Nursery, university look for seedless ornamental grass

Hoffman Nursery in Rougemont, N.C., partnered with North Carolina State University researchers and extension experts to create a superior cultivar of Miscanthus sinensis and to solve problems related to pest and weed management.

 

One of the NCSU projects involves developing a seedless cultivar of the ornamental grass. This perennial grass is among the most popular in U.S. landscapes, but in some places, it has a tendency to reseed and cause problems in the landscape.

 

To get around that problem, Tom Ranney and Darren Touchell, plant breeders stationed at the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research and Extension Center in Mills River, are using biotechnology tools to create cultivars that won’t reseed and spread. They are testing plant material in the mountains, while Hoffman Nursery owners

Jill and John Hoffman are conducting field trials at their piedmont location.

 

John Hoffman says the nursery helped fund the Miscanthus research because he expects there to be strong interest in cultivars that don’t reseed.

 

“We think it’s certainly a worthy plant for the landscape,” he said. “We thought if we could come up with something that wouldn’t reseed, it could go nationwide and, possibly, worldwide.”

 

In a second project, the nursery has partnered with N.C. State to consider ways to encourage beneficial insects – ones that prey on pests – to thrive in greenhouses. Specifically, they are looking at the Black Pearl pepper plant as a banker plant to support the survival and reproduction of the minute pirate bug.

 

The bug is sometimes used to control thrips, spider mites and aphids.

 

Read more about the collaboration here.