{"id":58,"date":"2007-08-30T07:07:00","date_gmt":"2007-08-30T15:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/garden\/?p=58"},"modified":"2015-11-24T07:33:25","modified_gmt":"2015-11-24T15:33:25","slug":"flowers-everywhere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/flowers-everywhere\/","title":{"rendered":"Flowers Everywhere"},"content":{"rendered":"

FLOWERS EVERYWHERE<\/font><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mass merchandising and mass communications have changed the nursery trade, just as they have changed every other aspect of life.\u00a0 Big companies like Home Depot and Lowe’s put enormous yard and garden departments in every store.\u00a0 As with everything these discounters sell–from washers to widgets–low prices and high merchandise turnover create consistent positive cash flow.\u00a0 Of course at least some of this comes at the expense of independent garden centers, whose owners have to work even harder and position themselves carefully in the marketplace in order to stay in business.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Another byproduct of mass merchandising of nursery items is the rise of ubiquitous “super plants”\u009d.\u00a0 Probably the two most recognizable of these plants are the reblooming daylily Stella de Oro and the Knock Out\u00ae<\/sup> series of roses. \u00a0I have never actually done a survey, but I am positive that if you asked any one hundred gardeners whether they had Stella and\/or a Knock Out\u00ae rose in their gardens, at least two thirds would answer “yes”\u009d.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But are Stella and Knock Out really better plants or just more thoroughly hyped?\u00a0 It takes a little investigation to find out.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For those few Americans who have never seen Stella de Oro, or at least didn’t know its name, it is a golden yellow miniature daylily that reblooms throughout the growing season.\u00a0 The blossoms are small–only about three inches wide, but they are plentiful on mature plants.\u00a0 Though some daylily varieties have always rebloomed in the southern United States, Stella was the first daylily that would rebloom reliably in the north.\u00a0 Registered with the American Hemerocallis Society in 1975, Stella was hybridized by veteran breeder Walter Jablonski.\u00a0 The lily became well known in daylily circles, and, in 1985, was awarded the American Hemerocallis Society’s highest honor, the Stout Medal.\u00a0 By the late 1980’s the little lily’s fame had spread, and it began to show up in backyards, institutional plantings and just about everywhere else.\u00a0 Today you can find them at retail locations ranging from the biggest mass merchandisers to the smallest boutique garden centers.\u00a0 The Hemerocallis Society estimates that over twenty million of them have been sold.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So what’s the scoop on Stella?\u00a0 She is cheap, plentiful, durable and reliable, and lives up to her reblooming reputation.\u00a0 However, she is definitely a miniature, so lovers of big, bold blossoms may want to try other cultivars.\u00a0 <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Like all daylilies, Stella needs regular moisture to keep on blooming.\u00a0 After a few years, the plants need dividing, just like their non-reblooming kin.\u00a0 The blooms are not as complex in shape or color as those of some non-rebloomers, but do look bright and cheerful when planted en masse.\u00a0 You can get a long season of bloom out of non-reblooming daylilies by selecting varieties that bloom in the early, middle and late portions of the daylily season, but even with that amount of effort you will probably not get as long a season of bloom as you will by simply installing Stella de Oro.\u00a0 <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Knock Out\u00ae rose is the Stella de Oro of the rose world.\u00a0 The original Knock Out\u00ae was bred by Wisconsin based rose hybridizer William Radler, and introduced by the Conard Pyle company of Pennsylvania, which markets roses under the Star\u00ae name.\u00a0 Knock Out\u00ae is a cherry-colored single rose, which was bred specifically for disease resistance, heat and cold tolerance and repeat blooming.\u00a0 Knock Out\u00ae also has a reputation for “cleaning”\u009d itself, which means that the flower heads drop cleanly off the plant when the flowers fade, rather than clinging to the stems.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The beauty, toughness and durability of Knock Out\u00ae isn’t surprising.\u00a0 One of its parents is Carefree Beauty, a rose bred by the late Dr. Griffith Buck of Iowa State University.\u00a0 All of Buck’s roses were bred to be immune to the dramatic extremes of Iowa weather, in addition to being exceptionally beautiful and fragrant.\u00a0 Carefree Beauty, introduced in 1977, was one of Dr. Buck’s best and most popular.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carefree Beauty has been widely praised by professional and amateur rose growers, many of whom have planted it en masse.\u00a0 Since its introduction, Knock Out\u00ae has been joined by siblings Double Knock Out\u00ae, Pink Knock Out\u00ae, Blushing Knock Out\u00ae and Rainbow Knock Out\u00ae.\u00a0 Widely advertised in garden and shelter magazines, all the Knock Out roses are available at large and small retail outlets.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There seems to be no doubt that Knock Out is a good rose, and maybe a great rose.\u00a0 The original blooms prolifically, though its scent is light.\u00a0 However, for my money, some of the Griffith Buck roses have just as much hardiness and disease resistance and more fragrance and beauty.\u00a0 All rebloom throughout the growing season, though possibly not as often as the Knock Out roses.\u00a0\u00a0 I believe that I will let my neighbors enjoy their Knock Out roses and concentrate on acquiring more of Dr. Buck’s beauties.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 On balance, I think that Stella de Oro daylilies and Knock Out roses are good for gardeners and the gardening hobby.\u00a0 They are cheap enough to plant in large numbers and have the ability to make even strip malls and McMansion developments look better.\u00a0 They make life easy for novices and those who want something attractive but don’t care to spend all their time coddling plants.\u00a0 They can also be inspirational.\u00a0 A beginning gardener who has success with Knock Out or Stella may have the confidence to buy other, more challenging plants.\u00a0 Before long he or she will be flinging Latin names around and debating the merits of obscure South African plants.\u00a0 <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sometimes Stella de Oro and the Knock Out Rose may not be an end in themselves, but only a beginning.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FLOWERS EVERYWHERE \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mass merchandising and mass communications have changed the nursery trade, just as they have changed every other aspect of life.\u00a0 Big companies like Home Depot and Lowe’s put enormous yard and garden departments in every store.\u00a0 As with everything these discounters sell–from washers to widgets–low prices and high merchandise turnover create consistent … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-interest","category-summer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1720,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58\/revisions\/1720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}