Contents

Nursery Updates

• top sellers
• newsletter
• news archives
  
  
• top sellers contest

Tony's Book

• announcement

Email We've Received

• compliments
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• twilight zone

PDN Newsletter Archives 2004

January 2004

Greetings from Juniper Level! We hope you are having a great winter if such is possible. If you are near Oswego, New York, we're really sorry that you are buried under 5' of snow, but I bet your perennials are staying warm. We have just had our fourth snowstorm of the winter, which is quite a bit for our area. We haven't had more than 3" at a time, but the road crews are still about to mutiny.

I'm just back from a week of speaking and nursery/garden hopping in Kaahlifornia (Austrian Ebonics), from San Diego north to Santa Barbara. It was a real treat to speak to the Garden Club of America Horticulture Committee at the Huntington Botanical Garden along with old friends Ann Lovejoy and Richard Hartlage. The staff at the Huntington was wonderful and I can't recommend a visit there highly enough If you have any interest in aloes and agaves, the Huntington Desert Collection alone is worthy of a full day visit. It was also a treat to spend time at the Quail Botanical Gardens north of San Diego, and Santa Barbara Botanic Gardens. Quail Botanic Gardens has a much more tropical feel with fabulous plant collections from around the world. Santa Barbara Botanic Gardens focuses on California native plants and is a tremendous resource for studying the wide array of native plants.

I visited quite a few nurseries as well. In the retail world, Nuccio's Nursery in Pasadena was just delightful. I had heard of Nuccio's for years, but the chance to spend half a day with Tom Nuccio was very special. He is a tremendous lover of all plants, not just the azaleas and camellias in which they specialize. Just south of Los Angeles, I was able to stop and visit the mail order nursery Kartuz. I've ordered from Mike Kartuz since the 1970's and never had the opportunity to meet in person. His mail order nursery specializes in house plants, especially gesneriads and begonias. Nearby was Buena Creek Gardens of Steve and Donna Brigham. This charming nursery is home to a wide array of plants from daylilies to California natives. Steve had visited PDN many years earlier and it was great to have an opportunity to finally visit his operation. It shouldn't be much longer before his fabulous new variegated (stable) daylily hits the market.

I was also fortunate to stop by a number of wholesale operation including Rancho Soledad Nursery which specializes in huge sizes of agaves, aloes, and palms; Hammer Nursery, home of world renown plant explorer Gary Hammer, Greenlee Nursery, home of ornamental grass guru John Greenlee, Native Sons Nursery of plantsman Dave Fross and his wife Rainey; San Marcos Growers where Randy Baldwin produces landscape size specimens of a treasure trove of rarities; and Rancho Tissue Technologies where owner Heather May is tissue culturing an array of plants that have never been done before.

Speaking of agaves, we are coordinating a meeting of agave collectors to be held in the San Francisco area from April 9-11. Brian Kemble at the Ruth Bancroft Garden has put together a great program for April 9 at the Ruth Bancroft Garden, which will be followed by other tours and chances to network with other agaviphiles. If you want to spend a few days talking agaves and aloes, drop us a line at office@plantdelights.com for more details.

If you participated in our Top 25 contest, the first month results are below. I hope you will find your choices in the top, but if not, don't fret as the top sellers often change dramatically as the season changes. Be sure to "root" for your top picks as we post the standings each month. If you didn't get your entry forms in before our Feb. 15 deadline, you are welcome to play along at home and study for next year's contest.

In the category of other trivial data, we like to pass along our nursery analysis of where our customers are located. This month, we thought you would be interested in seeing the list of states that produced the most orders for 2003. Is your state is in the top 25? If not, why?

1. North Carolina
2. New York
3. Virginia
4. Georgia
5. Pennsylvania
6. Texas
7. New Jersey
8. Ohio
9. Illinois
10. California
11. Maryland
12. Florida
13. Michigan
14. South Carolina
15. Tennessee
16. Massachusetts
17. Alabama
18. Washington
19. Indiana
20. Connecticut
21. Missouri
22. Wisconsin
23. Minnesota
24. Louisiana
25. Oklahoma

If you have inquired about volunteering in the construction of the waterfall on Mt. Michelle, this project is underway. If you live near the garden and are interested in helping on this project, please email garden curator Adrienne Roethling at Adrienne@plantdelights.com.

