Released May 5, 2009
LINCOLN, Neb. -- Today's gardeners are constantly seeking landscape plants that are reliably hardy, easy to care for and ornamentally worthwhile to grow. For what's new and best for your garden this year, check out the recommendations from the GreatPlants for the Great Plains program.
For top performance in difficult conditions GreatPlants selections can be relied on to meet the challenging growing conditions in Nebraska. Why these plants? Besides surviving our weather, these tough dudes are thriving in many home landscapes. The program is on a mission to expand the number of native and adapted exotic plants available to Midwestern gardens.
Since 1998 the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum and Nebraska Nursery and Landscape Association have promoted overlooked trees, shrubs, herbaceous perennials, and ornamental grasses that show superior qualities to Nebraska landscapes. Members of the nursery and landscape association, represented by nursery professionals, landscape designers and horticulture educators, select and vote on these 'Plant of the Year' winners each year.
If you want greenery without a lot of care, the GreatPlants recommendations are water-wise, drought-tolerant plants. By growing plants that use less water and very few chemicals gardeners show their commitment to environmentally friendly landscaping. If you are looking for the newest plants and like to have something different, look no further than the GreatPlants. It's worth keeping an eye on the program because new plants are promoted each year.
The GreatPlants program also is working to introduce new plants into the nursery trade and to local garden centers through plant introductions and the release of named cultivars developed by the program. Organizers are always on the lookout for outstanding ornamental plants that are new, yet meet gardeners' demands for well-adapted plants.
Since 1998 there have been 30 exciting new plants selected by Nebraskans and released as GreatPlants cultivars, including 19 that are native to Nebraska or the Great Plains. A new plant recommended for testing might be found in natural areas within Nebraska or in regions adjacent to or similar to Nebraska's climate. A new release or a named variety might be selected from collections made in natural populations, through breeding programs, or from public and private gardens.
A plethora of exciting new woody plants and flowering perennials currently is being tested and evaluated for eventual release into commercial horticulture – including a couple of compact tree selections from Mongolia, the rare prairie willow, a columnar cottonwood and several beautiful viburnum shrub selections.
GreatPlants is a joint effort of the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum and the Nebraska Nursery and Landscape Association designed to create exciting business opportunities for Great Plains nurseries and garden centers by increasing public awareness of new plants that were selected right here in Nebraska. More and more gardeners are bombarded with new introductions that feature lush cottage garden plants as enjoyed in parts of Europe and the eastern United States. These plants struggle to thrive, even survive, in many areas of the Great Plains in our difficult soils and intense weather extremes. The GreatPlants program assists gardeners in their quest to discover dependable new plants.
For more information about the 2009 Plants of the Year, ask for the colorful and informative GreatPlants Gardener publication at your local garden center or nursery. Or visit the GreatPlants Web site, http://arboretum.unl.edu/greatplants/, for additional information, including images and descriptions of the Plant of the Year recommendations and a complete listing of all the named cultivars released through the program. Or call Bob Henrickson of the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum at (402) 472-7855.
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http://ianrnews.unl.edu/static/0905017.shtml
Contacts: Bob Henrickson, (402) 472-2971
Dan Moser, (402) 472-3007
