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Trends in Flowering Shrubs: By Tim Wood The times they are a-changin’
Come gather 'round people wherever you
roam
I’m sure that Bob Dylan was not writing about the nursery industry when he wrote these iconic lyrics, but nothing better sums up what’s going on in the world of plants and in particular the world of shrubs. Surely, the times they are a changing! To illustrate this change, just get in your car and drive around some neighborhoods, both new and old, and note how the landscapes have evolved in relation to the age of the homes. With each new generation there has been a dramatic shift in the landscape, the way plants are used and the type of plants being used. Color has increased; perennials have replaced the yews and junipers that were once so common. There has been an overall increase in plant diversity; the ubiquitous crabapple and blue spruce have been replaced with a myriad of plant species. And as homes have become larger and lots smaller, people not longer have the space for big, old-fashioned shrubs. At first glace one might jump to the conclusion that shrubs have seen their day, but in light of societal changes and new breeding efforts shrubs are actually at the beginning of a renaissance.
Shrubs as Perennials By definition shrubs are perennials - they just happen to have woody stems. But in laymen’s terms perennials are herbaceous, and typically have colorful flowers. Shrubs on the other hand have been viewed as the backbone of the garden. Something green to plant in the background. But this is no longer the case. Plant breeders are developing new shrubs that are blurring our traditional lines of plant classification. My Monet Weigela (Weigela f. ‘Verweig’), Midnight Wine (Weigela f. ‘Elvera), Lo & Behold (Buddleia x ‘Blue Chip’) and Petit Bleu (Caryopteris x clandonensis ‘Minbleu’) are all examples of miniature shrubs that look more like perennials than shrubs. Gardeners and landscapers use them like perennials; in borders, in decorative containers and in mass plantings. And while these shrubs fill the same niche as perennials, they don’t require the same level of maintenance; there is no need for deadheading, dividing, or staking. You do not have to cut them back in the autumn or spring. I recently read an article that described shrubs as the lazy man’s perennial, and there’s truth to that. People complain about a lack of time in this day and age, so the future for small and miniature shrubs is very promising.
Some years back, I was responsible for producing over a million perennials. The goal of the program was to provide retailers with bud and bloom perennials. Everyone knows that perennials sell a whole lot better when they’re in bloom, but unfortunately most only bloom for four to six weeks. It was a very difficult task shipping all these perennials before the blooms had expired. It was also very difficult building weekly assortments with sufficient amounts of color. The lesson I learned was that plants with colorful foliage could be sold every week, all season long. I could always count on Hosta, Heuchera, Artemisia, and Pulmonaria to ship every week. These same benefits were passed on to the retailer and the gardener – colorful foliage looks good all season long in the garden center and in the garden. The same lesson can be applied to shrubs; shrubs with colorful foliage have a longer selling season, and when they do flower - it’s just icing on the cake. Over the last ten years we have seen a wide array of new shrub introductions with colorful foliage. Sunshine Blue (Caryopteris incana ‘Jason’), Chardonnay Pearls (Deutzia gracilis ‘Duncan’), Fothergilla x ‘Blue Shadow’, Diabolo (Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Monlo’) Coppertina (Physocarpus o. ‘Mindia’), Black Lace (Sambucus nigra ‘Eva’) and Wine & Roses (Weigela f. ‘Alexandra’) are just a few new flowering shrubs with attractive, colorful foliage. Again, growers, retailers and gardeners all benefit from the season long color provided by these shrubs.
Shrubs with Unique Architecture Some years back, I got a call from Gary Koller, a well respected garden designer in the Boston area. Gary urged me to find and offer more shrubs with narrow, columnar growth habits. It was his opinion that we needed plants with a smaller foot print, which take up less room in the landscape. He also felt these shrubs added interesting architecture to the garden. Narrow shrubs are useful in several other respects. The trend towards smaller home lots dictates the need for smaller or narrower shrubs. After all, who has the space for a Spiraea x Vanhouttei’ in their yard? So there is a need for shrubs that are compact and narrow. This type of shrub has another great benefit; they require less care and maintenance. Growers spend less time spacing and pruning their plants which saves them money. Homeowners also benefit from these shrubs as they save them both time and effort. Berberis t. ‘Helmond Pillar’ barberry, Sunjoy Gold Beret barberry (Berberis t. ‘Maria), Buxus sempervirens ‘Graham Blandy’, Sky Pointer Holly (Ilex crenata ‘Farrowone’), Castle Wall Holly (Ilex x meserveae ‘Hechenstar’) and Fine Line buckthorn (Rhamnus frangula ‘Ron Williams) a just few narrow plants that have seen increased popularity over the last few years. I suspect this trend will continue.
