Doyenne's Choice Awards
Well, they aren't the Oscars, and certainly not the Emmys, but they're at least as legit as the People's Choice Awards. The envelope please:
In the category of best purple-leaved shrub for the mid-Atlantic region, the winner is Weigela florida 'Wine and Roses' (aka 'Alexandra'). And for that same region, top honors for the most sumptuously-barked tree is Parrotia persica (Persian ironwood). Check out the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society for more complete listing of their Gold Medal Winners, including those breathlessly awaited beauties of 2001.
Moving to the high mountains and plateaus, where we're tongue-tied in anticipation of what this year's winners will be, the favorite for most-everblooming pink perennial goes to Diascia integerrima 'Coral Canyon', its common name twinspur. And for a groundcover that thrives in adversity, flowers in spring and turns gorgeous colors in fall, the winner is Prunus besseyi 'Pawnee Buttes', the sand cherry. Kudos to the Denver Botanic Gardens and Colorado State U for these nominations.
Finally, in the Pacific Northwest, where the only plants that don't grow are made of plastic, Great Plant Picks announces 15 fabulous flora for 2001. We'll mention two. In the category of most welcome spring perennial, the winner is the impossibly long-leaved
Pulmonaria longifolia ssp. cevennensis (we suggest you avoid cheapening her with her common name, lungwort). And for best Japanese maple, the judges were unanimous: Acer japonicum 'Aconitifolium'.
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Copyright © 2003 National Public Radio, Washington, D.C.
