Woody Ornamentals

'Princeton' American Elm is one of the best Ulmus for the classic vase-shaped habit and good resistance to both Elm leaf beetle and Dutch Elm disease.  Princeton Elm can serve as a larval host to the Eastern Comma, Mourning Cloak, Question Mark, and Painted Lady butterflies.  Leaves decay rapidly when compared to other hardwoods like Oaks, Maples, and Hickory. They are also high in nutrient content, useful as a soil-building plant where soils are depleted or generally poor.  Its fast growing upright characteristics were what made our grandfather, William Flemer Sr., select it in the 1920s and the subsequent excellent D.E.D. resistance was a marvelous unexpected bonus. Salt and wet site tolerant.

Allee® ('Emer II') Lacebark Elm was selected by Dr Dirr on the campus of the University of Georgia at at Athens.  Ulmus parvifolia Allee® has a beautiful vase-shaped habit similar to the classic American Elm, but it also has excellent resistance to Dutch Elm and Phloem Necrosis.  The foliage is smaller and the bark is attractively mottled in shades of green, orange, tan and gray.  Allee® handles urban conditions well, and has proved to be an excellent addition to urban street tree choices.

'Blue Jay' Highbush Blueberry produces delicious fruit in June and July, making it a mid season Blueberry.  The delicate waxy bell-shaped flowers are white and are attractive to pollinators in May.  The fall color of Vaccinium 'Blue Jay' is bright shades of red and orange, and the winter twigs are also attractive as cut branches.  Plant with another cultivar for good fruit production.

'Bluecrop' Highbush Blueberry is a mid-season fruit producer, bearing lots of glaucous blue fruit in early to mid July.  The bell-shaped white flowers appear in May and are attractive to butterflies and pollinators.  The green disease free foliage turns attractive shades of red tones in fall, and the twigs maintain the red tones throughout the winter.  Vaccinium 'Bluecrop' is a good commercial cultivar which performs best when planted near another cultivar.  Blueberries thrive in wet, acid sites.

'Jersey' Highbush Blueberry was selected for its commercial fruit value in the mid Atlantic region, producing large high quality berries in late June and July.  It is considered a mid to late season Blueberry, and is a great cross pollinator for other Highbush Blueberries.  The waxy white bell-shaped flowers appear in May in pendant racemes.  The fall color is attractive shades of yellow, orange and red, followed by attractively colored winter twigs.  All Vacciniums prefer constant moisture and acid soils.

Mapleleaf Viburnum is a tough, adaptable plant which thrives in shady, dry sites. Creamy white flat-topped flowers in May are followed by purple fruit in late summer and fall. Foliage is green in summer, changing to subtle shades of pink, rose, red and purple in fall. Will become a broad colony eventually because of its suckering habit. Deciduous.

Koreanspice Viburnum has wonderfully fragrant white flowers in April and May, followed by red and burgundy fall color. Deciduous. This and V. x juddii produce the classic scent we love so much from Viburnums.  An added attraction is that V. carlesii actually thrives under Black Walnuts.

Spice Girl® ('Spito') Koreanspice Viburnum blooms in April and May, producing extremely fragrant flower clumps that are pink in bud turning to white snowballs when open.  The medium green foliage is more deer resistant than most Viburnums, and the leaves turn attractive shades of red in fall.  Viburnum carlesii Spice Girl® does well in sun and partial shade.  It would make a lovely fragrant hedge as well as an attractive specimen.

Chicago Lustre® ('Synnesvedt') Arrowwood Viburnum has beautiful glossy foliage that is topped with white flat flowers in May and June, followed by stunning cymes of bright blue fruit in late summer. Fall color is a nice reddish purple. An excellent introduction by Chicagoland Grows®. This is a great substitute for Euonymus alatus 'Compacta'. Important food source for migrating birds. Deciduous. 2023 PHS Gold Medal Plant.

PRN Preferred:  A multi-season Viburnum, offering showy flowers, fruit and fall color.

Chinese Snowball Viburnum produces an enormous quantity of lovely sterile blooms.  The snowball flowers hang from the branches in May to June, changing from lime green to white as they mature.  Viburnum macrocephalum makes a large vase-shaped plant which bears a close resemblance to a Pee Gee Hydrangea when in bloom.  The green dentate foliage is attractive and disease resistant and somewhat pubescent.  Since the flowers are sterile, there is no fruit.  Pruning for a tighter shape is best done just after the bloom period.   A native of China.

