June 2000

Hosta & Ornamental Grass Enthusiasts Newsletter
AAA Ornamentals @ http://www.hostas.com
Vol. 3, No. 4, June, 2000

Plant Availability Highlights

****Yes, we have White Pampas Grass (Cortaderia selloana 'White'), the southern stuff! I have about 34 plants left selling for an unheard of price of $6.00 per pot. They are already 30" or more tall in the pots. Place your order early to get these. These are only hardy for zones 8-10, zone 7 with winter protection for sure.

****Pennisetum 'Little Bunny' is one of the cutest little fountain grasses around. See my new pictures of this plant at http://www.hostas.com/grasses/gallery/grass-46.html. These plants are $8.00 and are already starting to plume in their pots. These plants make an excellent boarder because of their small, compact, regular and predictable habit. Next year, I will have plenty of the Pennisetum 'Little Honey' available which is the smaller and variegated version of 'Little Bunny'.

****Almost last chance for Miscanthus floridulus for this year (the 12-15' tall Miscanthus). They are on the verge of being too big for shipping. I have special size boxes on hand just to ship these monsters out now. These are $15 each are are growing in 3 gallon containers. A special handling surcharge may be added ($1-$2 to cover additional weight because they are HUGH!)

What's New on our Web-Site??

Are you kidding, too busy shipping! Thank you all very much for your orders.

Hostas

How did your gardens fair with the spring cold spells? Well, the below freezing nights and snow cover and hostas already sprouting, there was some damage in our display gardens. Several hostas were leafing out ('were' is the imperative word here!) and subsequently are now toast, or should I say mush. It simply got too cold (22 degrees) to try to protect the whole lot. It appears that hosta petitoles that have not yet unfurled their inner leaves faired much better than the exposed leaves. I hope your gardens were spared some damage with the early spring weather! After the subsequent flourish of spring leaves, there are only a couple of plants with any sign of cold damage. They are hardly plants!

Are your hostas bigger than last year? Are your gardens looking a bit more crunched? Hostas are not considered mature until they are 6 years old. The adage is first year sleep, second year creep, third year leap really does apply. If you are not intending to move plants after 3-4 years because of overcrowding, then keep aware of the hostas mature clump sizes.

Grasses

The argument continues between my wife and I. I like the botanical name (Latinized, although not strictly Latin), while my wife likes the common name. Common names are standards only within local communities or areas, while the botanical name is a world wide recognizable name. One must be specific to guarantee what one is purchasing or needing for the garden. I have given in a little bit, my new price lists have the general common name of the grasses above the botanical to aid in identification. For example: Pennisetum = "Fountain Grasses", Calamagrostis = "Feather Reed Grasses", Miscanthus = "Maiden Grasses".

I am sure I would have liked Carolus Linnaeus (a Swedish naturalist). He was the first to publish a botanical nomenclature as we know it in 1753.

The botanical nomenclature that we use today is governed by the ICBN 'International Code of botanical Nomenclature'. The nomenclature system subdivides plants into successively narrow groups. The principal terms in descending rank are, although generally the names we use only consists of the last three terms.

o Division

o Class

o Order

o Family; Grass = Poaceae, Sedges = Cyperaceae, Rushes = Juncaceae

o **Genus; Closely related plant species, always capitalized (plural genera)

o **Species; Always lowercase and always combined with a genera name (plural species)

o **Variety

The names of plants that you use are specifically referred to by the combination of the genera and species. This combination makes up the species name of a plant. It may be optionally followed by the 'Variety'.

Example: Northern Sea Oats = Chasmanthium latifolium (genera and species)

Example: Porcupine Grass = Miscanthus sinensis 'Strictus' (genera, species and 'variety')

Example: Northern Sea Oats and Porcupine Grass are of the family: Poaceae

Grasses = Family Poaceae consists of 600+ genera and 9000+ species

Cat-tails = Family Typha consists of only 1 genera and 15 species

The only way to get a listing of plants sorted by their similarities is to sort by the botanical name, not the common name (very important). For example, Zebra Grass, Porcupine Grass, Maiden Grass, are all Miscanthus grasses. They will only be found together by using the botanical name of Miscanthus sinensis (genera and species).

Hosta Pick of the Month

Cultivar: Hosta 'Fragrant Bouquet'

Description: The original description calls for 'apple green leaves with streaks of yellow and white", but the plants in commerce are margined. Floriferous, with large white flowers (typically 3-4 inches across) with gardenia like fragrance in mid summer. Not only are the flowers attractive but the foliage is a standout! Leaves are bright apple green in color that are smooth in texture highlighted with a broad creamy white edge. An added bonus is its great vigor.

Color Group: YMGC

Leaf Color: Yellow Margined - Light Green

Sun: Tolerates up to 3/4 sun

Plant Size: 22x18 (Medium < 22)

Leaf Size: 8x6 (Medium (25-81 square in.))

Flower: Large, Funnel-shaped, Whitish, White, Rebloom

Flowering: August

Fragrant?: Yes

Ornamental Grass Pick of the Month

Latin Name: Pennisetum alop. 'Little Bunny'

Common Name: Fountain Grass 'Little Bunny'

Latin Meaning:

Description: A very dwarf selection ideal for edging or the rock garden. Inflorescence lighter colored than species and is held (relatively speaking) above the foliage.

Zone: 5

Origin: Seedling of 'Hameln', found by jack Weiskott of Long Island, NY

Leaf Blade (wxl): 1/8 x 6

Foliage (wxh): 10 x 18

Plume (hxlxw): 20 x 2.50 x 1.25

Sun: Full to 1/2 sun

Moisture: Moist, water in dry conditions

Foliage Color - Summer: 0 Fall: 0 Winter: 0

Space: 12"

Texture:

Habit: