New Perennials: First Impressions
July is a unique month in our industry. For many of us, it’s our first opportunity to stop, take a breath, and take stock of the current season. Meanwhile, we’re already feeling the pressure to plan for next year. I don’t think I’m alone when I say that this year has been a challenging one. Between surviving an unusually early start to the season, struggling to get any work done in between thunderstorms, and riding out a roller coaster of demand as we’ve made the best of a rainy Memorial Day weekend and a historic cicada emergence, who could blame us for feeling a little burnt out? So, I think now is the perfect time to take a moment and talk about a fun topic like new plants.
Heuchera ‘Timeless Night’ was an early standout. After years of introducing new varieties of purple- and red-leaved Heuchera into our lineup, the pitch-black foliage of Timeless Night is a welcome addition. But the combination of dark foliage and stunning pink flowers takes this Heuchera to a whole new level. The Timeless series is bred for its improved flowering performance, and this variety reminded us that, with a little flower power, coral bells can be more than just foliage plants.
With its compact habit and unique coral flowers, Delphinium ‘Red Lark’ is another one of our favorite new varieties of the season. The striking coral-red flower spikes are strong and sturdy and only grow to about 2 ½’ tall. Unlike older, more traditional varieties, ‘Red Lark’ held up to the heavy wind and thunderstorms that have characterized this season so far. Don’t get me wrong, there will always be a place for the tall, stately form of old-fashioned Delphiniums, which often tower over the other plants in the garden. But, for those with small spaces and no time for staking, ‘Red Lark’ offers bold color in a smaller package.
Much to my surprise, Lavandula angustifolia ‘Big Time White’ topped my list of new perennials this year. The question of which white-flowering plants will sell is one that I may never be able to answer over the course of my career. But, in a season that was not friendly to lavender from a grower’s standpoint, I can say that Big Time White performed better than most other varieties. It held up well throughout the hot, humid, rainy spring and summer, and the large, pure white flowers bloomed early and looked attractive from the first day they bloomed until we shipped out the last plant.
Nepeta ‘Chartreuse on the Loose’ is everything it sets out to be. Like most catmint, it’s fairly trouble-free and fast-growing, and it’s a no-brainer when it comes to quickly filling bare spots in a sunny site. Between the bright, chartreuse foliage and the long-lasting flowers, this variety will provide non-stop color all season long. For those of you who are opposed to chartreuse in the garden, I think the only question is whether you can become a convert, like me.
Based on first impressions, I think the Penstemon Bejeweled™ series will be a hit for garden centers. The vibrant flowers of ‘Rose Rhinestones’ and ‘Pink Pearls’ cover the stems from top to bottom and complement the deep green foliage to create a neat, dense, full look. Color sells, but time will tell if these new Penstemon barbatus varieties are truly hardy in our region.
Along with ‘Backlight, Phlox paniculata Flame® Pro White provides an alternative to the overused Phlox ‘David’. Deep green, glossy foliage remained clean and attractive, with large clusters of bright white flowers. The Flame® series was bred to be more compact than older varieties and blooms earlier. Here at the nursery, this variety bloomed nearly a month earlier than our other Phlox paniculata varieties.
We were intrigued by the idea of a hardy Elephant Ear, so we had to try Colocasia Polargreen™. With deep green leaves and pink stems, it makes an interesting foliage or specimen plant. So far, we’ve seen little interest from customers, so we’ll need to wait and see how much demand there is for this tropical-looking perennial, and we’ll be testing its hardiness in our trial garden this winter.
In a year when goth gardening is trending, we were able to compare several dark-leaved Sedums, and ‘After Dark’ was my personal favorite. Unlike the photos we had seen, this variety was much more interesting in person. The thick, succulent young foliage took on tones of green and purple, creating a unique textural effect that was perfect for closeups. This is a compact variety that only grows to 20” tall. So far, it’s holding up much better than ‘Back in Black’ and ‘Midnight Velvet’ when it comes to not melting out in the heat of summer.
I didn’t know what to expect with Artemisia ‘Silver Lining’. I had seen it perform well as a filler in the landscape in Michigan, but questioned whether customers would pay more for a branded Artemisia. So far, the answer is “no”. And, while this vigorous cultivar looked amazing in the container for the first few weeks, it developed some unsightly leaf spots in our hot, wet Midwest summer which led us to cut the crop back completely. We’ll be watching the samples we planted in our trial garden over the next few seasons.
Finally, the newest addition to the Achillea Firefly series, ‘Firefly Red Pop’, once again impressed us with its well-branched, compact habit and bright flower color. This series is an improvement over older varieties like ‘Moonshine’ and ‘Strawberry Seduction’, which tend to look stretched and messy over time.
Do you have any feedback on new varieties this year? If so, we’d love to hear your thoughts. We’ve only just scratched the surface when it comes to new plants, and we look forward to continuing this conversation later in the season.
