Where are they now? An update on new perennial varieties: part 2
A few weeks ago, we discussed our impressions of some of the new perennial varieties we tried this year. We don’t expect every new variety to become a permanent addition to our production lineup, but it is exciting when we find those new varieties that stand out from the rest, whether they offer something unique, have improved disease resistance, or are simply beautiful. We were able to try out a lot of new perennials this season - here are a few more that stood out to us.
One variety I was very excited to try this year was Sesleria ‘Greenlee Hybrid’, not because it’s the showiest perennial in our trials, but because I was interested in seeing how well it performs compared to Sesleria autumnalis. ‘Greenlee Hybrid’ is not marketed as a substitute for the species, but we wanted to see if it is similar enough that we can offer it as a replacement. Sesleria autumnalis is one of our top-selling perennials year after year; it’s one of those plants that is appealing to garden centers when it’s in bloom, and is also a popular landscape plant that is great for massing, so it tends to be used in large quantities. It is a perfect choice for many low-maintenance landscapes; it has few disease or pest problems, can tolerate drought and urban conditions, and grows easily in sun or part shade. However, this cool season grass does not do well in heat and humidity, and it can be difficult to grow in production, in part because it is very slow growing. There is a limited window of time that we can pot Sesleria autumnalis; if we try planting after late May, the plants will not root and will not put on any growth during the hot summer months. This makes it difficult for us to produce enough of these to have them available all season. ‘Greenlee Hybrid’ is thought to be a hybrid between S. autumnalis and S. caerulea, and we were very impressed with how well it performed. We planted both varieties in mid- April, and by mid-June, ‘Greenlee Hybrid’ was full, green, and well-rooted, while S. autumnalis was not completely rooted and was only filling out half the pot. Nearly every one of the ‘Greenlee Hybrid’ plants will be saleable, while we typically see losses of about four to five percent in each crop of S. autumnalis that we plant. We are not urging customers to completely ditch the species and replace it with ‘Greenlee Hybrid’ today, but we are very interested in continuing to evaluate the plant. If we find that it will perform similarly to the species in the landscape, we can begin to offer it as a sub since we know that we could produce it much more successfully.
Sedum ‘Coraljade’ is a PW sedum that I felt stood out for us this year. We were impressed with ‘Lemonjade’ when we grew it a few years ago, but it didn’t sell well. We liked the sturdy habit of the plant, but the yellow flowers didn’t seem appealing to our customers. ‘Coraljade’ combines the habit of ‘Lemonjade’ with a unique flower color that I haven’t seen anywhere else. The flowers buds start green and open to coral pink, and the combination of buds and flowers on the plants creates a unique textural effect. I think this may be an acquired taste, but I find myself stopping to admire these plants every time I walk by.
Little bluestem has been all the rage lately, and cultivars of Schizachyrium have been announced as the Perennial Plant(s) of the Year for 2022. We planted ‘Twilight Zone’ this spring and it was stunning from the start. We were impressed by the fact that this variety was colorful immediately and didn’t wait for cooler temperatures to develop its signature purple iridescence. This plant will definitely be a conversation piece in the landscape, both for its dramatic colors and for the fact that I have never met anyone who is entirely sure how to pronounce Schizachyrium.
We can’t help but try new perennial Hibiscus every year, and ‘French Vanilla’ and ‘Spinderella’ were two brand new PW Hibiscus we were excited to trial for 2021. There aren’t really any reliable, hardy, yellow Hibiscus available on the market today, but ‘French Vanilla’ aims to come close to filling this gap. The flowers aren’t true yellow, but yellow buds fade to off-white as the flowers open, and flowers have a red eye. ‘French Vanilla’ is marketed as an improved ‘Old Yella’. Unfortunately, we lost about half of what we potted this spring when the roots didn’t emerge from dormancy. We are unsure of the cause of this, but we will try with another crop next year. The plants that survived were nice and compact with a high bud count, so we are hopeful that we can find success with these next year. I liked the habit and foliage of ‘Spinderella’ right away. The form is very neat and uniform with dense, dark green foliage. There are so many Hibiscus available today with dark foliage that I feel green has become somewhat refreshing. ‘Spinderella’ is named for the pinwheel color pattern on the pink and white flowers.
It’s fun for us to trial new plants, of course, but we also like to see how they perform so that we can give honest feedback to our customers. As we all know, new varieties can often do well in trials, but perform differently for growers and consumers once they hit the market. This makes sense, since we are all exposing these plants to different environmental challenges and imperfect growing conditions. But we only feel comfortable promoting a plant if we can successfully grow it, regardless of what the marketing says.
