American nurseries launched new buxus on the US market with a better tolerance of boxwood blight and better resistance to boxwood leafminer.
The new boxwood has been developed by Saunders Brothers, reports Nursery Management, and is branded as NewGen: according to the American nursery it is the ’new generation’ buxus for US gardeners.
So far NewGen includes three selections that have resulted from years of research. Saunders Genetics, the breeding and selecting company of the nursery, did this work with more than 160 different boxwood.
Last week NewGen was introduced at the Mid-Atlantic Nursery Tradeshow (MANTS) in Baltimore. Saunders and other licensed US nurseries are building stock now: Overdevest Nurseries, Prides Corner Farms and Willoway Nurseries.
Different than new boxwood from Belgian specialist
NewGen is more tolerant and therefore different than new boxwood Belgian nursery Herplant is introducing. Didier Hermans, owner of Herplant and boxwood expert in Europe, says his new varieties are resistant to boxwood blight (Cylindrocladium).
Herplant also has invested years in research and development. The company is busy protecting the hybrids through plant breeders rights, followed by marketing with a branded name.
According to Hermans the Americans are interested in his boxwood. ’We have intensive contact with Saunders for about five years now’, says Hermans. However, boxwood coming into the US needs to be quarantined for a while by the USDA. After that stock has to be grown. ’This all will take a few years.’
