WALKING TOURS

Hammond Research Station

July 23, 2021 Self-Guided Trial Gardens Walking Tour

Jeb S. Fields, PhD, Jason Stagg, Ashley Edwards and Maureen Thiessen

* * * Remember to vote with your flags! * * *

Allen D. Owings Sun Garden Walking Tour

Put on your mud boots, apply your sunscreen and grab a wide-brimmed hat as you embark on your walking tour of the best-known trial garden at the Hammond Research Station! This area was designed to capture the perfect sauna-like conditions of Louisiana’s long growing season – high humidity, heavy rainfall (ridiculously heavy this year), extreme sun exposure, and high daytime (and even nighttime) temperatures. Annual and perennial bedding plants occupy most of the bed space here as you start on the east end, with the west end housing some woody ornamental shrubs and root-hardy tropical plants. Some selections sent by our trialing partners are intended to be short-lived shoulder crops or color designed to be planted more than once during the growing season. Other selections are expected to get better as the summer gets hotter (tropicals) or beautifully endure the entirety of the growing season (like pentas). In contrast, some of our perennial bedding plants tend to wait until their second year of growth to really pop in the landscape. Trial plants are evaluated in a typical raised landscape bed setting and are irrigated regularly during establishment. After that, supplemental irrigation is given during dry periods; however, the record-setting rain in 2021 eliminated the need for that!

Shade House Bed 1 (just north of the blacktop road near the main entrance)

• Southern Summer Rose Azalea – stunning azalea bred by Dr. Larry Brown (retired LSU AgCenter Hammond Research Station faculty)
• Pow Wow White Echinacea
• Barbara Rogers Begonia
• Golden Delicious Pineapple Sage
• Deja Bloom Azaleas including Pink Ribbons, Pink Jewel and Red Tiara

Head House Bed 1 (just north of the blacktop road across from Sun Garden Bed 6.1)

• Lynn Lowrey Agave
• Lime Zinger Elephant Ear Xanthosoma aurea

Sun Garden Beds:

Bed 3

• Chrysocephalum Flambe Yellow (early spring planting)
• Euryops High Noon (early spring planting)
• Superbena Verbenas – Raspberry, White Out & Violet Ice
• A very nice collection of rust-resistant daylily cultivars from Westfarms Nursery, including Westfarms Bold Bouquet, Fireworks and Pink Empress.

Bed 5

• Lucky Star Pentas
• Butterly Pentas
• A nice assortment of larger and harder to find pentas
• Red Torch Tithonia

Bed 6

• Sundenia Coral Dipladenia

Bed 6.1

• A nice collection of some Super Plants in this bed:
  • Lemon Coral® Sedum
  • Drift® Rose series
  • Little Ruby Alternanthera
  • Intenz™ Classic Celosia
  • Intenz™ Lipstick Celosia
  • Flutterby Petite Tutti Fruitti Pink Buddleia
  • Senorita Rosalita Cleome
• Other plants
  • Kelos Series Fire Yellow Celosia
  • Twisted Strawberry Celosia
  • Sol Lizzard Leaf Foliage Celosia
  • Royal Star Dolly Hydrangea paniculata
  • Mojave Fuchsia Portulaca (other colors too)

Bed 7

• Soiree Kawaii Catharanthus (Vinca) Collection

Bed 8

• Magilla Perilla
• Diamond Mountain Euphorbia

Bed 9

• Good collection of older Switchgrass Panicum virgatum nativars/selections
• Newly acquired native grasses (local genetics):
  • Short Sassy Switchgrass
  • Goodbee Switchgrass
  • Little Bluestem Grass

Bed 11

• Good collection of older Switchgrass Panicum virgatum nativars/selections
• Some Muhly Grass Muhlenbergia capillaris nativars/selections

Bed 13

• FlameThrower Coleus collection

Bed 14

• Surdiva White Improved and Blue Violet Scaevola

Bed 15

• Skyscraper Dark Purple and Orange Salvia
• Roman Red Salvia
• Sunsta Pentas
• Horton’s Revenge Gomphrena
• Catharanthus (Vinca) Series Comparison (Cora XDR, Valiant and Titan)

