Here Are the 2004 All-American Selection Winners
Celosia plumosa 'Fresh Look Red'
GOLD MEDAL & Flower Award Winner
'Fresh Look Red' performs like a fresh floral arrangement all summer. Thriving in the summer heat and humidity with drought or rainy conditions, 'Fresh Look Red' decorates a garden or patio container with rosy red plumes. It won the coveted Gold Medal for its consistent performance with minimal maintenance and pest-free growth. 'Fresh Look Red' covers up spent plumes by producing new foliage and blooms. The plant always looks fresh, needing no grooming. When grown in the full sun, 'Fresh Look Red' plants mature at 12 to 18 inches tall and spread 12 to 20 inches. The central plume can be eight to ten inches tall and five inches wide. Like all Celosia plumosa, the flowers can be cut and dried for everlasting homemade bouquets.
Celosia plumosa 'Fresh Look Yellow' - Flower Award Winner
'Fresh Look Yellow' offers season-long garden color with minimal care. The golden yellow plumes are produced in abundance, at times covering the plant. The central plume can be nine inches tall and six inches wide. 'Fresh Look Yellow' grows numerous side shoots, which cover mature blooms, eliminating the need for deadheading. When grown in a full-sun garden, 'Fresh Look Yellow' attains a height of about 12 to 17 inches and spreads 12 to 15 inches. Plants exhibit heat, humidity and severe weather tolerance. Like all Celosia plumosa, flowers can be cut for arrangements or dried as an everlasting bouquet. 'Fresh Look Yellow' is perfect for busy gardeners who want summer-long flower color on carefree plants.
Gypsophila 'Gypsy Deep Rose'
Bedding Plant Award Winner
'Gypsy Deep Rose' is an annual G. muralis with dainty, rose-like blooms. This new variety showed several improvements over comparisons. The flower form is double and semi-double, is a darker rose color and is a larger size, up to 3/8 of an inch. The plant produces a higher number of blooms over a longer flowering season. 'Gypsy Deep Rose' forms an enchanting mounded plant with a height of eight to ten inches, spreading 12 to 14 inches. This diminutive plant prefers full sun and adapts to container culture. 'Gypsy Deep Rose' is easily grown from seed or bedding plants. Plants require little maintenance. Gypsophila is often associated with weddings because of their use in bridal bouquets.
Hollyhock 'Queeny Purple'
Flower Award Winner
'Queeny Purple' is the shortest Alcea rosea and the first purple hollyhock available as a single color not part of a mixture. These unique traits combined with season-long flower color resulted in 'Queeny Purple' winning an AAS Award. The frilly edged blooms are a "powder puff" type having a cushion center. They measure three to four inches and are produced abundantly on the compact branching plants. 'Queeny Purple' plants will reach a mature height of 20 to 30 inches, perfect for smaller space gardens. 'Queeny Purple' is an annual that will flower prolifically the first year from a February or March sowing. 'Queeny Purple' seed will be available from mail order catalogs, and plants may be purchased from garden centers.
Petunia F1 'Limbo Violet'
Bedding Plant Award Winner
'Limbo Violet' differs from all other single grandiflora petunias as a unique combination of large flowers on a compact plant. The habit is restricted. 'Limbo Violet' plants become mounds which, at times, are completely covered with blossoms. The ultimate plant size is only six to seven inches tall, spreading 10 to 12 inches. 'Limbo Violet' is designed for small space gardens such as urban residences or formal gardens requiring neat, tidy plants. The dark violet blooms are perfect for gardeners who know "larger is better." Atthreeinches or larger, 'Limbo Violet' blooms are huge but recover quickly from severe weather. Plants are virtually maintenance-free, no pinching needed.
