Sep 10, 2025
2025 Farwest Show Retailers’ Choice Award winners revealed

Garden retailer judges at Farwest 2025 searched the trade show floor to find great products to present Retailers’ Choice Awards to. Some 11 companies received awards for 15 plants and products — here they are in alphabetical order.

Alpha Ruby Ruffle Patio Peach

Alpha Nursery

This ornamental peach was developed by the JC Raulston Arboretum at North Carolina State University, offered by Alpha Nursery. Part of Star Roses and Plants’ Bloomables collection, it is a compact ornamental tree blooms with clusters of dark pink, ruffled flowers in the spring followed by burgundy foliage with wavy edges.

Dalhia ‘Venti Fireburst’

Ball Seed

‘Venti Fireburst’ is part of the Venti series and is a very special red dahlia that is more red than Fireball, with a bigger anemone “burst” flower pattern. It was also awarded Retailers’ Choice Award at Cultivate’25 by a different group of retail judges.

Centaurea Silver Swirl

Darwin Perennials

This tough perennial has distinctive silvery white foliage with wavy leaf edges. It’s suitable for combination plantings and front-of-the-border plantings.

Mondo Grass ‘Edge of Night’

Iseli Nursery

This variegated black mondo grass is an attractive form with a very narrow white stripe that runs down the outside of each blade-like leaf, providing a subtle contrast with the predominant shiny black color.

Hellebore ‘Winter Moonbeam’

Meridian Young Plants-JRT

This attractive variety produces bushy mounds of thick evergreen leaves, nicely marbled with silver-gray veins. Showy white blooms gradually mature to pink, then near-red; a great selection for shade gardens.

Snakeroot ‘Pink Spike’

Monrovia

This herbaceous perennial features chocolate-purple foliage, making it a striking addition to a shade garden. Long, slender, light pink, fragrant flower spikes tower above the foliage in late summer and fall.

Crososmia ‘Dark Fire’

Monrovia

Smoky purple-green foliage gives this plant a moody air before going ablaze with red and yellow bicolor flowers in summer. A vigorous, clump-forming perennial that is adored by hummingbirds.

Growth Technology GT Focus fertilizers

Plant Haul

Growth Technology GT Focus plant fertilizers are offered for different types of plants. A concentrated formula (most only require 1 capfull per gallon), each one is designed for a specific plant type. These Australia-produced plant foods are warehoused and shipped in the U.S.

Diervilla ‘Kodiak Jet Black’

Proven Winners

This new diervilla is a tough, easy-growing shrub and a standout with dark burgundy-black foliage. The color is especially intense in spring and fall. The bright yellow flowers add contrast in early summer.

Buddleia ‘Moptop’

Proven Winners

This new buddleia has a unique fountain habit with long, weeping branches covered in clusters of pale purple flowers. Unlike other butterfly bushes, this one blooms in the spring.

Sweet Potato Vine ‘Sweet Carolina Shadowstorm’

Proven Winners

This new sweet potato vine has heart-shaped, near-black leaves that are speckled with green. The fuller plant allows homeowners to trim it less as it grows.

Mahonia ‘Funky Flow’

Star Roses and Plants

This small new mahonia is a vibrant, compact evergreen with bright green spring foliage that matures to a deep glossy hue in time for summer. It has a pop of neon-yellow flowers through the winter.

SAUCR

Treleaf

These plant saucers are a leafy twist on traditional plant pot saucers — designed in the shape of a leaf or lily pad in various sizes and colors. The veins on the drip trays prevent the pot from standing in water.