Bed 16

• Lime Sizzler™ Firebush (Hamelia)
• Jazz Hands® Variegated Loropetalum
• Rebel Child Salvia

Bed 17

• Unplugged 'So Blue' Salvia

Bed 18

• Ladybird Sunglow Calylophus (Primrose)
• Luscious Citron, Berry Blend and Marmalade Lantana
• Lucky Pink Lantana
• Bloomfiy Orange Lantana
• Shamrock Orange Flame and Peach Lantana
• Everleaf Thai Towers Basil
• Coconut A-Peel and Tangerine Slice A-Peel Thunbergia Vine
• Augusta Lavender Heliotrope

Bed 19

• Canna collection loving the sauna (mostly from the Canova series)

Bed 20

• Prince Tut Cyperus papyrus
• Heart of the Jungle Colocasia
• Artist Blue and Pearl Ageratum
• Sweet Caroline Medusa Ornamental Sweet Potato
• Suncredible Yellow and Saturn Sunflower
• Amazel Basil
• Heat it Up™ Yellow and Scarlet Gaillardia
• ColorBlaze Newly Noir, Torchlight and El Brighto Plectranthus (Coleus)
• Blue My Mind and Blue My Mind XL Evolvulus

Bed 21

• Purple Diamond Loropetalum
• Cerise Charm Loropetalum

Bed 22

• Giant Milkweed Calotropis gigantea
• Brazilian Buttons
• Butterfly Milkweed Asclepias tuberosa
• Balloon Plant Milkweed Gomphocarpus physocarpus
• Henlea’s Hummingbird Heaven Porterweed
• Luscious Goldengate Lantana
• Cabana series Cannas

Bed 23

• An interesting collection of basils, including African Blue, Cinnamon, Blueberry Wild Magic, Bellpepper
• Dwarf Mexican Mint Marigold Tagetes lucida
• Hilltop Oregano
• Mandarina Lemon Balm
• Chrysalis Series Buddleias

Bed 24

• Homestead Hot Pink Verbena
• SunFern Olympia Artemisia
• Bee Mine Red Monarda (bloom looks more dark pink)
• UpTick Red Coreopsis
• Prelude Purple Nepeta (Catmint)

Bed 26

• Early Bird Gold Rudbeckia
• Leycesteria Jealousy (normally planted in part sun)

Bed 27 - This is the pollinator bed!

• Dwarf Joe Pye Weed
• Butterfly Milkweed Asclepias tuberosa
• Balloon Plant Milkweed Gomphocarpus physocarpus
• Florida Dwarf Rose Purslane
• Purple Haze Verbena bonariensis
• A nice collection of porterweed species and cultivars, including Henlea’s Hummingbird Heaven, Nectarwand Red, Maw Maw Magenta, Ruby Throat Red, Dwarf Light Blue, Dwarf Dark Blue, Purple and Coral
• A few pentas cultivars, including Stars & Stripes, Pioneer Pink and Ruby Red
• Porterweed species

Bed 28

• Euphoria™ ‘Ruby’ Eupatorium purpureum
• Mountain Frost Dianthus Ruby Snow and Ruby Glitter
• Little Trumpet Angel Trumpet

Bed 29

• Rockin’® Blue Suede Shoes™ Salvia
• Salvia Purple & Bloom

Bed 30

• A very nice collection of rust-resistant daylily cultivars from Westfarms Nursery, including Westfarms Bold Bouquet, Fireworks and Pink Empress

Bed 31

• Fire Chief™ Thuja
• Delta Jazz® Crapemyrtle (mature specimen)
• Buttons Gardenia
• Jubilation Gardenia
• A nice collection of Turk’s Caps cultivars including Big Momma, Pam Puryear’s Pink, Missy Puryear’s Pink and White Lightning

Bed 33

• Check out some of the perennial salvias, including Bodacious Rhythm and Blues, Big Blue and Rebel Child
• Forever Goldy® Arborvitae

