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New Plants on Display in U.S. National Arboretum’s “Living Catalog”

Taking a new spin on typical garden displays, the U.S. National Arboretum (USNA) in Washington, D.C. recently opened “Living Garden Catalog.” Posters located throughout the arboretum’s Visitors Center are designed to resemble the pages of a plant catalog. Visitors can browse among these posters and then move outside to see the featured plants growing in the Introduction Garden.

Annuals, perennials, shrubs, and trees are included in the exhibit, which opened June 1 and runs through early October. Bradley Evans, horticulturist of the Introduction Garden, sought a wide assortment of plants from a number of wholesale nurseries and hybridizers, specifically requesting plants that have been introduced within the past three years. Evans’ garden design strategy was to “spread color and texture throughout so that there is something eye-catching in every bed.”

Several of the plants on display are making their very first public appearance at the USNA, including Diervilla sessilifolia ‘Cool Splash’, a variegated hardy shrub, and the Tiarella cordifolia River Series—five new cultivars that are named after the Susquehanna, Delaware, Lehigh, Wissahickon, and Octoraro Rivers of eastern Pennsylvania. Other plant selections have been developed through breeding programs coordinated by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists. The variegated Callicarpa ‘Duet’ and the recently released inter-specific hybrid crape myrtle ‘Arapaho’ are among the ARS plant introductions.

The USNA participates in the AHS Reciprocal Admissions Program, giving AHS members a discount in the gift shop. Admission to USNA is free. More information is available at http://www.usna.usda.gov.