Minnesota Nursery Research Corporation
Supporting Horticultural Discoveries at the University of Minnesota
Spicy Lights Azalea
‘Spicy Lights’ azaleas feature salmon colored blooms with a slight fragrance. Flower bud hardiness is rated at -35 degrees F.
- Species: Rhododendron ‘Spicy Lights’
- Introduction: 1987
- Blooms: Late May to Early June
- Flower Color: Salmon
- Flower Form: Single Blooms
- Height: 5-6.5 feet
- Spread: 6-8 feet
- Zones: 4-7
Rosy Lights Azalea
Rosy Lights’ is a dark rose-pink. A spectacular display of fragrant flowers are produced in late May or early June. Flower buds are winter hardy to -45°F.
- Species: Rhododendron ‘Rosy Lights’
- Introduction: 1984
- Blooms: Late May
- Flower Color: Deep Rosy Pink
- Flower Form: Single Blooms
- Height: 4-6 feet
- Spread: 5-6 feet
- Zones: 4-7
Orchid Lights Azalea
‘Orchid Lights’ azalea originated from a cross between R. canadense and R. x kosteranum. It has a dwarf compact form with fine textured leaves and branches, and beautiful bright yellow fall color. It is the earliest flowering of the ‘Lights’ Series and features lavender pink colored flowers that are about 1-1.25″ in size.
- Species: Rhododendron ‘Orchid Lights’
- Introduction: 1986
- Blooms: April to May
- Flower Color: Lavender Pink
- Flower Form: Single Blooms
- Height: 2-3 feet
- Spread: 2-4 feet
- Zones: 4-7
Northern Hi-Lights Azalea
‘Northern Hi-Lights’ azaleas blooms are a creamy white with yellow upper lip petals. The fall foliage is an outstanding bronzed burgundy.
- Species: Rhododendron ‘Northern Hi-Lights’
- Introduction: 1994
- Blooms: April to May
- Flower Color: Creamy White with Yellow
- Flower Form: Single Blooms
- Height: 5-6 feet
- Spread: 5-6 feet
- Zones: 4-7
Northern Lights Azalea
The beautiful and fragrant pink blooms of ‘Northern Lights’ azalea started a plant revolution when it was first released in the late 1970s. A seedling strain from a cross between R. x kosteranum and R. prinophyllum, ‘Northern Lights’ is reliably hardy with flower buds surviving -40°F.
- Species: Rhododendron ‘Northern Lights’
- Introduction: 1978
- Blooms: Late May
- Flower Color: Light Pink to Deep Pink
- Flower Form: Single Blooms
- Height: 4-7 feet
- Spread: 5-6 feet
- Zones: 4-7
Mandarin Lights Azalea
‘Mandarin Lights’ azalea is an extremely hardy selection and provides a massive display of bright, mandarin orange blooms in the spring before the foliage emerges. The mall mounding form with lustrous green foliage is excellent for use as an accent plant, or for mass plantings and shrub borders.
- Species: Rhododendron ‘Mandarin Lights’
- Introduction: 1992
- Blooms: Late May
- Flower Color: Mandarin Orange
- Flower Form: Single Blooms
- Height: 5-6.5 feet
- Spread: 4-5 feet
- Zones: 4-7
Lemon Lights Azalea
‘Lemon Lights’ azalea’s fragrant flowers are a beautiful yellow, with both a lighter shade of yellow on the outer edges of the petals, and a more gold toned throat of the flower. It has a more narrow upright form than other varieties in the ‘Lights’ series. This cultivar also has great powdery mildew resistance and nice maroon-bronze fall color.
- Species: Rhododendron ‘Lemon Lights’
- Introduction: 1996
- Blooms: Late May
- Flower Color: Lemon-Yellow
- Flower Form: Single Blooms
- Height: 4-5 feet
- Spread: 3-4 feet
- Zones: 4-7
Golden Lights Azalea
‘Golden Lights’ azalea features fragrant, golden colored blooms. As one of the famed ‘Lights’ series of azaleas, ‘Golden Lights’ brought not only brighter color but greater mildew resistance to Northern Lights Azaleas.
- Species: Rhododendron ‘Golden Lights’
- Introduction: 1986
- Blooms: Late May to Early June
- Flower Color: Golden-Yellow
- Flower Form: Single Blooms
- Height: 4-6 feet
- Spread: 4 feet
- Zones: 3-7
Patton’s Silver Splendor White Pine
‘Patton’s Silver Splendor’ white pine was selected after a decade of screening by U of M researchers following propagation by Robert F. Patton at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It has exceptional resistance to white pine blister rust, which threatens to destroy native white pines.
One of its resistance mechanisms is thicker than usual waxy deposits that inhibit the disease and give the blue-green needles a distinctive silvery look. Its cones develop with age, enhancing the tree’s ornamental value.
- Species: Pinus strobus ‘Patton’s Silver Splendor’
- Introduction: 2011
- Height: 50-80 feet
- Spread: 20-40 feet
- Zones: 3-8
His Majesty Corktree
Corktrees get their name from their deeply furrowed and soft corky bark. The fast-growing ‘His Majesty’ develops an open spreading crown with course branches and dark green foliage. This male selection produces no seeds or fruit and therefore is not spread by birds.
- Species: Phellodendron ‘His Majesty’
- Introduction: 1996
- Height: 40 feet
- Spread: 35 feet
- Zones: 3
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