The white fertile flowers of Brandywine™ ('Bulk') Smooth Witherod appear in summer over glossy dark green leaves. Fruit display in fall is a stunning mix of rosy pink and dark blue, over deep reddish maroon leaves which persist for a long time. Best pollination results are achieved by planting it with V. 'Winterthur'. From plantsman Mark Bulk. It is wet site tolerant and deciduous.

'Winterthur' Smooth Witherod has white flowers, beautiful pink and purple fruit in summer, and burgundy fall color. Selected by Bill Frederick, with his usual impeccable taste. It is also wet site tolerant and deciduous. Needs a pollinator like V. Brandywine™ for best fruit production.

PRN Preferred: Pink and blue late summer fruit is followed by beautiful long lasting burgundy fall color.

'Popcorn' Doublefile Viburnum produces large quantities of big white snowball blooms in April.  The sterile flowers start lime green before maturing to white, and make a stunning show for a month.  The habit is upright and somewhat compact.  Introduced by David Leach of Ohio, and Dr. Michael Dirr's favorite of the Snowball Doublefile Viburnums.  Deciduous, with dark green leathery foliage which stands up to heat better than many of its cousins.

Blackhaw Viburnum has white spring flowers which are very showy in mass, followed by bluish black fruit which birds love. The fall color of Viburnum prunifolium is a handsome mix of orange, red and purple. Can be grown as a very large shrub or a beautiful small ornamental tree. There is a spectacular treeform example of this versatile native at William Frederick's home in Delaware, which convinced us to grow it as a small ornamental tree as well as a shrub. Very shade tolerant. Deciduous.

Leatherleaf Viburnum is a staple shrub for deer county, because the somewhat hairy puckered leaves are not tasty to deer.  The foliage is evergreen, and is topped by flat creamy white cymes (flower clumps) in late spring.  The long lasting fruit bunches turn red in early fall and mature to glossy black, often persisting into December.  Viburnum rhytidophyllum makes an excellent large hedge when planted in masses, and is dense enough to serve as a green fence.

'Green Trump' Leatherleaf Viburnum is a wonderful compact form of Leatherleaf Viburnum from Holland, with a rounder more lustrous dark green evergreen foliage, white flowers in summer and much welcomed unattractiveness to deer. This is our favorite Viburnum rhytidophyllum.

PRN Preferred: The dark green foliage is much more attractive and the compact habit is neat and tidy.

‘Wentworth’ American Cranberrybush Viburnum blooms in late spring, producing white flat-topped or lacecap cymes over large green maple-like leaves. They are followed by showy fruit which changes from yellow in late summer to shiny red fruit in fall and winter. Viburnum trilobum ‘Wentworth’ was one of the 3 seedlings (selected from 3,000 seedlings) introduced in 1922 by the USDA for the large fruit. ‘Wentworth’ bears the largest fruit, which has been used to make preserves and jellies (let us know if they’re edible…).

'Nantucket' Viburnum came from a cross made by the late Dr. Egolf between V. x 'Eskimo' and V. macrocephalum f. keteleeri at the National Arboretum in 1988.  For some reason this excellent plant only recently got the notice it deserves.  The large white ball-shaped flowers appear in April and are mildly fragrant.  The neat dark green leaves are semi-evergreen, and Viburnum 'Nantucket' has shown excellent heat resistance, according to Dr. Michael Dirr.  The habit is somewhat upright, and would be effective as a hedge as well as a specimen plant.

Prague Viburnum has white flat-topped flowers in May, but the glossy dark green foliage is what makes this Viburnum notable. The leaves are smaller and more lustrous than Leatherleaf Viburnums. Semi-evergreen and very cold tolerant.

'Alleghany' Lantanaphyllum Viburnum comes from the breeding work done by the legendary Dr Don Egolf of the National Arboretum.  The creamy white flat flowers clumps appear in May and June.  They are followed by attractive red fruit in summer which ripens to blue black and is rapidly consumed by birds.  The leaves are dark green and broader and shorter than V. rhytidophylloides.  'Alleghany' is a cross between rhytidophyllum and Lantana, so it makes a dense semi-evergreen hedge.

'Dart's Duke' ('J.N. Select') Lantanaphyllum Viburnum has very large showy white flowers in early summer and bright red fruit in fall. The beautiful dark green leathery semi-evergreen foliage makes this Viburnum from Darthuizer Nursery in Holland a real winner. Foliage is very clean and disease-free, and does not droop in the winter as other rhytidophylloides do.

Blue Diddley® (‘SPVACBD’) Chastetree has a very compact form, but a multitude of cone-shaped lavender blue flowers from mid summer to fall. Vitex agnus-castus Blue Diddley® can be regarded as a very rigorous perennial, as it periodically dies to the ground (like many dwarf Buddleias), only to spring back up in late spring. Dead wood should be pruned out, and periodic deadheading will intensify the bloom display. Attractive to hummingbirds and butterflies, not attractive to deer.