--tony

March 2004

Greetings from Plant Delights. February greeted us with more snow and ice, but it looks like the end of February has marked the end of the worst of the winter weather. Damage in the gardens was minimal and we are already seeing some pleasant surprises in plants that we didn't expect to survive the winter. Everyone is in high gear from shipping to production as the spring onslaught has begun.

There is nothing like spring in a plant lovers garden. Our garden and research staff are trying to stay ahead of the awakening plants and are busy getting beds in good shape for spring. The construction of the Mt. Michelle waterfall continues with concrete pouring scheduled for March 10-12. If you haven't been to the gardens and nursery in a while, you've got to come check out the completed project for spring open house April 30 - May 2 and May 7-9.

We're writing descriptions and preparing to add more plants to the website, so expect to see some more additions in the next few weeks. Some will be limited edition new offerings and some will be returning old favorites. Stay tuned and watch for an email notice when the plants are added.

We hope you are enjoying spring as much as we are at PDN!

--tony

April 2004

So far, shipping has gone very smoothly and we finally have a good handle on our computer program, which drove us completely nuts last year. We've got some very big shipping weeks between now and open house on April 30-May 2 and May 7-9, so many of you will have plants on the way shortly. We've been adding more plants to the website and expect even more to be added in early April. As I mentioned earlier, the new website feature allows you to print out these addition lists for study away from your computer. These additions are often plants that are available only in small quantities, so don't delay if any of these excites you.

Adrienne and her garden staff are quickly getting the garden ready for open house with mulching and other spring spruce-up chores. The new waterfall from Mt. Michelle is complete except for some final touches and will be unveiled at the spring open house. We'll also welcome the waterfall artists Roger Halligan and Jan Chenoweth of Two Oaks Studio on Saturday, May 1, from 9-1.

Spring travel has been filled with new plant discoveries. A week long botanical expedition in March covered the area between western Louisiana and East Texas. Not only did we find large populations of all five trillium species (T. pusillum var. texanum, T. gracile, T. ludovicianum, T. recurvatum, and T. viridescens) in the area, but we found some amazing narcissus. Narcissus from old homesites have naturalized throughout this region and are now hybridizing along the roadsides. Each stop yields an amazing array of new selections. We kept our eyes open for space shuttle debris, but couldn't tell the difference between that and old Chevy parts. I've said it before, but Texas is one of my favorite areas for botanizing.

March took me back to Tampa, Florida for the Greenfest Celebration to raise money for H.B. Plant Park. It also provided time to again visit plant breeder Roy Works and his amazing collection of plants. Roy not only breeds rainlilies, and crinums, but coleus and cycads. Cycads! Think of what it takes to hybridize a cycad...a truly amazing experience.

March also sent me to South Carolina, where I stopped in to Nurseries Caroliniana for the first time in several years. Plantsman Ted Stephens has both a retail and wholesale nursery in North Augusta. Ted's nursery is filled with rare horticultural treasures, many from his regular visits to Japan. As always, it's easy to come back with more plants than you have room to plant.

The Great Plants, Great Plantspeople Symposium, celebrating Horticulture Magazine's 100th anniversary is coming up at Plant Delights on June 4 and 5. To find out more about this really fun event, go to http://secure.hortmag.com/greatplants/.

May 2004

Traveling around in April took me to Conway, Arkansas, where I presented a talk on new perennials to the Arkansas State Master Gardener Convention. There is nothing quite as much fun as spending the day talking plants with 500 enthusiastic Master Gardeners. If you would like to find out when I'll be in your area or to schedule a talk in your region, just click www.plantdelights.com/Tony/talks.html.

We are now awaiting the start of the Great Plants...Great Plantsman Symposium to be held at PDN in celebration of Horticulture Magazine's 100th Anniversary. For info, click secure.hortmag.com/greatplants.

If you thought you were finished planting for the season, think again. For the first time in our history, we are having an on-line plant sale. We have picked out over 100 plants that we propagated in excess that are all discounted 20% off. For more information, click on www.plantdelights.com/Catalog/Current/sale.html.

