Multiyear ealuations of ornamental taits of the genus Vitex and propagation of the genus Pieris

An evaluation of segregating Vitex sp. seedlings was made in 2009 to compare and correlate vegetative and floral data from 2007 collected on the same genotypic population. The 2007 population included an in-ground and container treatment and the third year had only the in-ground population.Correlations made between the first and third-year traits were greatest between vegetative traits, especially between the in-ground treatments. First year in-ground floral traits had several moderate correlations to third-year vegetative traits. Correlations between floral traits in the two years were low or non-significant except average inflorescence length which was moderate. First-year vegetative and third-year reproductive traits were also low. Rank comparisons between years suggest that correlations cannot offer useful predictive models on Vitex ornamental traits.A study to show the efficacy of Pieris sp. propagation at different times of the year was conducted in 2009 and demonstrated full year rooting potential of select Pieris taxa.