
New Viburnum Wins a GoldBy Hank Becker March 11, 1997Conoy, a new
viburnum released by the U.S. National Arboretumat Washington, D.C., has won the 1997 Gold Medal Award from the
Pennsylvania Horticultural
Society. It is the ninth Gold Medal Award winner developed by scientists
with USDAs
Agricultural Research Service and
introduced by the arboretum. The
Gold Medal Award honors
new and little known trees, shrubs and vines of exceptional garden merit to
promote these plants with the public, growers and retailers. In its 70-year history, the ARS arboretum has developed more than 650 new
varieties of trees, shrubs, ground covers and floral crops. Many have become
industry standards, such as the Shasta viburnum. Conoy is the first viburnum cultivar that is completely
evergreen in the Washington, D.C., area. Its slightly fragrant, cream-white
flowers appear in April with the young leaves. The flowers turn into glossy
dark red fruit by mid-August and turn black in October. Conoy has
withstood temperatures of minus 9 degrees F at Washington, D.C. It also resists
bacterial leaf spot. The February issue of ARS Agricultural Research magazine
contains an article on Conoy and other Gold-Medal winning plants
developed at the arboretum. Scientific contact: Scientific contact: Ruth L. Dix and
Margaret
R. Pooler, USDA-ARS
Floral and
Nursery Plants Research Unit, U.S. National Arboretum, Wash. D.C., phone
(202) 245-4762/4568, e-mail [email protected]. U.S. Department of Agriculture | |