Impulse Appeal Plant impulse appeal has become increasingly important in shrub breeding. Fewer and fewer retailers have sufficient help on the floor to actually sell plants. They’re looking for plants that sell themselves that generate more turns per square foot. I recently spoke with a retailer that was struggling with his shrub department. His sales figures told him that his color sales were increasing but his shrub sales were stagnant. He liked the higher margins he got in his shrub department, but his slow inventory turns were killing him. After looking at his shrub offerings, it was easy to understand why his sales were slow. None of his shrub offerings had any impulse appeal. Working closely with the buyer, I developed a series of seasonal end-cap displays that would make it hard for shoppers to resist. After all, research indicates that over 80% of time a consumers purchasing decision is made while in the store. Not only did we concentrate on shrubs with showy foliage, we scheduled in shrubs with breathtaking floral displays. Certainly shrub breeders have long understood the need for bigger, sexy flowers, but impulse appeal at retail requires more. Most importantly, the plants have to look good in a three gallon container. Floppy or wispy plants don’t present well and as a result don’t sell well either. Attributes such as fragrance, attractive fruit, fall color and variegated foliage all have a role to play in impulse appeal and can translate into faster sales.
Superior Performance and Ease of Care It should be noted, that no matter how colorful, how sexy, or how big the flowers, everyone expects that a plant will perform. Long gone are the days when people were willing to spray their plants to keep them healthy. Just look at the rose market - Flower Carpet, Knock Out, Oso Easy and Home Run roses do not have the big, showy flowers of a Queen Elizabeth rose, yet they’re in high demand because they’re easy to grow. People want plants that are going to live - that they can count on. Sure there will always be die-hard gardening enthusiasts that enjoy the challenge of growing Himalayan blue poppies, but, according to the National Gardening Association, 81% of the population is comprised of casual gardeners, reluctant gardeners and non-gardeners. It’s unfortunate, but most of these people do not know how to prune a shrub, they do not know how to amend soil pH and they have no desire to learn. If we want to sell plants to the majority of the population, we have to give them plants that easy to grow and shrub breeding is providing just that.
Multiple Seasons of Interest For most people yard and garden space has become much too valuable for plants that only shine a few weeks of the year. People want and expect more than three to four weeks of flowers. Colorful foliage addresses this need quite well, but shrubs with interesting fruit and fall color fit the bill as well. Viburnum nudum ‘Brandywine’ is a good example of a shrub that earns its keep. It has extremely glossy green foliage, attractive white flowers, rich burgundy red autumn foliage and an outstanding fruit display that starts out green, changes to pink, then transforms to blue and purple. And while the species typically requires a second cultivar to cross pollinate in order to fruit, this cultivar is does not. Its flowers are self-compatible and thus fruits abundantly without a pollinator. It’s a work-horse of a shrub that gives you season long pizzazz. Shrubs that rebloom, by their very nature, offer multiple seasons of interest. With the success of plants like Stella de Oro daylily and Endless Summer Hydrangea, we have been looking for other shrubs that rebloom. This spring we will be introducing Ghost Weigela (Weigela f. ‘Carlton’) which has iridescent yellow leaves and dark red flowers that appear in spring and repeat continuously right up until frost. The dwarf butterfly Buddleia hybrid Lo & Behold ‘Blue Chip’ starts blooming in mid-summer and continues non-stop until frost. Yes, Buddleia is known to rebloom, but you have to remove the spent flower heads to get a second bloom. This is little gem reblooms continuously without dead-heading; it just keeps on flowering.
The future looks very bright As you can see, plant breeders are reinventing the shrub to meet the needs of today’s growers, retailers, landscapers, gardeners and homeowners. European breeder rights laws, as well as U.S. Plant patents, have given breeders greater incentive to develop new shrubs, and the pace is quickening. But new is not necessarily better. The patent books are filled with plants of all types that no one wants. It takes a lot more than larger flowers to be successful in today’s market. People are demanding more. And like Bob says, “the times they are a-changin,” and so are shrubs. They’re no longer just the bones of the garden – new shrubs are changing the way we grow, sell, garden and landscape, and the future looks very bright indeed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Click here to enter the Plant Hunter Blog, where you can join Tim Wood, The Plant Hunter as he travels the world looking for new plants.
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