Cedar Hawthorn Rust

The Amelanchier ×grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance' in the Flowering Tree Walk have had a rough life.  They are stressed by having to grow in very gravelly soil that is drought prone, and the shade trees that are supposed to give them a bit of afternoon shade have yet to reach sun blocking height and spread.  They seem to be more prone than most to cedar hawthorn rust. 

Like many rusts, our native Eastern red cedar is the alternate host for this disease.  It does most of its damage to the fruits, but young shoots are also damaged to a lesser extent.  If you are growing these for the tasty fruit, it can eliminate them.

Wild Type Japanese Iris

These have garnered a lot of attention near the entrance to the Herb Garden.  I believe that former curator Jim Adams collected seed on a trip he took to the Russian far east.  Indeed, its range includes China and Korea as well.  It's interesting to me that the hybrids domesticated from this lovely plant have rather flattened flowers.  I kind of like the falls that really do fall.  I guess that is just my personal preference.  Anyway, I'm glad that GrayC planted these in this chronically wet spot in the garden.  They are lovely.

Golden Dogwood

Years ago, George happened to collect seed from our Mexican dogwood, Cornus florida var. urbiniana.  I've blogged about those seedlings before, but I haven't mentioned this, the most interesting one, which has golden foliage that matures to a nice chartreuse shade.  It hasn't flowered yet, and it nearly died when we planted it in a sunny location in our nursery area.  The parent plant has been much happier in the shade of the lath house, and cuttings were rooted and grown on to make these plants.  These little plants have had a bit of a red blush on the foliage and each leaf carries a thin red margin.  I think that's mostly environmental, caused perhaps by the limited soil volume of the pot and limited nutrients.  Whatever the cause, the leaves are lovely.  Hopefully the flowers will be good and we can send it out for evaluation.