New native shrubs show promise for landscape, nursery industries
As consumer interest in native plants increases, nursery growers are challenged to expand their product range by adding new native species to their collections. Surveys have indicated that landscape architects and master gardeners would like to use more native plants, but that a broad palette of native plants is not currently available from most growers. Growers looking to capitalize on the native plant market are looking to scientists to recommend new species suitable for the commercial nursery industry. In the August 2013 issue of HortScience, researchers Julia Cartabiano and Jessica Lubell from the Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture at the University of Connecticut report on their study of four native shrubs that are relatively unknown in the horticultural trade: Ceanothus americanus, Corylus cornuta, Lonicera canadensis, and Viburnum acerifolium. They said that these shrubs have the potential to become revenue generators for the nursery industry if successful propagation protocols...