Joy Creek Plant Introductions from 2005

In 2005 we released our only patented plant. Eight years earlier, we had discovered three seedling Miscanthus in our garden and planted them in our stock field for evaluation. All of them were distinctly barred in gold, but of different heights. One of them, which stood between 3 and 4 feet, seemed ideal for a home garden. Its leaf blades were dense with horizontal gold stripes - up to seven of them per inch. It was very tightly clumping at its base and its blades were very stiff, revealing its parentage in Miscanthus sinensis 'Strictus.' We counted the fact that its inflorescences did not emerge until late October as an asset because it suggested that it might never have the chance to produce viable seed in places where Maiden grass has become a problem.

At our nursery, visiting nurserymen and customers alike were attracted to its luminous quality. We were even offered money for it. Dan Heims, from Terra Nova Nursery, advised us that we should patent the plant. We realized that we could not profitably produce it at our small mail order nursery. It was through the graces of our friend David Culp that we were introduced to Sunny Border Nursery where the grass was trialed for a year. Sunny Border liked it and agreed to help us go through the complex patenting process with the help of patent writer Penny Aguirre. In 2004 we received the patent number PP15193 for Miscanthus'Gold Bar' and released the grass from the nursery the following year.

In 2005, we also introduced a new penstemon. The history of this particular seedling is somewhat humorous. It was originally scheduled to be removed from our garden with a crop of other seedlings because its color was too similar to others. Fortunately, our propagator, thinking it was the same as its neighboring plant, made cuttings of it while it was not in bloom. Eventually three of those cuttings were replanted in the stock field with the wrong name and only after they bloomed did we realize the mistake. By then, the more mature plants revealed some interesting characteristics. The flowers were immense, wider than any others in our collection. Interestingly, the flowers formed a one-sided raceme that was pleasingly deltoid in shape, giving the raceme dramatic impact. We later traced the parents back to Penstemon 'Raspberry Flair' and P. 'Wine Kissed' although we do not know which was the seed parent. Soon after, we wedded those two names together and called it Penstemon 'Raspberry Wine.'

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© 2007 Joy Creek Nursery

Joy Creek Plant Introductions from 2005

The year 2005 brought five introductions to our catalogue. We will describe only two of them in this issue.

Over the years, we have been frustrated by seed crops of yarrow which have produced inconsistent plants. We have long looked for a seedling Achillea that had good flower color that held up for a long time in the summer garden. We eventually found such a plant in a seedling from Achillea ‘Paprika’ which we gave the working name Achillea ‘Paprika Joy Creek Select.' The name, although it is not very fanciful, represents our selection process. The rich red flowers with yellow eyes are gathered into flattened heads. If bloom spikes are cut back, it will continue to bloom all summer. As with other yarrows, the flowers do fade but not quickly and not unattractively.

In our gardens, we have towering Euphorbia characias var. wulfenii that make a glorious display from spring to early autumn. They are so large that they sometimes lean on their neighbors and we have had to cage them to keep them upright. Not every garden can handle such large plants and so we set to work to find a seedling that was shorter and more compact but offered the same bold, bracted flower-heads in spring. Once again, we chose a not too imaginative working name, ‘Joy Creek Dwarf’, and that name has stuck as a description. At three feet tall and three feet wide, our selection can easily be accommodated in almost any garden. In habit, it is upright and does not flop. In addition, it has mid-sized, somewhat rounded floral-heads.

Photos: Joy Creek Photo Archive © all rights reserved

© 2007 Joy Creek Nursery

Joy Creek Plant Introductions, Part 3

As part of our Joy Creek Times for 2007, we are reviewing the plants that Joy Creek Nursery has developed and introduced. In the last installment we ended at the year 1999.

In 2000, we introduced three new plants: Euphorbia 'Mocha Gekko,' Knautia 'Ruby Star' and Origanum 'Yellow Flicker.'

For all of our attempts to be clear-headed, we sometimes get caught up in fads. In 1999, the purple-leafed Euphorbia dulcis 'Chameleon' was one of the hottest plants in retail markets in the Northwest. Unfortunately, few had long-term experience with this plant. We found a seedling of 'Chameleon' that had leaves the color of hot chocolate, so we named it 'Mocha Gekko' to play off of the name of its parent. We sold this for one year. Through experience, we learned that Euphorbia dulcis is a notorious self-seeder in the Pacific Northwest. It became difficult to keep our stock true and we no longer have this plant in production at our nursery.

We had much better luck with one of our favorite long-blooming perennials, Knautia 'Ruby Star.' Mike spotted this seedling of Knautia macedonica in our stock-fields. At 18 inches in height it was half the height of the species form that we grow. The name derives from the inch-wide flowers that are rich purple red with tiny specks of white in their centers. We now grow this in the red area of our Four Seasons Garden where its summer-to-autumn bloom keeps the color theme in play as more ephemeral bloomers come and go.

Origanum 'Yellow Flicker' is a bit of an enigma. It is a seedling of Origanum vulgare that we found in our Dry Border. It has all the characteristics of culinary oregano, however, it has one very distinct and curious feature. Early in the summer, as our heat comes on, its leaves begin to be flecked with golden variegation which it holds until the fall. The year after we discovered this herb, we thought our specimen had reverted to an all-green leaf form and we were in the process of disposing of it when over-night the gold markings on the leaves became visible. Perhaps this one should have been called 'Chameleon'! But as it was, we have many Yellow-shafted Flickers that flit through the nursery and we were inspired by them for the name.

