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Iowa Arboretum & Gardens

Comments from the 2023 Iowa Arboretum Trials

01/23/24 — Iowa Arboretum & Gardens established an ornamental trial program for central Iowa starting in 2023. Central Iowa is well situated to endure a number of garden hazards, most noteworthy being a moderate drought during July and a more severe one in December.

For their inaugural year, Brent submitted two perennials. First was Aster 'Thunderdome', a fall-blooming perennial with the purple flower of New England aster and the fragrant foliage and bushy habit of aromatic aster. Buds formed in July with “great fall color” noted by September. Even into October, 'Thunderdome' was “nicely mounded and covered in pollinators,” according to one judge, ranking solid fives (the best) from mid-September to the end of the season.

Brent’s second submission was a grass, Schizachyrium 'Little Red Fox'. Bushy, vigorous plants are on the shorter side of little bluestem. Strongly basal foliage with thin, wiry stems changes from green to silver and then red, reaching its peak in the late season as the seed heads form.