Many of the ornamental and flowering trees and shrubs and herbaceous garden plants found in cities, towns, and home landscapes throughout the United States and many other countries were developed by scientists at the U. S. National Arboretum through years of hybridization, selection, and careful evaluation. During it's 74 year history, the Arboretum has released over 650 different woody and herbaceous plants to the American public through the nursery and floral industries. Each year, several new plants are made available. Some of our recent introductions include a new flowering cherry (Prunus 'Dream Catcher'), three new pot plants (Ornithagalum 'Chesapeake Blaze', 'Chesapeake Sunburst', 'Chesapeake Sunset'), the second in a series of exciting miniature crape myrtles (Lagerstroemia 'Pocomoke'), a lilac cultivar developed specifically for warmer climates (Syringa 'Betsy Ross'), and, named in honor of the late Dr. Egolf, the first redbud cultivar released by the Arboreum (Cercis 'Don Egolf').
Our two most recent introductions, Lagerstroemia 'Arapaho' and 'Cheyenne' crape myrtles, were just named and released to the ornamental nursery industry in August 2003. (See pictures to the right). 'Arapaho' is a hybrid of three different parents and has beautiful red flowers combined with an increased level of resistance to powdery mildew. It is a medium-size tree growing to about 20 feet tall. 'Cheyenne' also has vivid bright red flowers and mildew resistance, but is a shorter and more rounded growing shrub. While there are many good crapemyrtles available today, a true strong red hybrid was lacking prior to these introductions. More information about these two new hybrids can be obtained by clicking these links: 'Arapaho' [PDF (Adobe version 6)]; 'Cheyenne' [PDF (Adobe version 6)]; 'Arapaho' [~180kb jpeg image]; 'Cheyenne' [~180kb jpeg image].
We are pleased to provide to you an up-to-date list of our introductions. In addition, we are now developing and presenting detailed Fact Sheets for many of our outstanding plants. In addition, some of these Fact Sheets are of our releases which have been awarded Gold Medals by different plant societies. These are superior landscape plants and proven winners. Please scan the individual Fact Sheets to learn more about each of these plants and see if they are suited for your needs.
Go to:
Master List of Plant Releases --
Listed by Common Name
Listed by Genus
Individual Fact Sheets, including Gold Medal winners
Last Updated May 27, 2004 4:59 PM
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