Season-Long Performance
Over the past few years, one gardening category that seems to continuously grow is the landscape segment. Gardeners and homeowners continue to invest in their outdoor spaces, and that includes planting beautiful crops that will thrive all season long in the landscape.
It’s always about this time of year that I notice my neighbors beginning to revitalize their yards after the beating they took in the winter. They’ll begin planting beautiful flowers into their landscapes, and they’re going to want reliable plants that will last all season long. Especially in an area like mine (Chicago), where it can be 80 degrees and sunny one day and drop down to 45 degrees the next, gardeners want a plant that will survive and thrive no matter the conditions!
Breeders seem to be very well aware of this need for landscape performers, and they continue to introduce varieties that are specifically bred for landscape survival. Here are some recent introductions that will bring season-long color to landscape beds:
Tecoma Sun Trumpets series (Suntory)
This new series offers early flowering on a compact plant. Sun Trumpets thrive in the heat and will bloom year round.
Dianthus Jolt series (PanAmerican Seed)
Jolt is bred to be the most heat-tolerant interspecific dianthus on the market. It provides season-long electrifying color.
Marigold Proud Mari series (Sakata)
This dwarf, compact series requires little or no PGRs. Proud Mari features brilliant, fully double flowers on thick, supportive stems.
Coleus ‘Under the Sea Fish Net’ (Hort Couture)
A vigorous addition to the Under the Sea collection, Fish Net is a very upright cultivar with large lime-green leaves infused with dark veins.
Viola Admire series (Benary)
Three new colors have been added to the Admire series: Blue, Yellow Purple Wing and White. All varieties exhibit excellent heat and drought tolerance and better branching for more flowers.
Calibrachoa ‘Superbells Garden Rose’ (Proven Winners)
This vigorous new calibrachoa offers outstanding heat and humidity tolerance. It is less pH sensitive than other Superbells varieties.
Do any of your customers specifically request strong landscape performers? If so, which varieties would you recommend? Shoot me an e-mail and let me know; I’d love to hear from you.
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