States and Canada. Store-School is particularly pleased to provide content for smaller state trade groups where garden center owners and staff have less access to professional development..
New White FringetreeChionanthus virginicus ‘Spring Fleecing’
Judy writes a monthly column on store development titled Retail Ready™ for Green Profit magazine and contributes feature articles on garden center development to a range of trade publications. Judy publishes two electronic newsletters especially for independent garden centers. The Growing Places Retail Checklist reminds retailers and the suppliers who sell to them of timely planning issues throughout the year. Success Stories (S2) chronicles store development and merchandising campaigns that measure success in the dollars added to store’s the bottom line. Judy has earned LEED Green Associate accreditation from the U.S. Green Building Council and is a member of the American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association (ARCSA). This article first appeared in Green Profit magazine. by Judy Sharpton
‘Spring Fleecing’ (r) compared to other varieties of Chionanthus in the Beautiful Gradens® trials in the Urban Hort Center at Virginia Tech
If you’re a member of the Plant Propagators Society, you probably know Sam Allen of Tarheel Native Trees in Clayton, NC. He’s well known for his ability to squeeze roots out of some hard to grow plants. He also likes plants. He likes to grow different and unusual plants. He is interested in improved plants. The economy has put a damper on that sort of interest in the last few years, but back in the 1990s, Sam bought a group of native Chionanthus virginicus seedlings from Flowerwood Nursery in AL. He grew them all for several years and then selected the one that put on the best show each spring. Since it bloomed at tax time, he decided to name it ‘Spring Fleecing’.
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BG planted them along with some seedlings in the test plots across the state.
Beautiful Gardens® heard about this one and another selection named ‘Emerald Knight’, selected by Brian Upchurch of NC. Native plants have become increasing popular and White Fringetree, also called Grancy Graybeard & Old Man’s Beard, has been especially so. It is dioecious, having male and female flowers on separate plants. The males are generally thought to have the showiest blooms. “Spring Fleecing’ and ‘Emerald Knight’ both are male cultivars, so January / February / March 2014 January/February/March 2014
When the evaluations were in, ‘Spring Fleecing’ was by far the showiest of all in flower. It also blooms at a very young age. BG had decided this would be a Plant Of Distinction for 2014 and announced it as such in 2012. The plants can be purchased at Colesville Nursery in Ashland, VA, and at Tarheel Native Trees in NC. Liners are usually available from Heritage Seedlings in Salem, Oregon and Pleasant Run Nursery in NJ. Provided by Linda Pinkham, lindapinkham@me.com Newsletter VNLAVNLA Newsletter