Abstract

Powdery mildew disease severity was assessed on ten eastern ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius (L.) Maxim.) cultivars. The green foliage cultivar ‘Nanus’ was resistant to powdery mildew. Among the deep purple foliage cultivars, ‘ Seward’ Summer Wine® exhibited better resistance than ‘Monlo’ Diablo® and was nearly as resistant as ‘Nanus’. ‘Seward’ Summer Wine® is a hybrid between ‘Nanus’ and ‘Monlo’ Diablo® and probably derives its mildew resistance from ‘Nanus’. ‘Monlo’ Diablo® had reasonably good mildew resistance. Yellow foliage cultivars ‘Dart's Gold’, ‘Morning Star’ and ‘Nugget’, which were highly susceptible to powdery mildew, were unattractive due to substantial leaf drop, leaf disfigurement and shoot brooming. ‘Luteus’ exhibited better powdery mildew resistance than the other yellow foliage cultivars. ‘Mindia’ Coppertina® and ‘Center Glow’, two recent purple foliage introductions with orange-copper new foliage, exhibited levels of mildew intermediate between purple and yellow foliage cultivars. These ‘Monlo’ Diablo® × ‘Dart's Gold’ hybrids probably owe their reduced mildew resistance to their ‘Dart's Gold’ lineage.