Monrovia Introduces New Plants For 2001

THE CRAFTSMEN COLLECTION - New for 2001

Tiny Tower™ Italian Cypress
Cupressus sempervirens ‘Monshelby’
USDA Cold Hardiness Zones 7-10
AHS Heat Tolerance Zones 10-7

• A unique dwarf form of the common Blue Italian Cypress that is only 8 feet tall and 2 feet wide after eight years. Should reach 10 to 15 feet at maturity. The regular form can reach 60 feet tall.
• This plant was discovered in 1991 at West Covina Wholesale Nurseries’ Santa Barbara facility as a sport of Blue Italian Cypress (C. s. ‘Glauca’).
• The foliage is exceptionally dense, lending itself well to topiaries, and maintaining its narrow, columnar form and tidy, well-groomed appearance without pruning.
• The dense foliage prevents the branches from flopping out, a problem typical of the species. Tiny Tower maintains its form better than the species.
• The foliage color is the same blue-green color and coniferous, rounded, scale-like foliage of its parent.
• Tolerant of alkaline and acidic soils so long as they are well drained. Grow in full sun, but protect from cold, drying winds.

Sunny Daze™ Trailing Lantana
Lantana sellowiana ‘Mongen’ Sunny Daze™
USDA Cold Hardiness Zones 9-10
AHS Heat Tolerance Zones 12-1

• Irregular, creamy golden-yellow leaf margins provide a bright, sunny effect to containers, hanging baskets, banks and sunny borders.
• A colorful, variegated sport of the perennially popular purple-flowering Spreading Lantana.
• Clusters of bright lavender-purple flowers, produced throughout most of the year, offer superb contrast to the brilliantly variegated foliage.
• Grows more slowly than is typical of the species, attaining a height of 8 to 12 inches and a 3- to 6-foot spread.
• This is an excellent summer annual for cold climates. It needs full sun and can tolerate most any soil, as long as it is well drained.

Moonlight Parfait™ Mandevilla
Mandevilla x amabilis ‘Monite’
USDA Cold Hardiness Zones 10-11
AHS Heat Tolerance Zones 12-2

• Twining evergreen vine displays spectacular, light pink buds that open to large hose n’ hose (horticultural term meaning double flower, in which the center flower is smaller) iridescent white flowers. Blooms appear all summer and each flower lasts for several days.
• An exceptionally vigorous grower with large, very glossy green leaves on twining stems 15 to 20 feet long. This is a lovely choice for a trellis or arbor. Prefers partial shade.

White Cape™ Plumbago
Plumbago auriculata ‘Monite’
USDA Cold Hardiness Zones 9-11
AHS Heat Tolerance Zones 12-1

• Large clusters of pure white flowers cover this free blooming, sprawling and densely mounded vine-like shrub most of the year. Provides continuous color as a groundcover, bank planting or in containers.
• Densely mounded vine-like shrub, 3 to 4 feet tall with a spread of 4 to 6 feet.
• Large clusters are made up of 1-inch, five-petaled tubular pure white flowers. Flowers do not brown.
• Full sun to part shade in any well-drained soil with average watering.
• Sport of Plumbago auriculata Royal Cape™ found at Monrovia, Azusa, Calif.

Itsy Bitsy™ Lilac False Heather
Cuphea hyssopifolia ‘Monshi’
USDA Cold Hardiness Zones 11-9
AHS Heat Tolerance Zones 9-10

• One of the most dwarf and compact selections available, this shrub has beautiful rose-purple flowers backed by lush, glossy foliage.
• Small rose-purple flowers in summer. Nearly continuous bloom in the South.
• Slow-growing to 8 inches high x 18 inches wide.
• Best planted in full sun to partial shade.
• Excellent choice for rock gardens as accents in borders.

Itsy Bitsy™ White False Heather
Cuphea hyssopifolia ‘Monga’
USDA Cold Hardiness Zones 11-9
AHS Heat Tolerance Zones 9-10

• One of the most dwarf and compact selections available, this shrub has bright white flowers backed by lush, glossy foliage.
• Small pure white flowers in summer. Nearly continuous bloom in the South.
• Slow-growing to 8 inches high x 18 inches wide.
• Best planted in full sun to partial shade.
• Excellent choice for rock gardens as accents in borders.

