Announcing the 2019 GCA Plant of the Year: ARISTOLOCHIA MACROPHYLLA!

Aristolochia macrophylla​ (Dutchman's Pipe)

The 2019 Freeman Medal winner is an intriguing native vine that can be used to create a lush living wall, a sheltering green roof, a thick ground cover, or an attractive privacy fence. Aristolochia macrophylla (Dutchman's Pipe) is a deciduous vine that has been used in American gardens since the eighteenth century, especially to shade porches and windows from the hot summer sun. Large, heart-shaped, densely overlapping leaves 6 to 12 inches long can quickly cover an arbor or trellis with attractive, glossy, deep green foliage and create a canopy impenetrable to the rays of the sun or moderate rain.

Aristolochia macrophylla (Dutchman's Pipe) is named for its exotic pale yellow flowers that resemble a “Dutchman’s pipe." The flowers bloom in May and June among a swathe of large, fuzzy, heart-shaped, dark green leaves.

A unique and underused vine, Aristolochia macrophylla is especially important as the host plant for the Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly.  Pipevine Swallowtails lay their eggs in small clusters on young leaves or stems. When the eggs hatch, the leaves  become an important food source for the growing caterpillars. 

The unusual shape of the pipe blossom serves as a type of 'fly-trap,' attracting small insects that are temporarily held and released to carry pollen to the next flower. Observers of all ages will be fascinated watching nature in action.
 
Aristolochia macrophylla, also known as Isotrema macrophyllum, is a versatile and valuable vine that thrives in USDA zones 4 to 8, in sun to part shade, and in average to moist soil.  It is deer resistant and pollution tolerant, and it has no serious insect or disease problems.  It is a workhorse vine with an exotic look that would highlight a small or large native garden in the twenty-first century.

Aristolochia macrophylla​ (Dutchman's Pipe)
Proposed by Abby Coffin, Chestnut Hill Garden Club, Zone I

Honorable Mention was awarded to a remarkable ornamental shade tree that is native throughout the northeast and central United States. 

Gymnocladus dioicus (Kentucky Coffeetree)

Gymnocladus dioicus (Kentucky Coffeetree) grows in USDA  zones 3 to 8 and has unique characteristics that make it stand out as a striking and aesthetically pleasing tree throughout all four seasons. In early summer, the showy greenish white female flowers are 8 to 12 inches long and have the fragrance of roses.  During summer, the tree has a soft lacy appearance and the female flowers give way to flattened, reddish-brown pods up to 10 inches long. The pods, which ripen in October and persist well into winter, provide a striking silhouette against a winter sky.  Male trees are also a good option because they provide seasonal interest with smaller flowers and no seedpods

Gymnocladus dioicus (Kentucky Coffeetree)
Proposed by Brenda Barrett and Elizabeth Schnabel
Garden Club of Lexington, Zone VII

Honorable Mention was awarded to Viburnum rufidulum (Rusty Blackhaw, Southern Blackhaw), an incredibly versatile and underutilized native plant that can be used as a small specimen tree, a showy shrub border, an understory planting or naturalized to provide habitat in a woodland setting.

Viburnum rufidulum (Rusty Blackhaw, Southern Blackhaw)

With four-season interest, it is covered in spring and early June with striking 5 to 6-inch-wide clusters of small, creamy-white fragrant blooms that provide nectar for bees, butterflies, and beneficial insects.  Its showy flowers can be cut or dried and are surrounded by lustrous dark green, glossy, summer foliage. During fall, its clusters of dark blue berries are extremely popular with wildlife including songbirds, upland ground birds, and small and large animals. The berries are edible and taste similar to raisins.  In fall, Viburnum rufidulum foliage puts on a brilliant display of autumnal colors. The show concludes with reddish-brown articulated bark that provides architectural interest in winter.
 
Viburnum rufidulum will grow 10 to 20 feet in USDA zones 5 to 9 in full sun or partial/deep shade.  It tolerates clay and poor soil and can be planted and naturalized in ravines and along rocky banks of creeks to prevent erosion.  It is resistant to disease, insects, and deer and, because it is tolerant of drought and pollution, it is an excellent option for public and urban areas.
 
You will probably not find this hearty, vibrant native in a big box store, but it is definitely worth asking your local nursery to get it for you.

