GrassSolutions - Holiday 2019

In this issue:

Designing a Rain Garden
Transit Park in Atlanta Integrates Green Spaces
Growing Greener Podcast: Warm Season Grasses
Meet Our Newest Sedge: Carex morrowii EverColor® 'Everglow'
Switchgrass and Rust Resistance
Phytophthora-resistant Switchgrass Cultivars
Promote the Power of Plants: Green Benefits Updated
Upcoming Events

Designing a Green Future

How to Design a Rain Garden - Garden Design

Rain gardens demonstrate the value of plants, soils, and natural systems in managing stormwater. But one of the biggest challenges is making them look appealing. Garden Design offers some tips for making rain gardens into amenities everyone wants.

Read more
www.gardendesign.com

Transit Park in Atlanta Integrates Green Spaces

It’s being called a one-of-a-kind, urban “crown jewel.” HUB404 is the first transit-oriented park in the country and is planned for Atlanta, GA. It's a community-connecting resource that puts the spotlight on green. See the video for a preview!

Read more
atlanta-curbed-com.cdn.ampp...

Revisiting Warm Season Grasses

Growing Greener Podcast:

Warm Season Grasses

Author, designer, and garden communicator Thomas Christopher calls environmental challenges the defining crisis of our age. He aims to give people the tools to make their personal landscapes healthier, more beautiful, more sustainable, and more fun.

In his Growing Greener podcast, Christopher shares interviews with gardening experts who are also leaders in working and living in harmony with nature. After reading her article on warm season grasses, he invited Hoffman Nursery's marketing director, Shannon Currey for a chat.

Listen to the podcast

Meet Our Newest Carex!

Carex morrowii EverColor ® 'Everglow' ^PP30466

Another fabulous Carex from the award-winning EverColor® series. Everglow Sedge won a Gold Medal at Plantarium 2018 for its fantastic color combo and appealing habit. This selection— C. morrowii rather than the C. oshimensis of other EverColor® cultivars—has crisp, green foliage with creamy white and light orange margins. It develops deeper color in fall and winter, giving it a warming glow.

It is evergreen where hardy and makes a stylish ground cover or container plant. Everglow’ resembles long-time favorite, C. morrowii ‘Ice Dance’ but stays in a neat, upright mound and does not run.

Quick Facts:

Cool season
Foliage: green-cream variegated w/orange
Height: 1.5'
Exposure: shade-part sun
Soil Moisture: moist
Zones: 6-9
Species origin: Japan

Propagation prohibited without a license.

A Closer Look

Switchgrass and Rust Resistance

The December 2019 issue of the Journal of Environmental Horticulture included results from an evaluation of Switchgrass cultivars for their resistance to Rust ( Puccinia emaculata). Researchers at the University of Tennessee isolated multiple strains of Rust and then inoculated eleven Switchgrass cultivars with the Rust isolates. They measured how long it took for Rust to germinate on the grasses and how prolific the disease was once it developed.

They found that in general, the ornamental cultivars tested were more resistant that the agronomic cultivars, but the results varied by Rust isolate, cultivar, and the interaction between the two factors. The researchers hope to use the results to help in breeding Switchgrass for the ornamental industry. It's a fairly technical paper, but one worth spending a time browsing.

Read the article

Phytophthora-resistant Switchgrass Cultivars

In other Switchgrass news, researchers at North Carolina State University found that two cultivars of Switchgrass had excellent or good resistance to diseases caused by Phytophthora. These fungal-like organisms can persist in soil for years, making it difficult to manage infested landscapes.

The researchers evaluated 15 annuals and 12 herbaceous perennials for their resistance to Phytophthora. The two grasses they included performed well. Panicum virgatum 'Shenandoah' was rated excellent, while cultivar 'Rotstrahlbusch' received a good rating.

Read the report

What's in a (plant) name? A new sedge.

DNA technology has allowed taxonomists to resolve some of the complex relationships among plants. Recent data collected in Australia revealed a whole new genus of sedges. Take a quick dip into Australia's new sedges with this story.

Read more
www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au

The Diva Looks at Blackhawks

The Perennial Diva (a.k.a. Stephanie Cohen) has the scoop on native favorite Andropogon gerardii 'Blackhawks'.

With smaller stature and rich color, 'Blackhawks' belongs in every garden. Find out what the Diva has to say about this snazzy grass in the Nov/Dec issue of The Buckeye.

Green Benefits

Promote the Power of Plants

What can bring people together, reduce crime, and improve learning? Plants, of course!

Charlie Hall and doctoral student Melinda Knuth continue their four-part series updating research on the benefits of green industry products and services. The latest article focuses on the literature supporting the social benefits. This update and earlier ones on mental health and physical health benefits give us in the industry plenty of ways to promote what we do.

Take a look at how plants affect us:

Part 1: Emotional & Mental Health Benefits

Part 2: Physiological Health Benefits

Part 3: Social Benefits

Upcoming 2020 Events

We are honored to continue meeting your grass needs and look forward to serving you in 2020. Happy Holidays from your friends at Hoffman Nursery!

The nursery will be closed December 21st through January 1st and will reopen for regular hours on January 2, 2020.

MANTS 50

Jan. 8-10, 2020; Baltimore, MD

The Masterpiece of trade shows celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2020. One of the best, this event is three days of constant activity. Friends and colleagues stop by, and there are plenty of opportunities for networking during this big event. Join us in Baltimore for a look at what's happening with grasses and our industry. Find us in Booths 412 & 414.

Green & Growin'

Jan. 27-31, 2020; Greensboro, NC

Green & Growin'20 is later than usual, but it promises to be better than ever. The educational offerings start early in the week, with the trade show on the last two days. Our team will be there throughout the week, but you can definitely catch us in Booths 533 & 535 on Thursday and Friday.

JC Raulston Arboretum Winter Symposium

Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020; Raleigh, NC

This year's Winter Symposium seeks to inspire gardeners and illuminate the relationship between gardening and art. As one of the Southeast's top teaching gardens, the JCRA is the place to be for in-depth, educational gatherings that focus on current and compelling themes in horticulture.

This year's symposium features our Marketing Director, Shannon Currey, along with Bob Lyons and Elissa Steeves. The speakers will help attendees explore the artistic side of gardening with design secrets and innovative ideas.

Guilford Horticultural Society Gardening Symposium

Saturday, Mar. 7, 2020

Paul J Ciener Botanical Garden, Kernersville, NC

For over three decades the Society has sponsored an annual symposium. Their 35th symposium, “All You Need to Know,” features horticultural veterans Carol Reece and Pam Beck. Hoffman Nursery's Shannon Currey joins them with, “Workhorses of the Garden: Grasses & Sedges”. She will focus on grasses and sedges and how they can play many roles in our landscapes, from low-key ground cover to seasonal superstar.