Ruby Lace® Whorled Heath
Erica verticillata
USDA Cold Hardiness Zones 9-11
AHS Heat Tolerance Zones 10-1

• A unique shrub with a very upright, bushy habit to 4 to 5 feet tall and 3 to 4 feet wide that withstands more heat than most heaths.
• Clusters of ruby red 1-inch tubular flowers appear whorled around the ends of the branches from late winter into early spring. Attractive to hummingbirds.
• Small, dark green needle-like leaves appear also in whorls around the branches. Great addition to a perennial garden, in containers or as an accent plant in a mixed border.
• Full sun to part shade. Prefers a slightly acidic soil that should never be allowed to dry out.
• Native to South Africa and is believed to be extinct in the wild.

Sunny Delight™ Boxwood Euonymus
Euonymus japonica microphylla ‘Moncliff’
USDA Cold Hardiness Zones 6-9
AHS Heat Tolerance Zones 9-1

• Bright, golden yellow margins on small, deep green leaves make this neat little shrub a standout as an edging.
• Compact shrub creating a dense, mounded form to 1 to 2 feet tall x 1-foot wide that requires minimal trimming.
• Grow in full sun in most soils - tolerant of poor soils and heat.

Emerald Wave™ Griffith Ash
Fraxinus griffithii
USDA Cold Hardiness Zones 8-10
AHS Heat Tolerance Zones 12-8

• The exceptionally deep green and glossy leaflets are smooth edged with a wavy margin and are smaller than most other Ashes providing a very clean and neat appearance.
• Young shoots are square and brown with heavy pubescence.
• A flowering ash with very showy clusters of small flowers with thread-like petals in spring.
• Evergreen to semi-evergreen, to 30 feet tall with gray bark.
• Prefers dry, warm climates.
• Native from China to Malaysia and the Philippine Islands. Produced from seed collected at Monrovia from original plants obtained from the Huntington Botanical Gardens, San Marino, Calif.
• Originally collected in the Mishmi Hills of Assam and named after Dr. Griffith. Introduced into the U.S. in 1900, but it is doubtful if any of the trees raised from these seeds have survived.

Silver Whispers™ Swiss Stone Pine
Pinus cembra ‘Klein’
USDA Cold Hardiness Zones 3-7
AHS Heat Tolerance Zones 7-1

• Perfect for small spaces or city gardens, this very dense and compact dwarf form of the Swiss Stone Pine grows to only one-third the size of the species.
• Slow growing into an upright, conical form 10 to 12 feet tall in 30 years versus 25 to 30 feet for the species.
• Dark green needles have a bluish-white stripe along one side giving the plant an overall silvery cast and are densely packed on the stems giving a lush character.
• Displays decorative 3-inch long bluish-violet cones that become purplish-brown when mature. Prefers full sun. Works well in containers.

First Snow™ Spiraea
Spiraea x cinerea ‘Grefsheim’
USDA Cold Hardiness Zones 4-8
AHS Heat Tolerance Zones 8-1

• A superb, hardy, early-flowering Spiraea with a cascade of small white flowers in dense clusters clothing the branches in April before the leaves appear, creating the appearance of a fresh snow.
• One of the first Spiraeas to flower - before Bridal Wreath Spiraea (S. x vanhoutei).
• Forms a dense shrub with arching stems 4 to 5 feet tall and wide. Makes a good mixed border.
• Narrow leaves are soft sea green with a gray cast.

Emerald King™ Canadian Hemlock
Tsuga canadensis ‘Monen’
USDA Cold Hardiness Zones 4-8
AHS Heat Tolerance Zones 8-3

• A superb selection that retains its rich green foliage color year round. This graceful, densely branched tree is moderate-growing to a pyramidal form 40 feet tall x 25 feet wide.
• Selected from seedlings of the species at Monrovia, Dayton, Ore., for its richer green foliage color. The variegation is uniform and stable, providing a nice burst of color in the garden.
• Excellent for screening, groupings or accents - trim into a lovely hedge that thrives under most conditions.

CRAFTSMEN CLASSICS (popular exclusive Monrovia varieties that have been reintroduced for 2001)

Full Moon® Tropical Hibiscus
Hibiscus rosa-sinensis 'Monoon'
First introduced in 1956
USDA Cold Hardiness Zones 9-11
AHS Heat Tolerance Zones 12-1

• The full and double lemon-yellow petals form the perfect symmetry of a full moon. Produces a profusion of blooms from late spring through early fall.
• Tropical evergreen shrub with full, upright habit 6 to 8 feet tall x 3 to 4 feet wide.
• Beautiful for screens, containers and background specimens. Grown in colder climates as an annual.
• Produces blooms in profusion when grown in full sun, high heat and a well-drained soil.

