New Year, New Plants: Our Most Anticipated New and “Newer” Shrubs for 2024
Although it took its time, winter finally arrived here in the Midwest. But, while we’ve been dealing with frigid temperatures and heavy snow over the past couple of weeks, the days have gradually been getting longer and spring is slowly but surely inching its way closer. So I can’t think of a better time to daydream about the warm days ahead and discuss one of our favorite topics: new plants. Last season, we had the opportunity to trial several new varieties of shrubs – Hydrangeas, Weigela, and Roses, just to name a few. As always, some were duds, some were middle-of-the-road, and a few really stood out. This week we’re going to highlight those new varieties that we’re most excited about for the coming season.
Last year, we announced our decision to stop growing Knock Out® roses so we could focus on newer, improved varieties, like the Oso Easy® and the Rise Up® series of Proven Winners® roses. Since making this shift, we’ve been impressed by several new varieties, but Rosa Rise Up Emberays® quickly “rose” to the top of our list. As part of the series of so-called “mini climbers”, it can be grown as a climber or a shrub rose, depending on how it’s trained. This allows for increased versatility at a time when, more and more often, gardeners with limited space are seeking out plants that can be grown vertically or in containers to fit into tight corners.
I’ll admit we had our doubts about Weigela florida Bubbly Wine® at first. But it didn’t take long for this petite, variegated Weigela to win us over. Although the pale purple flowers are attractive when they bloom in late spring, this variety can be grown primarily for its stunning, vibrant, yellow and green foliage. The brightest color will occur if it’s grown in full sun. This is another compact variety that lends itself to a variety of uses, like containers, low hedges, or as specimen plantings. We’ve only noticed occasional reversion so far, but we’ll continue to monitor it in the growing range and our trial garden so we can conclude definitively whether its variegation is truly stable.
Since the landscape would be boring if we only grew compact varieties, we need plants like Hydrangea Pinky Winky Prime® to bring height and scale to the garden. Growing to six to nine feet tall and wide, it has larger, fuller flowers than the original, and they age to a richer shade of pink. Like Pinky Winky®, flowers emerge pure white and transition to pink from the bottom up as the season progresses. We especially love the dark flower stems that contrast beautifully with deep green foliage.
Named both for its spring-blooming white flowers and its fiery red and orange fall color, Aronia Low Scape Snowfire® is the latest addition to the Low Scape® series. We can’t get enough of plants with multiple seasons of interest, and this variety has it all, with loads of flowers in spring, glossy green foliage in summer, fall fruits that are edible to humans and wildlife, and vibrant fall color. This cultivar of the native Aronia melanocarpa is much more manageable, growing to only three to four feet tall and wide. Like the species, it’s durable and tough; it can grow in full sun to part shade and it tolerates wet and dry soils.
Weigela florida Sonic Bloom® Wine is billed as the first ever reblooming Weigela with dark foliage. This is another Weigela that will provide season-long interest. The dark green, burgundy-tinged foliage impressed us from the start, and it will look attractive with or without flowers. The pink, pollinator-friendly flowers bloom in spring and again throughout summer. We haven’t yet had a chance to observe the repeat flowering characteristics of this new variety to determine how prolific the secondary blooms are, so that’s something we’ll be watching for over the course of this season.
Since it was released in 2021, Hydrangea Let’s Dance Can Do!® has quickly become one of our favorite new Hydrangeas. It’s a cross between H. macrophylla and H. serrata, and it sets buds along the entire length of the stem, so it’s much more likely to rebloom after a late spring freeze than straight H. macrophylla varieties. The lacecap flowers, which are pink in our alkaline soils, are especially attractive because the combination of unopened yellow buds and pink petals creates a two-toned effect. Another feature we love about this plant is the fall color: deep green foliage takes on shades of deep purple as temperatures drop, extending the season even longer.
We’ll also be potting up several 2024 introductions of new shrub varieties this spring and summer which will likely be ready for sale in 2025. We can’t wait to tell you about those later. But, for now, we’re excited to focus on the plants that will be available this year.
We’ll be back next week to talk about new perennials!
