Chicago Botanic Garden

for immediate release

Admiration™ London Planetree
Excellent for Urban Conditions

Chicago Botanic Garden, Chicagoland Grows®, Inc.
Announces Availability

 

Media Only:
Julie McCaffrey
(847) 835-8213
jmccaffrey@chicagobotanic.org

GLENCOE, Ill. (Jan. 16, 2008)—Chicagoland Grows®, Inc. introduced the availability of Encore™ London Planetree, Platanus x acerifolia ‘Morton Thornhill’, at the Mid-America Horticultural Trade Show in Chicago in mid-January. With a strong resistance to anthracnose, good central leader and uniform pyramidal shape Admiration™ is a superior choice among street trees. It is also winter hardy, with no frost cracking and extremely tolerant of difficult urban conditions.

Admiration™ is a hybrid selection of the London Planetree (Platanus x acerifolia) resulting from a controlled cross by George Ware, Ph.D. at the Morton Arboretum. Dr. Ware crossed an Oriental Plane (P. orientalis) from the U.S. National Arboretum with an anthracnose-resistant American Plane (P. occidentalis) growing at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Ill. Admiration™ is a sister seedling to Ovation™ and Exclamation!™, two additional hybrid London planetrees from the Morton Arboretum’s tree breeding program. The difference between the three is habit. Admiration’s™ growth habit is intermediate of the broad spreading Ovation™ and the strongly upright Exclamation!™.

Planetrees are noted for their high tolerance of difficult urban conditions, and Admiration™ is no exception. It can withstand air pollution, poor drainage, compacted soil and drought. Admiration™ prefers a site with full sun, but is adaptable to a wide range of soils. This tree is hardy in USDA zones 4-8 and grows fast as a young specimen—up to 3 feet per year—then slows down to 1-½ feet per year until it reaches maturity. A mature tree is 60 feet tall by 45 inches wide. In addition to being resistant to anthracnose, it also has good resistance to powdery mildew.

“This particular tree works very well in parking lot islands, media strip plantings, as a residential street tree or landscape shade tree,” said Chad Osborn, manager of plant introduction for Chicagoland Grows®, Inc. “Because Admiration™ is so widely adaptable, the City of Chicago will include it on their list of approved street trees this spring.”

During the summer months, Admiration™ exhibits large, bright green, deeply palmate-lobed foliage. At an early age, Admiration™ develops an attractive exfoliating bark. The bark peels off in large plates, revealing patches of interior bark in varying shades of creamy white, which creates year-round ornamental interest. Admiration™ makes a good Ash (Fraxinus) replacement.

Chicagoland Grows, Inc. is a non-profit corporation of the Chicago Botanic Garden, The Morton Arboretum and the Ornamental Growers Association of Northern Illinois (OGA). The Chicagoland Grows, Inc. Plant Introduction Program is dedicated to the evaluation, selection, production and marketing of recommended and new plant cultivars. Plants selected for the program have proven to be adaptable to the Midwest and are made available to the commercial and retail landscape industry through an international network of growers and propagators.

For more information on Admiration™ London Planetree or the Chicagoland Grows Plant Introduction Program, visit www.chicagolandgrows.org.

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Editors, please note: The Chicago Botanic Garden's newsroom is online at www.chicagobotanic.org/pr. For digital images, contact Julie McCaffrey at (847) 835-8213 or at jmccaffrey@chicagobotanic.org.

The Chicago Botanic Garden, one of the green treasures of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, is a 385-acre living plant museum featuring 23 distinct display gardens surrounded by lakes, as well as a prairie and woodlands. With events, programs and activities for all ages, the Garden is open every day of the year. Admission is free; select event fees apply. Parking is $15; free for members. On Tuesdays, senior citizens age 62 and older pay just $7 for parking. The Garden is located at 1000 Lake Cook Road in Glencoe, Ill. Visit www.chicagobotanic.org, or call (847) 835-5440 for seasonal hours, images of the Garden and commuter transportation information.

The Chicago Botanic Garden is managed by the Chicago Horticultural Society. It opened to the public in 1972 and is home to the Joseph Regenstein, Jr. School of the Chicago Botanic Garden, offering a broad array of adult classes in plant science, landscape design and gardening arts. Through the Division of Plant Science and Conservation, Garden scientists work on plant conservation, research and environmental initiatives that have global impact. The Center for Teaching and Learning brings the wonder of nature and plants to children, teens and teachers. The Garden's Horticultural Therapy and Community Gardening programs provide nationally recognized community outreach and service programs. The Garden is also breaking new ground in urban horticulture and jobs training through a 15-acre project in the North Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago called Windy City Harvest. The Chicago Botanic Garden is accredited by the American Association of Museums and is a member of the American Public Gardens Association (APGA). In 2006, the Chicago Botanic Garden received the Award for Garden Excellence, given yearly by the APGA and Horticulture magazine to a public garden that exemplifies the highest standards of horticultural practices and has shown a commitment to supporting and demonstrating best gardening practices.