Rudbeckia mix courtesy American Takii, Inc.
Over 30 wholesale horticultural companies at six local destinations trot their new plant collections and cultivars out onto the runway as way of introduction to the media and retail buyers. Each year, I search for new and uncommon selections and learn lots of growing tips from talking with representatives. The public is invited to visit any or all of the sites at the end of the event (visit fashioninbloom.com for the September 2007 dates). In addition to attending Fashion in Bloom, I also surf the Net, read trade journals, and e-mail marketing folks in order to make my selections for the next year. Below is a select portfolio of some exceptional varieties and 2007 introductions that I would like to add to my garden’s wardrobe. This is not an all-inclusive list; each year brings hundreds of new colors, new variegations, new shapes, and new characteristics. This is the short list of what I consider to be really new plant options for the Mid-Atlantic region.
I encountered Leycesteria formosa ‘Golden Lanterns’ for the first time at the Fashion in Bloom show—what a new look! This member of the Proven Winners ColorChoice Flowering Shrub collection is so stunning and so unusual I had to have it. It is a 4-foot, deciduous shrub with light yellowish green leaves, chartreuse stems, and red new growth. Accentuating the plant’s red hues are long burgundy bracts similar to those on a houseplant called the shrimp plant, with a few white flowers peeking out. The overall effect was a pineapple-yellow bush trimmed in a red that transforms to a completely red cloak before the leaves drop in the fall. Another highly colorful deciduous shrub was a Proven Winners introduction for 2007: Weigela ‘My Monet.’ Also a member of the Proven Winners ColorChoice Flowering Shrub collection, ‘My Monet’ has a multicolored coat of cream, light green, and blush colored leaves with small, tubular pink flowers. It’s quite a bit smaller, only a foot-high, which makes it a perfect addition to the perennial garden.
For year round green, there is a large, hedge-like shrub called ‘Empress of China,’ a selection from the Novalis Plants that Work, Exclusive for 2007. This is a Chinese evergreen dogwood (Cornus angustata), cousin to the more well-known, deciduous Korean dogwood tree (Cornus kousa). ‘Empress of China’ will bloom for about 6 weeks in the summer. The blossoms are shaped like Korean dogwood flowers but they will open with a cream color maturing to a full white. Likewise, they will bear the same type of strawberry shaped fruit as the Korean dogwood. ‘Empress’ will need a large area; even though you can prune it, it can grow up to 20 feet.
Last year, my two Salvia greggii cultivars, ‘Diane’ and ‘Moonlight,’ performed so well that I decided to add a few more salvias to the garden. The Heatwave collection, grown and distributed to retailers through Monrovia, offers a new line of colors for 2007: Heatwave Blaze (crimson-colored flowers), Heatwave Sizzle (candy pink), Heatwave Scorcher (soft pink), and Heatwave Flare (hot pink). The species Salvia greggii and its many cultivars are full sun perennials that bloom all summer long, even through fall. Once established, they create a 2-foot billowy effect, much like a small woody shrub. A new heat resistant salvia from the Novalis Plants that Work Bring on the Heat collection offers a new color for another type of perennial salvia, meadow sage (Salvia nemorosa). A cousin of Salvia greggii, meadow sage prefers the same conditions but flowers on spikes, creating a strong vertical effect. Up until now meadow sages came only in purple but Salvia nemorosa ‘Sensation Rose’ will have soft, lilac/pink flowers on foot-tall spikes. This new fashion color will look stunning next to all of my other salvias.
Geranium 'Sweet Heidy' courtesy Darwin Plantspotters
From the Novalis Plants that Work, In the Shade collection, Geranium ‘Cheryl’s Shadow’ will bloom soft pink flowers in the spring, against mounds of dark chocolate-colored, ruffled leaves. The leaves alone will provide plenty of texture and contrast all summer long, especially if I place light colored annuals in front of it. The Darwin PlantSpotters 2007 introduction called Geranium ‘Sweet Heidy’ will have an entirely different look. ‘Sweet Heidy’ will bloom all summer long with more colorful, larger flowers against green leaves. Shaped like buttercups, these designer flowers have white centers surrounded by pink, fusing into blue with dark veins. These hardy geraniums will look best if planted in groups, creating a groundcover effect in a shaded perennial border or hiding the knees of leggy shrubs.
