I T S A U L P L A N T S

Exciting Itsaul varieties

ItSaul plants has a wide assortment of new plant offerings. Here are several that are available or under development by the company.

Yellow-leafed Xanthosoma 'Maffaffa' stands out in this border.

Alocasia, Colocasia, Xanthosoma. ItSaul has several elephant's-ears that have become popular on the market. A. Frydek has velvety dark-green leaves with crisp, white veins. C. 'Jet Black Wonder' (also known as 'Black Magic') has charcoal gray leaves and burgundy stems. X. 'Maffaffa' is a great complementary plant to 'Jet Black Wonder' with bright-yellow/chartreuse 2-foot leaves.

Asarum. ItSaul's wide assortment of wild gingers includes A. maximum 'Green Panda,' which makes a lush evergreen groundcover for shady areas in USDA Hardiness Zones 7-8. 'Ling Ling' is similar with larger, dark-green leaves with light-green patterns. A. splendens 'Quicksilver' is a fast grower with large 7-inch leaves. It's great for mass plantings and is suitable in USDA Hardiness Zones 5-8.

Begonia pedatifida should become a very popular perennial for the Southeast.

Begonia pedatifida. ItSaul has several seedlings of this rhizomatous hardy begonia under evaluation. It has attractive foliage and is hardy to Zone 7 and hopefully Zone 6b. Plants bloom seasonally. The company hopes to develop varieties with red or pink flowers.

Dianthus 'Bewitched' blooms heavily and has beautiful silvery foliage.

Dianthus 'Bewitched.' This seedling of 'Firewitch' was selected as a better, cleaner sport. Like its parent, it's a rebloomer with silver-gray foliage. However, it blooms much heavier than 'Firewitch' and has light-pink flowers with magenta rings, similar to 'Bath's Pink.'

'Moontraveler' is a repeat-blooming daylily with heavy bloom count.

Hemerocallis 'Moontraveler.' This daylily has the same parentage of 'Happy Returns' and blooms from April until frost. It is well suited for the South and blooms well above the foliage. It's also a heavy flowerer with bloom counts of 17-20.

Hydrangea microphylla 'Big Daddy.' This seedling was discovered in Ozzie Johnson's garden and has 12-inch flowers, larger than 'Goliath,' an industry standard for large flowers. ItSaul has applied for a patent for this variety and it will be available in fall 2002 or spring 2003.

'Candlelight' is the first of many ever-blooming red-hot-pokers to be released by the company.

Kniphofia uvaria 'Candlelight.' This ever-blooming variety has creamy-yellow and white flowers. A seedling of 'Border Ballet,' it has been known to bloom in a plug tray and will continue flowering until after first frost. While 'Candlelight' is an outstanding variety on its own, ItSaul hopes to use it as a parent for more ever-blooming varieties and hopes for new cultivars with orange, red, coral and pure-white flowers.

'Colorsplash' is a sport of Wave Pink and has dynamic, bright variegations.

Petunia 'Colorsplash.' This variegated sport of a trailing pink petunia has wide, yellow-variegated leaf margins overlaid with green speckles. It makes for a great hanging-basket or container plant and is vegetatively propagated.

Colorwheel has flowers that fade from white to lavender-purple.

Stokesia laevis Colorwheel. This cultivar was discovered as a seedling at Saul Nurseries' Dahlonega, Ga., location. It is marketed through Plant Development Services Inc. in Loxley, Ala., and produces masses of flowers that change from white to lavender. It's hardy in Zones 6-9.

. © 2002 Branch-Smith Publishing