May 22, 2018

Dramatic Landscape Performers By Jasmina Dolce

Now that spring has sprung and Memorial Day is just around the corner, homeowners will be focused on beautifying their outdoor spaces in the coming weeks (if they haven’t been already). We’ve gotten a bit of a slow start here in Chicagoland due to continuous rain and cool temperatures, but the local garden centers have still been buzzing and the remainder of the season looks promising.

That being said, what do gardeners want? Low-maintenance and long-lasting color! When it comes to their landscapes, they want to plant their flowers now and have them last through the season. They want high impact with strong performance.

We see it year after year at the California Spring Trials. Breeders continue to bring plants to the market that are made for landscape performance. “Landscape” is a consistent buzz word, and it makes perfect sense. We have a brand new, young generation of gardeners, and if a plant doesn’t succeed in the garden those new gardeners may never try again.

It’s vital we capture these new homeowners that are new to landscaping, and we need to do so with plants that will bring them success.

If you need to spruce up your offering with plants that have enduring landscape potential, here are a few new introductions that made their debut at the 2018 California Spring Trials.

Begonia ‘Tophat White’
Syngenta Flowers

Tophat is a new interspecific begonia series that features huge flowers (up to 20 percent larger than comparable varieties). They do well in sun or shade and are available in three colors. ‘Tophat White’ is the only white in this class.

Coleus ‘Colorblaze Torchlight’
Proven Winners

This new coleus presents striking burgundy foliage with magenta centers and green edges that develop in summer. It is bred to bloom very late or not at all, extending garden performance into fall.

Petunia ‘Success! 360 Light Yellow’
Benary

Benary has expanded its popular line of Success! petunias with a new series: Success! 360. These grandiflora types are more vigorous and as the name suggests look great from any angle.

Celosia ‘First Flame Purple’
PanAmerican Seed

This is the first purple in this type of celosia. Great for borders, First Flame is early to bloom and very low maintenance. It is a mid-height celosia with thick plumes that do not fade in high light/heat.

Capsicum ‘Onyx Red’
American Takii

This compact ornamental pepper features strikingly dark foliage that contrasts nicely with its red fruit. It is vigorous and well branched, and a perfect attention-grabbing point of contrast in the garden.

New Guinea Impatiens ‘Sunstanding Apollo Pink’
Dümmen Orange

Dümmen Orange has expanded its Sunstanding line of New Guinea impatiens with Sunstanding Apollo, a new series selected for even vigor and boasts large flowers. Their medium habit makes them perfect for the landscape.

Will you be adding any of the above varieties to your production next season? Which landscape performers are your biggest sellers? Shoot me an email and let me know; I’d love to hear from you.

— Jasmina