Coast to Coast with Kelli Rodda - December 2007

Florida 

Florida Nursery, Growers & Landscape Association named its Florida Plants of the Year in October. Plants were selected based on several criteria including ease of maintenance, consumer appeal and pest and disease resistance.

This year’s selections are:

* Aloysia virgata (almond bush), a drought-tolerant small tree or large shrub with small, white almond-scented flowers.

* Dichorisandra thyrsiflora (blue ginger), a perennial with deep purple-blue flowers on 6-inch spikes.

* Mimosa strigillosa, a perennial or groundcover with pink ball-shaped flowers.

* Quercus geminata, (sand live oak) a sturdy street tree similar to southern live oak but smaller in stature.

* Sabal minor (dwarf palmetto) a durable, cold-tolerant palm.

* Stromanthe sanguinea ‘Triostar,’ an upright foliage plant.

For more: FNGLA, (800) 375-3642; www.fngla.org.

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California 

This fall, Hines Horticulture Inc. hired Miller Buckfire & Co., an independent investment bank, and the law firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP to help the company with “restructuring matters,” according to an 8-K report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Oct. 11. This partnership comes after NASDAQ delisted Hines for failing to file quarterly reports on time and for trading below the $1 per share minimum. For more: www.hineshort.com; www.millerbuckfire.com; www.kirkland.com.

Massachusetts 

Woody ornamentals on the state’s prohibited plant list can no longer be propagated, sold, traded, purchased or distributed after Jan. 1, 2009. The banned plants are: Acer platanoides (Norway maple); A. pseudoplatanus (sycamore maple); Aegopodium podagraria (bishop’s weed); Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry); Euonymus alata (burning bush); Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle); L. maackii (amur honeysuckle); L. morrowii (Morrow’s honeysuckle); L. tatarica (Tatarian honeysuckle); L. x bella (bell’s honeysuckle); and Lysimachia nummularia (moneywort). For more: (617) 626-1700; www.mass.gov/agr.

Canada 

University of Toronto researchers are worried about the “vine that ate the South.” The university’s ecology and evolutionary biology department is watching kudzu’s migration. The invasive vine has left its southern boundaries and wound up in parts of the Midwest and as far north as Albany, N.Y. PhD student Heather Coiner predicted kudzu could reach Canada in a decade if warming trends continue. Professor Rowan Sage wants to see this research used by the Canadian government to pre-empt the possible invasion of this unwanted species. For more: (416) 978-3537; rsage@botany.utoronto.ca.

Postcards

Ring, ring! Your plant is calling. Botanicalls, a project in New York City, hooks up thirsty plants with owners. A soil moisture sensor in each plant is connected to a computer network that initiates phone calls. The plants’ telephone personalities are based on biological characteristics. Scotch moss, which is neither truly Scottish nor a moss -- has a fake accent and a crazy demeanor. Visit www.botanicalls.com. … Improbable Research, a group of scientists with a sense of humor, handed out the Ig Nobel Prizes earlier this year. Winners are picked for “achievements that first make people laugh then make them think.” Some 2007 champs: A study of how sheets become wrinkled (complete with physics and geometry equations to back it up); and the extraction of vanilla flavor and scent from cow dung. (How organic.) www.improbable.com. … Need help at the nursery? How about a call for volunteers? In a move that I think is pure marketing genius, Yellow Springs Farm in Chester Springs, Pa., has a section on its Web site asking for volunteers. Specifically they’re asking for “enthusiastic gardeners that would like to get some hands-on experience with the growing and management of our native wildflowers, trees, shrubs and vines. We are also embarking on the removal of invasives from our 8 acre property and restoring it with native plants.” Is that smart or what? www.yellowspringsfarm.com.

Quotable:

“A man who works with nature has a strong ally and one who works against nature has a formidable foe.”

- Edgar Anderson, director of the Missouri Botanical Garden 1954-1956

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- Kelli Rodda