Icee Blue™ Juniper
Juniperus horizontalis ‘Monber’ Icee Blue™
First introduced in 1996
USDA Cold Hardiness Zones 3-10
AHS Heat Tolerance Zones 9-1

• An exceptional sport of Blue Rug Juniper (J. h. ‘Wiltonii’) selected for its improved, full growth habit and foliage color.
• Unlike the Blue Rug Juniper, Icee Blue™ does not become barren in the center to expose woody stems, but maintains a dense, full-centered habit as it spreads.
• Foliage overall is more tightly compressed and densely held on the branches than Blue Rug
• Foliage is tightly compressed and a brilliant silver-blue with purple-tinged tips in winter; the Blue Rug shows needle-like juvenile foliage which has a dull winter color.
• Low spreading evergreen shrub to only 4 inches high x 8 feet wide. The tightly compressed adult foliage has purple tinged tips in winter.
• Believed to be more resistant to Phomopsis twig blight than other varieties.
• A wonderful choice as a groundcover or bank cover and useful in low borders and containers.
• Selected from a field of J. H. ‘Wiltonii’ in the mid 1970s by Bill Bergman and his father at Bergman’s Nursery in Quincy, Ill.

Pink Parfait™ Mandevilla
Mandevilla x amabilis ‘Rita Marie Green’
First introduced in 1999
USDA Cold Hardiness Zones 10-11
AHS Heat Tolerance Zones 12-2

• Spectacular, soft pink full, double flowers, with multiple layers of petals swirling from the center giving the appearance of clusters of delicate roses.
• Flowers appear in clusters all summer long making it a lovely choice for a trellis or arbor.
• Large, evergreen, glossy leaves on twining stems 15 to 20 feet long.
• Prefers full sun with roots shaded; partial shade in hot areas.
• This exciting double-flowered sport of M. x a. ‘Alice du Pont’ was discovered in 1993 by Marie Green, the wife of a small greenhouse grower in Florida.

Royal Cape™ Plumbago
Plumbago auriculata ‘Monott’ Royal Cape™
First introduced in 1992
USDA Cold Hardiness Zones 9-10
AHS Heat Tolerance Zones 12-1

• Large clusters of unique, deep vivid blue flowers cover the plant for most of the year; blossoms are deeper and larger than P. auriculata.
• Semi-evergreen vine-like shrub with a dense, mounding habit 5 feet high x 6 to 8 feet wide.
• Very floriferous and blooms at an early age.
• Good water wise plant when established.
• Excellent for erosion control on banks, or as a ground cover or container plant.
• Prefers a fertile, well-drained soil though tolerant of many soil types. Grow in full sun.
• Rich deep blue flower color - not many blues available for sun situations.
• Hybridized and selected by California Plantsman Paul Scott.

Lavender Lady Lilac
Syringa vulgaris 'Lavender Lady’
First introduced in 1953
USDA Cold Hardiness Zones 4-8
AHS Heat Tolerance Zones 8-1

• Produces spectacular clusters of fragrant lilac flowers in spring without winter chilling.
• A fast growing deciduous shrub reaching 12 feet tall with a 6-foot spread with an open branched, upright form and attractive dark green foliage.
• Performs beautifully in full to partial sun. Superb choice for shrub borders or in groupings. Exceptional, fragrant blossoms make wonderful cut flowers.

Emerald Spreader™ Yew
Taxus cuspidata ‘Monloo’ Emerald Spreader™
First introduced in 1997
USDA Cold Hardiness Zones 4-7
AHS Heat Tolerance Zones 7-1

• A branch sport of T. cuspidata with a unique low, spreading form and exceptional dark green foliage. Glossy foliage maintains its deep green coloration even in the coldest of winters.
• A flat-topped form to 30 inches high and 8 to 10 feet wide, providing an ideal plant for a large scale ground cover or embankment planting or for low hedges.
• Discovered at Waterloo Gardens in Exton, Pa.
• Produces bright red berries in the winter. A moderate to slow grower, performing well in any well-drained, fertile soil in full sun to partial shade