July 2004

Late spring also provided some time in the field. I was fortunate to make another incredible field trip to the Green Swamp, home to pitcher plants and Venus fly-traps. While I have been to the Green Swamp many times in recent years, a recent controlled burn in one area yielded some amazing treasures. Calopogon tuberosus was abundant in flower....both purple and white flowered forms. Growing alongside was C. pallidus, a diminutive relative. Also growing side by side was another striking orchid, Cleistes bifaria. Growing alongside the orchids was an abundance of sarracenias. In all, we saw Sarracenia flava in its many forms and colors, S. rubra, S. purpurea, S. minor and plenty of natural hybrids with each of these species. It was great to see how well the Venus fly-traps had responded to the burn. With the good flowering this year, we can hope for a good seed crop to ensure future generations...provided the habitat can be preserved.

While we only botanized a small region, we were also able to see the Federally Endangered Lysimachia asperulifolia and the rare L. loomsii both in flower. This was my first time to see Rhexia lutea in the wild. It's hard to imagine a rhexia with anything but purple or white flowers, but there it was. If this plant is propagatable, it has a great future as a garden ornamental. Special thanks to plantsman Frank Galloway for being our tour guide. Frank is a true advocate for finding and preserving rare native plants.

For the last few weeks, I've been chained to my desk writing our 2004 fall catalog. Most of the printed matter has now headed for graphic layout and then off to the printer. We hope to have the catalogs in the mail around the first of August. It's time to take off the shackles now and head out and meet open house visitors. Our summer open house runs from July 9-11 and 16-18...hope you can drop by for a visit.

By the way, we have some administrative/office positions available if you or anyone that you know is interested. We are looking for the right person to become a part of our PDN team. See our website at www.plantdelights.com/More/jobs_pdn.html

September 2004

My, it's been a busy summer here at PDN. Since you've last heard from us, we've added a couple of new staff member that I'd like for you to meet. Dianne Austin joins the PDN team as our new Shipping and Customer Service Manager. Dianne's charge is to restore the excellent customer service level that our nursery was built upon, and she is well on the way. In the horticulture department, Candace Reasons joins us as our Administrative Assistant for Horticulture replacing Jane Frampton who is traveling around the country with her husband, Dr. John Frampton, NCSU Christmas Tree specialist. Candace comes to us after retiring from NC State Government, so be sure to say welcome you call to set up a tour or visit.

We hope you have received your Fall 2004 catalog by now. As has become expected, a few overly-sensitive members of the pc crowd didn't get the catalog cover parody and came up with all kinds of bizarre interpretations, even finding non-existent racist themes and symbols. I guess we will always have to deal with a few grassy-knoll conspiracy theorists who play records backwards and look for evil messages in their spare time. We're thinking about adding a sense of humor as a catalog item for next year...some folks were obviously born without one.

So far, so good with a very active hurricane season. The remnants of Charley went by with only a few inches of rain, Gaston spared North Carolina and dumped on Virginia, and thankfully Frances stayed just south of us. August has been a busy month on the road including a 10-day trip to search for new plants in Holland and Belgium. You can read my expedition log at www.plantdelights.com/Tony/holland.html and photos will be added soon.

Another interesting trip in August occurred on Wednesday August 18, when a group of 20 folks met at USDA-ARS offices in Beltsville, Maryland to discuss the 1990 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map revision. In 2003, a draft version was released which caused quite an uproar in the horticultural community. This revision would have done away with the "a" and "b" zone designations and would have been based on a fifteen year sample (1986-2001) of climatic data. By using a 15-year warm period sample, the draft map would have moved Chicago into zone 6 and made other such disastrous errors.

Thanks to the support of Dr. Judy St. John of USDA-ARS, the map revision was put on hold until input from the stakeholders (government term for folks most affected by government decisions) could be gathered. The August 18 meeting included representatives from USDA- ARS, the American Horticulture Society, the American Association of Botanic Gardens and Arboreta, University Researchers, and representatives of the nursery industry. Representing the nursery industry was Bob Dolibois of ANLA, Bruce Usrey of Monrovia Nursery, Tom Demaline of Willoway Nurseries, Bob Lyons of Sunleaf Nursery, Bill Hendricks of Klyn Nursery, and yours truly.