Melon F1 'Amy'
Vegetable Award Winner
There is a trend for gardeners to grow the most flavorful, exotic vegetables from around the world. 'Amy' is one of these new improved vegetables and an AAS Winner. 'Amy' exhibited improved qualities such as earliness and higher yield when grown next to similar "canary" type melons. 'Amy' melons are eye-catching. They are bright golden yellow with smooth skin; without netting or sutures. The radiant color indicates when the melon is ready for harvest. Cutting open the mature melon will release the distinctive melon aroma. There is a small seed cavity surrounded by moist, white flesh noted for its sweet flavor and firm texture. 'Amy' plants will produce melons in 70 to 80 days from transplanting. The vigorous spreading vines need 6 feet of garden space or they can be trained up a trellis.
Winter Squash F1 'Sunshine'
Vegetable Award Winner
Consumer media have recently given coverage to winter squash because of its flavor, high vitamin content and ability to be stored. 'Sunshine' is a new squash that outshined other varieties in side-by-side trials across North America. The vibrant orange-red skin is distinctive, similar to sunshine, hence the name. The 3- to 4-pound fruit is a flattened globe shape. The bright orange flesh is sweet, nutty, creamy smooth and completely stringless when baked, steamed or microwaved. 'Sunshine' plants are adaptable to any growing location as long as the growing season is 80 to 95 days. Expect mature squash in about 95 to 100 days from sowing seed or 80 days from transplants. Harvest ripe fruit in the fall prior to or protect from frost. The short vines need six to eight feet in the full-sun garden.
Watermelon F1 'Sweet Beauty'
Vegetable Award Winner
Nothing says summer like watermelon, and everybody wants a sweet slice. 'Sweet Beauty' offers consistently sweet flavor and crisp texture. It was praised by AAS Judges for its superior eating qualities. 'Sweet Beauty' melons are five to seven pounds, an oblong shape with dark green skin and medium green stripes. Described as an "ice box" type, it means 'Sweet Beauty' is a single-serving size. Improved for earliness, 'Sweet Beauty' melons can be harvested in about 77 to 80 days from sowing seed directly into the garden. The vigorous plant spreads vines about eight to ten feet.
Fifty Plants & Flowers You May Not Want to Eat
(This is Part 3 and final in a series.)
29. Eucalyptus species Eucalyptus Toxicity: The leaves of all species contain oil of eucalyptus and cyanogenic glycosides that release hydrogen cyanide (HCN). May cause gastroenteritis, labored breathing, stupor, paralysis, convulsions and death.
30. Cicuta maculata Water Hemlock, Spotted Cowbane Toxicity: The most violently toxic plant of the north temperate zone. Cicutoxin is an unsaturated alcohol that acts on the central nervous system in about 1/2 hour. Long list of symptoms from nausea and salivation to fever, delirium, convulsions, complete paralysis, respiratory and/or circulatory failure and death.
31.Conium maculatum Poison Hemlock Toxicity: Contains piperidine alkaloids coniine and coniceine and other toxins. Causes nervousness, gastroenteric distress, confusion, pupil dilation, weak pulse, convulsions, coma, coldness of extremities, respiratory failure and death. The hemlock tree, Tsuga species, is an unrelated plant which is not poisonous at all.
32. Daucus carota Wild Carrot, Queen Anne's Lace Toxicity: The leaves contain furocoumarins that may cause allergic contact dermatitis from the leaves, especially when wet. Later exposure to the sun may cause mild photodermatitis. Carrot seed is also an early abortifacient, historically, sometimes used as a natural "morning after" tea.
33.Pastinaca sativa Wild Parsnip Toxicity: All parts contain furocoumarins that may cause severe photodermatitis with swelling and blisters in about 48 hours. Purple pigmentation of affected skin may persist for some time.
34. Kalmia latifolia Mountain Laurel Toxicity: Contains andromedotoxin in all plant parts. Mouth, nose and eyes water soon after ingestion. Gastrointestinal distress, seating, low blood pressure, slow pulse, drow- siness, convulsions and increasing limb paralysis until death follow. Delaware Indians used this plant for suicide.
35. Rhododendron species Rhododendron, Azalea Toxicity: Grayanotoxin I and III, especially in the leaves; also andromedotoxin. Symptoms very similar to Kalmia poisoning.
