Holly Hill Farms is the first nursery certified as an Agricultural Conservation Steward!

Note: While changing the substrate was the right decision for this nursery, it is a big change that should be closely weighed. Changing the substrate affects both nutrient and water management. C

Success story provided by David and John Farrow, Holly Hill Farms and Andrew Ristvey and John Lea-Cox, University of Maryland.

For more information, see http://www.cecilscd.com/2010copyr.htm.

tennessee greentimes Spring 2017

21

Nursery and Landscape Symposium TSU Nursery Research Center McMinnville, TN Contact: (931) 815-5147 www.tnstate.edu/agriculture/nrc

June 15–18

Cultivate ‘17 AmericanHort Next Level (formerly ANLA and OFA) Columbus, OH www.americanhort.org

June 20

Tennessee Green Industry Field Day University of TN Gardens Knoxville, TN Contact: (931) 473-3951 Fax: (931) 473-5833 Email: mail@tnla.com www.tnla.com

June 20

Tennessee Nursery Field Day TSU Nursery Research Center McMinnville, TN Contact: (931) 668-3233 ngawel@tnstate.edu

July 16–18

NALP Legislative Day on the Hill (National Association of Landscape Professionals) Washington, D.C. Contact: (800) 395-2522 www.landscapeprofessionals.org

July 23–28

Perennial Plant Symposium DoubleTree by Hilton Denver, CO Contact: (614) 771-8431 Email: ppa@perennialplant.org www.perennialplant.org

October 5–6

Tennessee Green Industry Expo To be held in conjunction With The Middle Tennessee Nursery Association (MTNA) McMinnville City Center McMinnville, TN Contact: (931) 473-3951 Fax: (931) 473-5833 Email: mail@tnla.com www.tngie.com

22

tennessee greentimes Spring 2017

Digital Marketplace

June 2

Scan the QR code: Download your favorite QR reader to your phone and scan the code to learn more about these companies.

Calendar of Events