2018 new varieties: Lacebark, Inc.

Editor's note: While we're preparing the 2019 New Plant Pavilion, let's revisit some of the plants from the 2018 edition. Check out the whole list here.

Acer saccharum Powder Keg® Sugar Maple 

Powder Keg® Sugar Maple, Acer saccharum, sub species Caddo, ‘Whit XLIX,’ plant patent #23,957 has thick, leathery dark green leaves throughout the growing season with no leaf tatter or yellowing, unlike Eastern sugar maple. It also features spectacular fall colors. It has a stout, upright branching form and is drought tolerant in Zone 5 through 9. Propagated by budding onto sugar maple rootstocks. 

Betula nigra City Slicker® River Birch

City Slicker®, River Birch, Betula nigra, ‘Whit XXV’ cultivar, U.S. Plant Patent #16573 has bark similar in whiteness to European white birch and canoe birch. Stem color changes from reddish-brown to white at about one-inch diameter. Leaves are rich dark green and glossy during the growing season, then buttery-gold in fall. These plants have not been injured by temperatures of -22°F. Good vigor and drought tolerance. Tissue culture liners available from North American Plants, Lafayette, Ore. 

Lagerstroemia indica Double Dynamite® Crapemyrtle

Filling some big shoes, Double Dynamite® crapemyrtle, Lagerstroemia indica ‘Whit X’ Plant Patent #27085 is the latest of the unique Play It Again® Series of sterile crapemyrtle. Because of this special feature of reblooming over and over on the same panicle, it provides cherry red flowers uninterrupted for over 100 days in Oklahoma. Double Dynamite® has wine new growth that darkens with age, a branched growth habit, and an estimated height of 8-10 feet. It also is resistant to cercospora leaf spot and powdery mildew. 

Vitex negundo Short Stack® Vitex

Short Stack® Vitex negundo ‘Whit L,’ Plant Patent #27,371 is a sterile, dwarf vitex or spice tree. Growth rate is about 12-14” per year in a rounded mound form, achieving about 3-4 feet in 4 or 5 years. The leaves are dense and dark green, and Short Stack® has showy spikes of sterile, blue-purple flowers. In Oklahoma, flowering begins in July and continues until frost for 100-120 days of flowering. Pest and deer resistant. 

For more: lacebarkinc.com