An Evening with Allan Armitage

I had the opportunity to spend a few hours yesterday with Dr. Allan Armitage, as part of a small group from the Smith Gilbert Gardens Foundation. As I have mentioned in the past, we are incredibly lucky in Georgia to have Drs. Armitage and Michael Dirr associated with UGA. As a result, those of us in the gardening community in Georgia tend to have access to some cool information.

As always, I was impressed with just how approachable Dr. Armitage is, particularly in light of what a big deal he is in the horticulture world. There were about 12 of us, and we spent an hour strolling the grounds at the Smith Gilbert Gardens, and then another hour getting a sneak peek of some of his new favorites in the world of perennials.

I'll share more information later (my notes are outside in the truck, and it's way too cold to go outside this early), but for now, here are some tidbits from last night:

Dr. Armitage spoke about hydrangeas, and how strong the paniculatas are coming onto the scene. Some of the cultivars have been around for a long time, but some of the new ones like Pinky Winky and Limelight are really making a big splash. It's no secret that I am a bit of a hydrangea "junky," and have lots of them in the stepchild garden, but I can't argue with the statement that the macrophyllas can be finicky, particularly for new gardeners. In contrast, the paniculatas seem to grow most anywhere, loving sun, shade, or a mix of the two. They aren't the waterhogs that the big leafed relatives can be, either. I've had H. paniculata "Unique" for a couple of years, and it's just a workhorse in my own garden, and at the Big House, as well. Guess it's time to add in some others..... (That's Pinky Winky in the photo.)

Achilleas (Yarrow) are coming on again in a strong way. The newer cultivars like "Pomegranate" are better behaved than some of the older strains, and stay lower to the ground. Yarrow is another plant that I personally can't get enough of, even if it does tend to roam all over the garden when it's happy.

Lastly, one of the new perennials Dr. Armitage likes is a wallflower called "Jenny Brock." This is one of those flowers that doesn't get used often in the south, since it doesn't like heat, but according to the trials at UGA, "Jenny Brock" is perennial, and has flowered there from February until July! Wallflower is an old favorite of mine (as a transplanted New Englander), so this is one I'm going to start looking for today!

I'm starting my day at the greenwaste site, then planning to work in the stepchild garden today; I'm sure there are still plants living under the foot of fallen leaves......

Southeastern Hort Society Party at Vince Dooley's

I was fortunate to spend this evening at Vince & Barbara Dooley's garden in Athens, at a party/fundraiser for the Southeastern Horticulture Society. What a cool event! For those who are outside the Atlanta area, he's the college football icon, and the namesake of the "Vince Dooley" hydrangea.

Truly, I was expecting something fairly "dry," and was dreading the long drive from Cobb County to Athens; now that I'm back at home after the party, I'm delighted I went!

For starters, the Dooleys are very gracious hosts, who clearly open up their entire garden for roaming, exploring, and general poking around. There are no "off limits" areas, including work areas, the baby plant nursery, etc. Linda, Patti and I made a point of seeing all that we could.

The added bonus to this evening was that the "tour guides" were Drs. Allan Armitage and Michael Dirr! I can honestly say I've never been to a garden event with more knowledgeable tour guides, or any who were more enthusiastic about sharing their (unbelievable) expertise in the world of horticulture.

There were very cool plants in the Dooley garden that are not yet available on the market, as well as some of the original first generation plants that have come out of the UGA test gardens over the years. It was pretty cool for a "plant geek" like me to have Michael Dirr show me how he would propogate a particular hydrangea, sharing lots of great tips, and then giving me the cuttings to take home. And how awesome to have Vince Dooley say, "If there's something here you want to take a cutting from, please feel free to do so....."

The evening reinforced my feeling that there are very few jerks in the plant world, and that gardeners are just gracious nurturing souls by nature.....