36.Catharanthus roseus (Vinca rosea) Madagascar Periwinkle Toxicity: The indole alkaloids vinblastine, vincristine and others. Smoking the dried leaves may cause incoordination, prickling of the skin and hallucinations; excessive or extended use may result in kidney and nervous system problems.
37.Nerium oleander Oleander Toxicity: All parts, especially the twigs, green or dry, leaves and flowers contain the cardiac glycosides neriin and oleandrin. After a few hours, dizziness, sleepiness, slow, irregular heartbeat, pupil dilation occur; followed by unconsciousness, convulsions, respiratory paralysis and death. Drinking water from a vase that contained the flowers has caused poisoning.
38. Asclepias species Milkweed Toxicity: Contains several cardiac glycosides, which may cause vomiting, stupor and weakness; the sap may also cause dermatitis. The root of A. tuberosa, Butterfly Weed, is used medicinally, but overdoses are toxic.
39.Ipomoea tricolor Morning Glor Toxicity: Lysergic acid amide, isoergine, elymoclavine and other principles. The seeds cause hallucinations if taken in large quantities. Side effects may include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, drowsiness, numbness of extremities and muscle tightness.
40.Lantana camara Lantana Toxicity: The fruit contains lantanine, a hepatogenic photosensitizer in animals. It is most toxic when green. In humans, withing 2-5 hours, lethargy, gastrointestinal upset with vomiting and diarrhea, dilated pupils, labored respiration, circulatory collapse and death may follow. Leaves may cause dermatitis.
41. Atropa balladonna Deadly Nightshade Toxicity: Berries, leaves and roots contain tropane alkaloids and other toxins including apoatropine, balladonnine and cuscohygrine. May cause fever, hot, dry, flushed skin, thirst, difficulty in swallowing, burning of the throat, pupil dilation, hallucinations, confusion, convulsions, coma with subnormal temperature, respiratory failure and death.
42. Datura sramonium Jimsonweed Toxicity: All parts, including pollen, contain the tropane alkaloid hyocyamine, atropine and scopolamine in high concentrations. Symptoms similar to A. belladonna, but slightly less deadly.
43.Solanum species Nightshade Toxicity: The solanidan alkaloids solanine and demissine, with solanine especially concentrated in the immature fruits. May cause nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and constipation or diarrhea. If hydrolysed by being bruised or eaten, it can cause apathy, drowsiness, salivation, paralysis, circulatory and respiratory depression, unconsciousness and death. S. pseudocapsicum, Jerusalem Cherry, sold as a potted plant for its lush foliage and bright red berries, can cause human poisoning. (Some assume these plants to be peppers, Capsicum species, but such is not the case. Potatoes, S. tuberosum, that have spoiled or turned green after exposure to the sun and the sprouts on tubers can cause severe poisoning, even death, if consumed in fairly large quantities.
44. Digitalis purpurea Foxglove Toxicity: Leaves, seeds and flowers contain a wide variety of cardiac glycosides. Drying does not diminish the potency of the toxins. Symptoms may include various gastrointestinal problems, drowsiness, irregular heartbeat and pulse, tremors, convulsions and death. Trace amounts are used as heart medication, larger amounts are often fatal.
45. Lonicera japonica Japanese Honeysuckle Toxicity: Known chemical components include saponin, tannin, HCN; flowers contain inositol. Soon after ingestion, severe nemesis, colic, diarrhea, pupil dilation, cold sweat, accelerated heartbeat, twitching of the limbs may be followed by convulsions, respiratory failure, coma and death.
46. Lobelia species Cardinal Flower, Indian Tobacco Toxicity: All parts contain the alkaloids lobelanine and lobeline. May cause vomiting, weakness, tremors, sweating, rapid and weak pulse, depressed temperature, stupor, collapse, convulsions, coma, paralysis and death.
