‘Tried and true’ for Kansas
Amy Jordan
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Each year Kansas State Extension, in association with the Kansas Nursery and Landscape Association, recognizes plants well-adapted to the prairie climate through the Pride of Kansas program.
A tree, shrub, and perennial make the list of “tried and true” that should thrive in just about any landscape.
The 2007 Pride of Kansas tree of the year is the English Oak, Quercus robur. This could very well be the perfect oak for Kansas. Easy to transplant, this oak does very well in high pH soils and droughty conditions. English oak, as the name implies is native to England and Europe. The tree grows tightly symmetrical, upright and oval with a height and width of 40 – 60 feet. With age the tree spreads to become wider with a stately appearance. The leaves are a deep bluish-green with 3 to 7 lobes only reaching a length of 3-5 inches. The fall color is yellow, turning brown in the winter. The leaves remain on the tree well into the winter months. The bark is ridged with deep furrows. English Oak foliage is susceptible to mildew but can be controlled with an appropriate fungicide. There are upright, columnar varieties perfect for a specimen that is tall and narrow. Fastigiata, Skyrocket, and Attention can grow to 60” tall and only 10-15 feet in diameter.
Common ninebark, Physocarpus opulifolius, tops the charts as the shrub of the year. Common Ninebark is a hardy, native shrub that can be grown in sun or shade, dry or wet soils, and acid or alkaline soils. This large shrub has peeling, orange bark. Annual growth rate can be up to 18”. The flowers are not especially ornamental but are followed by fruit that turn red. There is no outstanding ornamental fall color, although cultivar ‘Diablo’ has reddish-purple foliage throughout the growing season. Other cultivars are: ‘Dart’s Gold’; a compact, rounded plant with a height and spread of about 5 feet. The plant has yellow foliage during the growing season. ‘Nugget’ is a dense, bushy shrub with a height and spread of about 5 feet. The foliage is yellow when young but matures to a yellowish-green. ‘Snowfall’ has flowers clusters that are larger and more showy than the species.
The 2007 perennial of the year is Butterfly milkweed, Asclepias species. There are two species of Butterfly weed that are common in Kansas. The tuberose, in shades of orange, reds and bi-colors, are found in dry fields and roadside slopes. The incarnata flowers are white, with red bracts. This species prefers moist but well drained soils. Both have a delightful fragrance of vanilla and attract butterflies. Flowers are borne from June to August and love full sun. Butterfly weed is in the milkweed family and is slow to emerge in the spring. The plants are hairy, with opposite leaves and vertical stems that rarely branch. Winter mulching is advised where snow cover is minimal. These perennials are great for naturalizing, specimen color and don’t forget, attracting those beautiful butterflies.
Consider these plants for your landscape. There is still time to plant them this season if given adequate care throughout the summer, or perhaps they could be part of a fall planting. Remember that although these plants will eventually require little care, it takes about 2 years for plants to become established, so they will need adequate water (about an inch each week during the growing season) until then.
F Amy Jordan is a horticulturist with K-State Research and Extension in Lyon County.