Read previous entries about Joy Creek introductions here and here.

Photo: Joy Creek Photo Archive © all rights reserved

© 2007 Joy Creek Nursery

More Joy Creek Plant Introductions

One fact that many customers do not know about Joy Creek Nursery is that we are always finding new and interesting variations of plants in our gardens. Sometimes these prove to be of great interest and we test and evaluate them in hopes of finding a worthy new introduction. To date, we have released 27 plants and have several more in the evaluation stage.

As part of our Joy Creek Times, we thought we would reintroduce our plants a few of at a time and give a little of the history of their development. Penstemons were the very first plants we selected to introduce as our own.

Our collection of garden hybrid penstemon is one of the most popular at the nursery. These colorful plants bloom from the summer into the fall. Their tubular flowers range from white to pink, rose, red, blue and purple. Because they are evergreen shrublets, they are valuable additions to the mixed border.

In 1994, we discovered a seedling that was intermediary between two familiar cultivars, Penstemon ‘Midnight Blue’ and ‘Stapleford Gem.' It proved to be vigorous and free-flowering. The mid-sized, light purple blue flowers have dark maroon stripes in their throats which gave rise to the name ‘Purple Tiger’. We released it in 1996 along with another seedling we had discovered that had enormous lavender-purple flowers with dark raspberry streaks in their pure white throats. We called this one ‘Raspberry Flair.' (Photo at left above)

In the mid-1990’s, we began selecting seedlings that had pure white throats and tinted lips. The first in the series of selections was a lovely violet-lipped form, which we named ‘Violet Kissed’. This was joined by pale coral pink-lipped ‘Coral Kissed’ and bright rose-lipped ‘Cerise Kissed’. The following year we introduced ‘Wine Kissed’ (Photo at right above) which is the most dramatic of the four with its white throat and wine red lips. All have been popular with our customers. Recently the series was featured by the wholesale nursery, Sunny Border Nursery, as part of their temp-perennial collection.

The latest addition to our penstemon introductions almost ended up on the compost pile as we were rooting out stray seedlings. Fortunately, it was spared. ‘Raspberry Wine’ (Photo above) is a cross between ‘Raspberry Flair’ and ‘Wine Kissed.' The flowers are the largest we have seen on a garden penstemon. The depth of color is close to that of ‘Wine Kissed,' however, the throat is not white but streaked in raspberry very much like ‘Raspberry Flair.'

We are now at work on a series of new penstemon crosses and hope to be trialing our seedlings in the coming year.

© 2007 Joy Creek Nursery

Photos: Joy Creek Photo Archive © all rights reserved

Joy Creek Nursery Plant Introductions

As part of a series on Joy Creek Nursery plant introductions, we thought we would reintroduce the gardening public to some of our earliest releases.

One of the first plants we developed at Joy Creek was Agapanthus "Joyful Blue" (photo at right) which we selected from seed taken from plants of Agapanthus "Headbourne Hybrids," a plant that we had tested and knew to be winter hardy for the Portland area. The seed produced plants with variable flower color. We were looking for a plant with a good clear sky-blue flower. We eventually found the color we were looking for and introduced "Joyful Blue in 1998. This plant recently was trialed at the Elizabeth C. Miller Botanical Garden in Seattle, WA, and proved to be the most vigorous and winter hardy in their limited test. The seed-heads are almost as dramatic as the flower-heads and carry the season of interest on into the fall.

Gaura lindheimeri "Golden Speckles" was a seedling we found in our garden not far from where Gaura lindheimeri "Corrie's Gold" was growing. Instead of having golden margins as in "Corrie's Gold," the leaves of our seedling have golden speckles. The flowers are very similar to those of "Corrie's Gold," white butterfly-like blooms on tall flowering stems that move in the slightest breeze. The overall effect of "Golden Speckles" is of a pointillist painting, small white flowers above spotted foliage. We introduced this in 1999.

In the same year we also introduced Adenophora "Amethyst Chimes," (photo at left) a seedling we noticed in the garden that was flowering lilac-pink instead of the usual blue. The tall spikes of down-facing bells were so enchanting we decided to give it a name. This is a vigorous plant which we now grow in the pink section of the Four Seasons Garden where it carries on its summer bloom until early fall.

There are many Hydrangea macrophylla forms with variegated leaves. The classic Hydrangea "Mariesii Variegata" ("Maculata") has irregular silver edging around its leaves. "Lemon Waves" and "Wave Hill" both have leaves that are splashed with yellow or chartreuse on their silver and green leaves. We found a yellow variegated sport on "Mariesii Variegata" that we propagated and grew out. Eventually we named it "Gilded Lace" for the gold on the lacy silvery markings of the leaves. Interestingly, "Gilded Lace" has held on to its foliage as late as December, long after the other macrophylla forms have dropped their leaves. This was the last of the plants that we introduced in 1999.

© 2007 Joy Creek Nursery
Photos: Joy Creek Photo Archive © all rights reserved