'Shoal Creek' Chastetree has bluish violet flowers in July and August over aromatic grayish green foliage. Butterflies love this plant and it is also dry site tolerant. Vitex agnus-castus 'Shoal Creek' should be cut back hard like a Buddleia in spring.

Summertime Blues™ (‘Helen Froehlich’) Chastetree blooms from mid summer to fall, producing large upright lavender blue spikes with black stems. Vitex x Summertime Blues™ comes from the hybridizing work of Kris Jarantoski, formerly of the Chicago Botanic Garden, so you know it’s winter hardy. The habit is compact and rounded, making Summertime Blues™ a good mid-sized shrub for sunny well-drained locations. Introduced by Plants Nouveau.

Sonic Bloom® Pink ('Bokrasopin') Weigela is a reblooming shrub which produces a series of bright pink trumpet shaped flowers. Sonic Bloom® Pink starts blooming heavily in May, and continues well into the summer months. The green foliage makes a good setting for the blooms. A light pruning after the initial explosion of flowers will make for a stronger rebloom, but it is not essential. Good as a foundation shrub or in mass plantings.

PRN Preferred: The very long bloom period throughout the summer makes this a good candidate for mass plantings as well as a stand-alone shrub.

Sonic Bloom® Red ('Verweig6') Weigela produces a multitude of vivid red trumpet shaped flowers in May, followed by repeat waves of flowers until early fall.  The green foliage makes a showy setting for the lipstick red blooms, and a light pruning after the first flush will increase the rebloomimg.  Pollinators will love this adaptable, long blooming shrub, and Sonic Bloom® Red makes an excellent hedge or foundation plant.

Spilled Wine® (‘Bokraspiwi’) Weigela has a multitude of deep pink funnel shaped flowers in mid spring and early summer.  They cover the deep purple foliage and the compact, wide habit makes Weigela Spilled Wine® look almost like a rose and purple carpet. The flower display is lovely, and so is the purple foliage color which remains all summer after the bloom period is done. Because of the wide but tight habit, Weigela Spilled Wine® does not need pruning to keep its attractive appearance.

PRN Preferred: The broad low habit and the dark purple foliage make this a standout, especially when covered with deep pink flowers.

Very Fine Wine™ (‘SMNWFDFPD’) Weigela has lots of pink trumpet-shaped flowers in late spring. They crown the deep purple foliage and attract hummingbirds and butterflies to the numerous flowers. The dark foliage maintains its color well throughout the summer. Weigela florida Very Fine Wine™ is another super-compact shrub from the breeding work of Tim Wood of Spring Meadow™ Nursery. Best pruned after blooming because flowers are borne on old wood.

This mind-boggling interspecies cross is from the hardworking efforts of Dr. Tom Ranney of NCSU's Mountain Research Station.  He successfully crossed Franklinia and Gordonia lasianthus (Loblolly Bay), something that has been attempted unsuccessfully many time.  The result is a larger, showier late summer flower that looks like a super Franklinia, on a small tree with lustrous semi-evergreen foliage.  xGordlinia grandiflora is much more tolerant of varying sites than our native Franklinia. The fall color is lovely shades of red and bronze.  Our experience at our nursery is that this early cross from Dr. Ranney is somewhat more cold tolerant than other crosses.

Yellowroot has interesting tiny brownish purple flowers in spring and later produce star-shaped fruit enjoyed by birds and small animals.  The foliage of Xanthoriza ia bright green and celery-like, it forms a dense carpet innumerous types of conditions.  Yellowroot has long been used by Native Americans as a dye.  Fall color starts off yellow and changes to a reddish purple later in the season.  Yellowroot spreads to make an excellent colonizing groundcover.  Xanthorhiza is great for areas where deer pressure is heavy, as they tend to avoid it.  Good for banks and soil stabilization.

'Color Guard' Adam's Needle has a creamy-yellow center stripe that turns rose colored in cooler weather. The white long blooming flower spikes appear in June and July. Yucca filamentosa 'Color Guard' is evergreen and salt tolerant.

‘Excalibur’ Adam’s Needle has evergreen sword-like foliage from the basal rosette. The sharp leaves are a vivid glaucus blue green with lots of white thread-like filaments curling off the edges. In mid summer Yucca filamentosa ‘Excalibur’ puts out tall sturdy 4’ scapes crowned with large creamy white flowers. Other common names for Adam’s Needle are Spanish Bayonet and Needle Palm, and it is native to beaches, sandy areas and open fields in the Southeast.