Calibrachoas, the mini petunia-shaped annuals often called million bells, are available in so many colors that gardeners tend to use them as accessories. This year there will be even more colors with which to accentuate your garden’s wardrobe. The striking new introduction will be the first ever MiniFamous Double Pink. Introduced by Selecta First Class, this will be the first double flowered calibrachoa that will look like a small rose. The plant, like all of the other calibrachoas, will only reach about 6 inches high and can be used as a filler plant, container plant, or even a border plant in full sun or part shade.
Another great new annual to try will be Proven Winners’ new cleome (spider flower) for 2007, ‘Señorita Rosalita’. The bushy plant will only reach 2 feet compared with the towering 5-6 feet tall species, Cleome hasslerana. Several plants are needed for the best effect in a full sun garden bed but unlike the self seeding species, its sterile characteristic will prevent it from taking over your property. Instead of producing balls of flowers at the top of long stalks, Señorita Rosalita will bloom on the tops and sides of the plant producing inch-long pink/purple florets. The result will be a completely different shape of spider flower, one that will be more useful in a small area.
Tropical plants have always been in the line-up for their heat tolerance and long blooming period and for the next few years the spotlight will be on Cuphea. Once used only as a simple houseplant, cupheas have been made over into splashy, floriferous garden selections available in several different styles, shapes, and colors. Proven Winners, in past years, has released Tango (pink flowers) and Rumba (orange red flowers) as part of the Flamenco series of bat-faced cupheas. This year it is introducing Samba. Samba will add a dramatic flair with its dark red “face” and black markings. About ten blossoms, two inches wide, appear on a vertical stem, and bloom continuously throughout the season. The plant is about a foot high and the cluster of flowers create a very compact red/black structure.
Rudbeckia Hirta 'Corona' courtesy Ernst Benary of America, Inc.
However, Cordoba caught everyone’s attention. Its dark brown eyes fringed with yellow are encircled in a ring of petals that have dark red/brown on the lower half and yellow on the outer half. Best of all, Cordoba, like Benary’s other compact rudbeckias, will grow only to 18 inches in full sun. Benary has designed an impressive line of annual black-eyed Susans from dwarf, compact, to medium tall varieties with flower colors ranging from orange, yellow, brown, and red. Nearby, the crew from American Takii, Inc. showed off their 10-inch Becky series, a line-up of Orange, Yellow, and, my favorite, Cinnamon Bicolor rudbeckias, perfect for small gardens.
If you want to own an original, try a new South African native from Proven Winners, Felicitas ‘Azur Blue.’ Chances are you will be the only one on the block to own this simple plant but you will enjoy it every day. It is a foot high, almost bushy with many inch-long green leaves. It will bloom all summer long with 2-inch blue, daisy like flowers with yellow/orange centers in full sun or part shade. Its clear blue flowers with bright yellow/orange centers seem to reach up to greet you, as if smiling. A South African native, it will not survive the winter but the plant, for its simplicity and cheerfulness, will be worth buying every year.
Many of these plants will be available in local nurseries in early summer but you can often pre-order plants from January mail order catalogs. If you can’t find a particular plant, ask the nursery staff or search the company’s web site to find a local retailer. The Fashion in Bloom show is a one-stop experience to see the newest trends and uncommon species to ensure your garden is the best dressed around.
Peggy Riccio is a Contributing Editor to ChesapeakeHome.
Sources:
American Takii, Inc.: takii.com
Darwin PlantSpotters: plantspotters.com Ernst Benary of America, Inc.: benary.com
Fashion in Bloom: fashioninbloom.com
Monrovia: monrovia.com
Novalis: novalisinc.com
Proven Winners: provenwinners.com
Selecta First Class: firstclassplants.com
