EXCELLENCE AWARDS
 1999 
 PLANT OF THE YEAR

Landscape Ontario's Garden Center Commodity Group launched their brand new "Excellence Awards" program. This program has been modeled an a similar program successfully used by the Ohio trade association.

The Criteria

Every year the Excellence Awards plants in each category will be chosen by an all-industry committee based on the falling criteria: 

• hardiness

• availability

• good resistance to insects &diseases

• easy to grow

• suitable for use in the average homeowner's garden

• good sales characteristics( i.e. flower and/or leaf colour, length of flowering, form texture, etc.) 

The Categories

Every year, one plant will be selected in each of the six following categories:

• deciduous ornamental tree

• deciduous flowering shrub

• evergreen

• broadleaf evergreen

• vine

• perennial

And the 1999 Winners are:

The following are the six plants chosen to receive an Excellence Awards in 1999.

• Ivory Silk Tree Lilac

• Gold mound Spirea

• Globe Blue Spruce

• Green Mountain Boxwood

• Climbing Hydrangea

• Cutleaf Japanese Painted Fern