Bed 36

• Elaeagnus ‘Olive Martini’
• Golden Oakland™ Holly

Bed 38

• Gembox Inkberry Holly
• Strongbox Inkberry Holly
• Tater Tot Arborvitae
• Anna’s Magic Ball Arborvitae
• Infinitini Purple Crape Myrtle

Bed 39

• Flip Side® Vitex
• Galactic Pink Vitex
• A nice group of buddleia cultivars, including Pugster Amethyst, Royal Razz and Dapper White
• Apple Perfection Abelia
• Narrow Leaf Mountain Mint
• Orange Firebush (Hamelia)
• Little Hottie Hydrangea paniculata

Bed 40

• Purple Bolo Bolo and White Bolo Bolo
• Pink Jatropha
• Orange Peel Cestrum

Bed 41

• Walker’s Low Catmint
• Peach Perfection Abelia
• Bella Donna Abelia

Bed 42

• Sweet Almond Verbena Aloysia virgata
• Silver Lining Duranta
• Sword Bean

Bed 44

• Weeping False Buddleia Rostrinucula dependens
• Orange Peel Cestrum
• Grandpa’s Pumpkin Patch Lantana
• Monarda punctata seedlings from Dan Cooke’s selection

Bed 45

• Check out some of the newer plants from Proven Winners/Spring Meadow Nursery, including Limelight Prime and Fire Light Tidbit Hydrangea paniculata

Bed 46

• Check out some of the newer plants from Proven Winners/Spring Meadow Nursery including Sunjoy Mini Maroon Barberry and Sunjoy Todo Barberry

Bed 47

• My Fair Myrtle Crape Myrtle

Bed 48

• Blue Ensign Salvia guaranitica
• Delta Jazz® Crape Myrtle (mature specimen)
• Van Remsen Salvia

Bed 50

• Linebacker Distylium
• Cinnamon Girl Distylium
• Opening Day Doublefile Viburnum
• Neon Pink Bottlebrush

Bed 52

• Lemon-Lime Heavenly Bamboo Nandina domestica
• Purple Pixie® Dwarf Weeping Loropetalum
• ScentAmazing^TM Gardenia
• Orange Rocket Barberry
• Poquito Ornamental Banana

Margie Y. Jenkins Azalea Garden Walking Tour

After you’ve melted in the heat of the Allen Owings Sun Garden, come enjoy the dappled shade and gazebo in the Margie Y. Jenkins Azalea Garden! Established in 2006, this collection was established to honor the enormous horticultural contributions of “Ms. Margie” – owner of Jenkins Farm and Nursery in Amite, LA. Ms. Margie blazed trails by introducing unusual azalea varieties to the south central and Gulf Coast markets, as well as propagating and promoting the use of native plants in the landscape. Many of those plants form the foundation of this garden, along with favorite companion plants, many different series of re-blooming azaleas, hydrangeas, different camellia species and beautyberries. Some of the summer/fall blooming azaleas have great color now, so make sure to take note of those!

Bed 1

• ReBLOOM Azalea Series ‘Blush Elegance’
• Franklin Tree
• Bloomathon ‘Pink Double’ Azalea

Bed 2

• Encore Azalea ‘Autumn Embers’
• Royal Star Silver Dollar Hydrangea paniculata

Bed 3

• Encore Azalea ‘Autumn Cheer’ and ‘Autumn Carnation’

Bed 6

• Encore Azaleas ‘Autumn Empress,’ ‘Autumn Rouge,’ ‘Autumn Sundance,’ ‘Autumn Carnation,’ ‘Autumn Chiffon,’ and ‘Autumn Royalty’

Bed 7

• Chinese Buttonbush Adina rubella
• Hydrangea ‘Twist N Shout’
• Hydrangea ‘Bloomstruck’
• Hydrangea ‘Wee Bit Giddy’
• Abelia ‘Rose Creek’

Bed 9

• Hydrangea ‘Penny Mac’
• Encore Azalea ‘Autumn Debutant’