The project will consist of two phases. In Phase I, the map will be reconstructed using the most recent 30 years of average annual extreme minimum temperatures. The map will also retain the "a and b" designations. For the first time, the map will include a better breakdown of coastal/lake effects, urban heat islands, and elevation differences. The map will be made available on-line where it can be searched both by city and zip code. The on-line map will be clickable for more detailed climatic data to satisfy what the research scientists called, "those pointy-head weather nerd types."

Phase II of the project will involve overlay maps for other factors such as duration of cold, summer heat factors, and possibly air flow patterns. It's not often that I get excited about a government project, but this will be a huge improvement for our industry. Thanks both to the USDA-ARS for making their resources available and for all of the committee members for their time and input into the process.

We are now preparing for the Garden Fair at Winterthur on September 18 and 19. It's just a matter of days before we start loading the truck for the drive to Delaware. Garden Fair promises to be a wonderful event for all you plant lovers out there. I hope to see you there. For more details, go to http://www.hortmag.com. In case you are wondering, this is the same weekend as our fall open house at the nursery, Sept. 10-12 and 17-19. We've been secretly working on human cloning here at the nursery and yes, I'll be at both events, so say hello.

November 2004

It was good to see so many of you at our fall open house and at the GardenFair at Winterthur in Delaware. We could have done without the deluge of rain at both events, but there is always hope for next year. Speaking of next year, Winterthur and Horticulture Magazine have decided to repeat the GardenFair event for 2005, to be held on September 16 & 17, so we hope you will reserve this date on your calendar now. There are some great vendors at the event and is a chance to purchase some really cool plants.

It's the time of year that we chain ourselves to the chair to begin writing the 2005 Spring Catalog. Our research is nearly complete, the main catalog descriptions are written, and the photos have been selected. November will be spent formatting and proofreading to get everything ready to go to the printer in December. In th meantime, we've propagated over 125 really exciting new plants that we can't wait to tell you about through the pages of the 2005 catalog.

If you have taken time to look at our expedition log from our last trip to Holland and Belgium, we have now added photos. As time permits, we hope to add photos to many of the past logs as well: http://www.plantdelights.com/Tony/holland.php

If you are looking for plant nerd things to do in November, check out the upcoming Hardy Citrus meeting: http://www.speps.net/SPS_Southeastern_Citrus_Expo_2004.htm

December 2004

We've recently installed the Plant Delights Shipping Cam, which will now allow you to watch your order being boxed live from your home computer. The link automatically refreshes every 15 seconds. For now, the link to shipping cam is on the homepage, but it will be moved to the Shipping Division section when that section is complete this fall. [ View Shipping Cam]

We have also recently posted several new Plant Delights job openings, so if you are anyone you know is interested, please pass along our vacancies. We always hate to lose key employees, but we can soften the blow by bringing in equally qualified candidates. Your help would be most appreciated in spreading the word. Thanks. [ View Jobs @ PDN]

We'd like to welcome two new staff members that have recently joined our ranks. June Brotherton has joined us as our Administrative Assistant for Horticulture. June coordinates anything horticultural, from inventory control, to tours, to catalog production. Becky Skinner joins our customer service staff after having spent the spring season with our shipping division. Be sure to give 'em both a phone welcome when you call.

We are also saddened to announce that Dr. Bob Lyons of the JC Raulston Arboretum is leaving this month to become the Graduate Coordinator for the Longwood Gardens program. Bob has been great to work with during his tenure at the JCRA, and we wish him the best of luck in his new career. Of course, this means that we are now looking for a replacement for Bob. This is a PhD faculty position at NCSU and obviously a very influential position in the NC gardening community. The position will be advertised shortly, so if you know anyone who might be interested, please encourage them to contact the NCSU Horticulture Department at 919.515.3132.

Get well soon wishes to another NC horticultural stalwart, Dick Bir, who recently underwent a 7-bypass heart surgery...guess that's possible with a really big heart. Dick promises to be back on the speaking circuit by spring.

Back at PDN, work is continuing in the display gardens as we finish renovating the section as you enter the main driveway to the left. What was certainly the most boring section in the garden went from being a flat area with primarily older woody plantings to a 2-3' deep sunken rock garden. Planting is nearly 80% complete, and this area should be a real showplace for many new treasures by the time of spring open house.

Our research staff has also been quite busy as we expand our trial beds which we also use for field productions. Fall projects include expanding our area for fern and epimedium trials, and trillium, Solomon's seal, and miscellaneous bulb production.