Viburnum rufidulum (Rusty Blackhaw, Southern Blackhaw)
Proposed by Lisa Z. Manning
Garden Club of Nashville, Zone IX

Quarantine Issued in Delaware for the Spotted Lanternfly

Quarantine Issued in Delaware for the Spotted Lanternfly

The Spotted Laternfly

On February 28, 2019, the DE Department of Agriculture signed Emergency Regulations for Spotted Lanternfly that has enacted a quarantine for this pest. Spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicata, is a threat to Delaware and the US, as it is a destructive, invasive plant hopper that attacks many hosts including forests, ornamental trees, orchards, hops, and grapes. This insect is detrimental to Delaware's agricultural industries, the environment, and residential areas.

The quarantine is in place to prevent the movement of spotted lanternfly in Delaware and the surrounding states and to eradicate and control the spotted lanternfly population currently present in the quarantined area. You may download a guide for residents or for more information on the state's efforts to locate and control the proliferation of this insect, visit https://agriculture.delaware.gov/plant-industries/spotted-lanternfly/.

 The following zip codes in northern New Castle County have been quarantined in their entirety: 19702, 19703, 19707, 19711, 19801, 19802, 19803, 19805, 19807, 19809, 19810

2016 Shirley Meneice Conference, Brooklyn, New York

GCA's Shirley Meneice Conference is a packed two day event now in its fifteenth year given by and for fortunate GCA members. Named for and honoring a 93 year old woman's passion for horticulture, the conference offers education, connections and new and old friendships.

GCA President Anne Copenhaver opened the conference with references to Betty Smith's A Tree Grows In Brooklyn and then unleashed two full days of lectures, tours, power point presentations, networking and information.

Shirley Meneice encourages us to plant seeds we may never get to see grow. Brooklyn Botanical Garden (BBG) President Scott Medbury embraces that sentiment with the BBG vision focusing on youth, environment and education. In partnership with schools in New York City, the first BBG childrens' garden was planted in 1918. Ongoing site refinement has been strengthened by a $100 million campaign that has the dubious distinction of launching one week before the collapse of Lehman Brothers. They met their goal.

The spectacular green roof over the BBG Visitor's Center, aided by a 21 million gallon per year storm water overflow system, has won 20 awards including the prestigious National Honor Award by the AIA.

So called the "United Nations of Children", the BBG sponsors "Operation Green Reach". Children are nominated by their teachers to attend a six week program at BBG that includes a childrens' farmers' market and even camping. Teacher education focuses on "Urban Advantage".

With attendance of one million visitors in 2016, BBG's largest single day attendance to date is 56,000 visitors to the magnificent bird filled botanical garden.

Lectures offered to GCA members were given by experts in their fields. BBG's Curator of Native Plants, Uli Lorimer noted that botanists helped find plants and gave input into the early foundation of BBG.

Melanie Griffen, VP of Horticulture and Facilities at BBG spoke to the Sustainable Site Initiative, a complex and intensively run program to ensure re-development of brownfield sites, ensuring future resource supplies, monitor the effects of the urban heat island that is NYC and numerous care of ecosystems supporting nature,

Landscape Architect David Morrison gave insights into where art and nature meet. He explained that garden designers learn from scientists and enthusedabout the movement of grasses bringing a landscape alive. His recipe for landscape design includes mystery, complexity, coherence and legibility. He is no fan of sharp lines!

Amy Goldman told us about her enormous heirloom seed production that has been documented by a photographer using daguerreotype as his only photographic method.

Dave Borak, BBG's orchid expert noted that 27,800 orchid species date back to the Cretaceous Period, 800,000,000 years ago.

A tour of the Visitors Center green roof was only a glimpse into the engineering genius of a 9,000 square foot or ¼ acre grass garden that is geothermally independent.

This barely scratches the surface of what one can bring back from such a conference as the Shirley Meneice. It is a privilege offered by GCA for GCA members. It requires the attendee to reflect on how garden clubs can further their purpose in the preservation of horticulture and natural environments.

Barbara Cooch

Garden Club of Wilmington

President.

Christopher Roddick, an ISA-certified arborist at BBG, leading a workshop on the Holistic Approach to Caring for Trees. He is also the coauthor of the BBG handbook The Tree Care Primer, a BBG All-Region Guide.

2015 Shirley Meneice Horticulture Conference

Betsy McCoy joined 200 other delegates from GCA Garden Clubs around the country in Seattle for the Shirley Meneice Conference.

Click here to read about her experience and see photos from the trip.