Bed 12

• Hibiscus – Texas Star Varieties
• Hibiscus grandiflorus

Bed 17

• Calycanthus floridus var purpureus ‘Burgundy Spice’

Bed 19

• Hibiscus ‘Red Texas Star’
• Hydrangea paniculata

Piney Woods Walking Tour

Welcome to the Piney Woods Garden of the Hammond Research Station! Be careful – this year the garden gets muddier and more impassable the farther south you walk! Most of the plants in this garden enjoy some shade at certain times in the day, but there are some beds that get full sun. This collection mainly houses long-term displays of superior woody ornamental plant material for the Gulf South, both native and exotic. Some new plant trials are also conducted here, where the shrubs or ornamental trees are evaluated for at least three years. Most of the plants you see today are survivors of the two 2016 historic floods. Some former iris display beds on the south end of the garden are up for complete renovation this fall.

Bed 2

• Hydrangea ‘Limelight’
• Encore Azaleas ‘Autumn Jewel,’ ‘Autumn Ivory,’ and ‘Autumn Lily’

Bed 5

• Rose of Sharon ‘White with Red Throat’

Bed 6

• A collection of dwarf Japanese Maples

Bed 9

• A good sampling of unusual Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum) cultivars
• Dwarf Bald Cypress Taxodium distichum ‘Jim’s Little Guy’
• Abelia chinensis ‘Sea White’

Bed 9.1

• Dwarf Joe Pye Weed Eupatorium dubium ‘Baby Joe’

Bed 10

• Romeo and Juliet Cleyera

Bed 11

• Anise Illicium parviflorum ‘Florida Sunshine’

Bed 13

• A nice assortment of Abelia cultivars (mostly Abelia x grandiflora)
• Crape Myrtle Lagerstroemia ‘Tennessee Red’

Bed 13.1

• Assortment of Endless Summer hydrangeas

**NOTE – areas beyond this point can be very muddy. Watch your step!**

Bed 16.1

• Lindsey’s Skyward Bald Cypress (single tree outside Bed 16.1)

Bed 18

• Japanese Yew Podocarpus cultivars
• Dwarf Florida Anise Illicium floridanum cultivars
• Japanese Maple ‘Emperor 1’

Bed 24

• Roman Candle Podocarpus/Japanese Yew (nearby outside bed)

Bed 25

• Yellow Flowering Magnolia hybrids (spring bloom, but note nice summer foliage)
• Cinnamon Girl Distylium

Bed 26

• ‘Sunshine’ Ligustrum

Bed 27

• Weeping Bald Cypress Taxodium distichum ‘Falling Waters’

Bed 34

• Dwarf Japanese Yew Podocarpus macrophyllus ‘Pringles Dwarf’
• Beautyberry Callicarpa acuminata ‘Woodlander’s Burgundy’ or Black Beautyberry
• Native coneflower

Bed 36

• Hydrangea Hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’
• Little Lime® Hydrangea
• Quick Fire® Hydrangea
• Pinky Winky® Hydrangea
• Little Quick Fire® Hydrangea
• Mexican Sycamore Platanus mexicana

Bed 37

• Dwarf Southern Magnolias (Magnolia grandiflora) ‘Opal Beach,’ and ‘Coastal Gem’

Shade Garden Walking Tour

At the end of your long walking tour, take some time to cool off in the Shade Garden! This is the smallest garden at the station, and it houses numerous shade-loving plants. We conduct most of our shade or part sun trials here, which aren’t too many. This year we’ll focus on Shade Bed 2 only, which faces east towards the research greenhouse and our Care & Maintenance area.

Bed 2

• Aussie Plume Ginger
• Lancelot Salvia
• Surdiva White Improved Scaevola
• Night Light Lysimachia
• Double Up White Begonia
• Wizard Select Mixture Improved Coleus
• Beacon Impatiens – check out all the colors, including the new Rose and Formula Mixture
• Megawatt Pink Bronze Leaf Improved Begonia
• SunFern Olympia and SunFern Arcadia Artemisia
• A selection of Caladiums from the new Proven Winners Heart to Heart Collection