Since 1994, the Gold Medal Plant Program has helped Georgia gardeners improve their landscapes with beautiful, proven plants.
The program is a compilation of effort by the State Botanical Garden of Georgia, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, UGA Horticulture faculty, nurserymen, flower growers, garden retailers and landscape professionals from across the state.
Each year, members from these groups select candidates from a long list of nominees and award the “best of the best” as Georgia Gold Medal winners.
The winners are chosen based on their ability to provide interest to the landscape while requiring minimal care.
As spring landscape projects continue, consider the 2013 winners.
ANNUAL: Looking for an annual for a shady spot? The Wishbone or Clown Flower (Torenia fournieri) might fill that niche for you.
This compact plant has pink, blue, lavender, white, yellow or bi-color flowers from spring until frost. The flowers look like small trumpets or individual snapdragon blooms. Inside each bloom are stamens that form a little wishbone pattern, resulting in the common name.
The mature plant will reach 6-12 inches tall and a foot or more wide. No deadheading is needed on this self-cleaning annual. Wishbone flower thrives in light to full shade.
It is heat tolerant and can take a variety of soils, but they must be well-drained.
GROUND COVER: Golden Sweetflag grass (Acorus gramineus Ogon and Minimus aureus), best known as a groundcover, can be useful in container planting. Because the foliage can look tired by the end of winter, you may want to cut it back before the new flush of growth in spring.
Sweetflag thrives on the edge of wet areas where it will spread to create a groundcover.
The golden foliage works well for brightening dark areas, contrasting with rich green or burgundy foliage, or filling between stepping stones. When crushed, the leaves emit a pleasant scent that helps to make this plant deer resistant.
NATIVE: It took me several years to appreciate grasses.
One of my favorites, pink muhly grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris), is hard to beat in the fall. It has a fine-textured pink flower made of tiny flowers that hovers above the green foliage.
Many improved selections of this lovely native grass are easy to find. All will age to a tan color and hold on to those flowering stems through winter. Cut back as new growth begins to emerge in the spring. This is also a good time for dividing the clumps.
Perennial: Variegated Solomon’s seal (Polyganatum odoratum Variegata) a good perennial for a shade garden. The boldly striped foliage brightens any shady spot, contrasting well with the rich green that often fills these wooded areas.
The green leaves have bold, splashed stripes of cream. In late spring, lightly fragrant bell flowers dangle from the stems. For a quick start, place several plants about 12 inches apart. In a few years, you will be able to divide the rhizomes and increase the distribution of Solomon’s seal in your garden.
The foliage turns wheat gold in fall then disappears for the winter.
SHRUB: Evergreen leaves and sweetly fragrant blooms help to make gardenias one of the quintessential landscape plants of our Southern gardens.
Newer, compact hybrids help make gardenias easier to incorporate into urban landscapes. Gardenia jasminoides Radicans matures at 2-3 inches tall by 3 feet wide and has been available for several years. Double Mint, Heaven Scent and Frost Proof are examples of smaller gardenias that work in a variety of situations.
Many of the details for this article were borrowed from the Georgia Gold Medal Plants website: www.georgiagoldmedalplants.org.
Visit them for more information about current and past winners as well as the nomination process.
Upcoming events
• Master Gardeners of Central Georgia Spring Home and Garden Show: April 6-7 in the McGill Building at the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter in Perry.
At the show, you’ll find vendors offering a wide variety of plants, garden tools, pottery, home accents and outdoor living accessories.
Master Gardeners will be available to answer questions, help with plant selections and conduct demonstrations.
A multitude of children’s activities will be available. Tickets are $5 at the door. Children under 12 are admitted free. Visit www.mgcg.org for more information.
• Farm to Table Benefit Dinner and Silent Auction: 7 p.m. April 8 at the Armory Ballroom. Co-sponsored by Community Health Works and the Moonhanger Group, the dinner will benefit the Wholesome Wave Georgia program at the Mulberry Street Market.
A chef from Dovetail will prepare a menu from fresh, locally-grown and raised seasonal items from local growers. Bibb County 4-H will host a silent auction at the dinner.
Proceeds from the silent auction will directly benefit the program. Dinner tickets cost $50 and are available at www.chwg.org.
