Released: February 15, 2002

Also see: Early Spring, 2002 Yard 'n Garden news package

Four Landscape Plants Named ’Pride of Kansas’

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Four landscape plants have rated Pride of Kansas honors as a 2002 Plant of the Year. The winning entries are the Prairiefire crabapple, Emerald Triumph viburnum, Goldstrom rudbeckia and Cooler Series periwinkle.

Pride of Kansas rules require that all entries be successful "graduates" of Kansas State University field trials. Day-to-day practical experience plays a part in final Plant of the Year selections. The judges include Kansas Landscape and Nursery Association members, as well as K-State Research and Extension horticulturists.

"Until this year, Pride of Kansas judges focused on shrubs that had proven themselves in urban areas, such as Kansas City. For 2002, however, they decided to extend the help provided by the identifying tag that a Pride of Kansas winner can carry. They selected a tree, shrub, perennial and annual flower that are top performers statewide and beyond," said Emily Nolting, K-State commercial horticulture specialist.

Nolting described 2002’s winners as follows:

* Tree of the Year - Prairiefire crabapple, Malus, could win a prize solely on the basis of its resistance to crabapple foliar diseases. But the 20x20-foot tree is also highly ornamental in landscapes and highly adaptable in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) zones 4-8. In spring, later than most other crabapples, Prairiefire produces brilliant red buds that open to a profusion of deep pinkish-red flowers – each a full one-half inch wide. After that come small, reddish-purple fruit. The tree holds its green-bronze foliage throughout summer. Its dark red, glossy bark can be a major feature in wintertime landscapes.

* Shrub of the Year - Emerald Triumph, Viburnum, is a crossbred variety, developed and released in 1994 by the University of Minnesota. It’s showy, compact for a viburnum, and tough — so long as it gets moisture and full or partial protection from the sun. At maturity, Emerald Triumph is a round, 6-foot shrub with glossy, dark-green foliage. It produces a host of creamy white and nearly flat flower clusters in late spring. Its berries turn red in August and black by mid-fall. The shrub’s fall foliage can range from bronze to dark red, but Kansas’ first hard freeze often arrives early enough to prevent a complete color change.

* Perennial of the Year - Rhudbeckia Goldstrum is a well-known member of the daisy family. It came from Germany in 1937, but now puts on a show all across Kansas, where it’s commonly known as a yellow coneflower or black-eyed Susan. Rhudbeckia Goldstrum provides a long period of visual interest, in return for minimal care. It grows to 2 feet tall and begins flowering each year by mid to late summer, producing spectacular rays of gold petals around a mounded, dark-brown disk. Goldstrum prefers full sun. It’s drought-tolerant and thrives in most soils. It’s easy to grow from seed, transplants or root divisions.

* Annual of the Year - The vincas in the Cooler Series come in an intense, but pastel color array that includes raspberry, peppermint, apricot and pink. Cooler vincas actually do tolerate more cool weather than other varieties, but they’re a heat-loving plant that does best in full sun. They emerge early, develop dark-green foliage, and bloom throughout summer. Mature plants are about 10 inches tall with clumps of flowers spreading 10 to 14 inches. Each 1-inch flower has overlapping petals. Cooler Series vincas add a splash of care-free color, whether tucked in with other landscape plants or massed together.

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K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.

Story by:
Kathleen Ward, Communications Specialist
kward@oznet.ksu.edu
K-State Research& Extension News