47. Ageratina altisssima (Eupatorium rugosum) White Snakeroot Toxicity: All parts contain trematol, a complex, unstable alcohol in combination with a resin and glycosides. After a day or so of weakness, tremors, nausea, delirium, constipation, acetone odor on the breath, collapse, coma and death. In colonial times, this plant caused an illness known as "milk sickness," brought on from drinking milk from cows who had eaten this plant. This was reported as the cause of the death of Abraham Lincoln's mother.
48.Daphne mezreum Daphne Toxicity: All parts contain mezerein, a daphnane ester. Symptoms include internal irritation with swelling of the lips and tongue, thirst, salivation, difficulty in swallowing, gastrointestinal distress, bloody diarrhea and weakness. Severe cases may show delirium, collapse, convulsions, coma and death.
49. Anthurium andraenum Anthurium Toxicity: The leaves and stems contain insoluble calcium oxalate needles, as well as various protein toxins. Ingestion may cause a burning sensation of the mouth, throat, lips and tongue. Various types of skin rashes may also develop.
50. Helotropium arborescens Heliotrope Toxicity: The plant contains varying amounts of pyrrolozidine alkaloids in all parts. Effects are not immediately evident. The primary toxic effects are produced on the liver. Since the alkaloids are generally excreted in 24 hours, diagnosing this plant as the cause of the illness is difficult. Other possible symptoms include damage to blood vessels and the lungs as well as headache, abdominal swelling and kidney damage.
– Source: Charles E. Voigt, Vegetable Crops, University of Illinois
Hedge apples go by many names. Some people call them Osage oranges. Other people call them hedge balls or horse apples. When I was a nymph in the Rocky River watershed, we usually called them monkey balls. And scientists call the tree they grow on Maclura pomifer – common name, Osage orange tree.
The Osage orange tree is a medium-sized tree that's native to parts of Texas and Oklahoma. But it grows in many other places now, too. Why? Well, in the way-back days before the invention of barbed wire, osage orange trees – dense and thorny – were planted as "living fences" to keep livestock in (or out).
Hedge apples aren't apples. They also aren't oranges. They're green like a frog. As big as a softball. And wrinkled like a brain. If Newton had sat under a hedge apple tree instead under of a regular apple tree, he might've been knocked silly instead of figuring out gravity.
Another common name for Osage orange is bodark, or bois d'arc – French for "wood of the bow." Osage orange wood makes great bows. Long-lasting fence posts, too. All in all, it's a tree worth knowing. And growing. And wearing a helmet under.
P.S. The "Osage" part of Osage orange is from the Osage tribe of the southern Great Plains.
"For a Week I Watered and Watered and Saw Nothing."
Whether or not I care about grass, a front yard of dry or muddy soil (depending on the weather) doesn't add anything to the garden area. With the help of a neighbor, who is studying horticulture at I.C.C., the front was tilled, fertilized, seeded and covered with straw. For a week I watered and watered and saw nothing.
When I left for a Retreat on Sept. 24, my front yard was a sea of straw. When I came back on the 26 I could actually see a haze of green. It wasn't as exciting as those first sightings of tulips in the spring, but it ran a pretty close second.
Right now I only have rye but the Kentucky Blue Grass should be up by next weekend and I can rake up the straw. Hopefully it will survive the winter and any left over Zoysia or Fairy Rings will not.
Of course my friends the squirrels have dug at least a dozen holes in the lawn looking for whatever squirrels look for. When I see them I yell at them and they run away and return as soon as I go inside. We must look pretty odd. Me peeking from my front windows, and them leering down from a neighbors tree trying to outlast each other. They usually win.
Several neighbors and friends have asked for some of my purple flowers (name unknown I'm embarrassed to say) and I have my eyes on some Rudbeckia that looks ripe for transplanting. I need some red perennials and a 'duble' of white but I have a whole winter to identify the purple and find the red & white.
Hopefully the arbor for over the front door will be in place before the snows come and I'll be ready to settle down. I'll spend the winter in front of the fire with a cup of hot tea, surrounded by plant catalogues, mysteries and puzzles. It doesn't get any better then that.
- Terry Finan
