Every spring brings a new growing season and, for me and other garden communicators, dozens of not-yet-available sample plants sent by breeders and growers.
To try them out, I squeeze some into my beds and borders, tuck others into containers, and plant the rest in the Maternity Ward, a 3-foot-deep strip of soil along the side of my house. And then, I watch and evaluate all season long.
I do this so that the following year, when the plants become available
at garden centers, I can tell you about the ones that performed well.
Of course, I have my favorites — we’re all drawn to certain colors and shapes and textures. But there’s no accounting for taste, so I try to put that aside and judge them on their merits.
Did they thrive? Bloom reliably? Succumb to disease or infestation? These are important things to know before plunking down your hard-earned money on the new kid on the block, no matter how pretty she is.
The plants I trialed last year are available at retail nurseries for the first time this spring. These are the ones that impressed me the most.
Suitable for horticultural zones 5-9, the the old-time cottage garden biennials with bell-shaped flowers that rise on 18-24-inch spikes are known for attracting hummingbirds and pollinators. They survived an especially harsh winter in my zone 7 garden and are blooming profusely as I write. Note: Digitalis is highly poisonous, so it should be grown out of the reach of small children and pets.
Also known as hummingbird mint, the plant is available in coral, lilac, peach, magenta and lemon. Suited for zones 7-10, it grew without issues, bloomed well for a first-year plant and returned nicely in the sunny, street-facing border outside my fence. When mature, it’s expected to reach 16-22 inches tall and 16-22 inches wide.
These stunning “million bells” plants produce lovely lemon-yellow buds that open to reveal double flowers, which take on a soft pink hue, creating a beautiful, mottled pink-and-yellow effect. Suitable for sun and part sun, the drought-tolerant plant reblooms through frost, trailing nicely over the edges of hanging baskets in full sun.
This perennial, hardy in zones 4-9, produces joy-inducing, daisy-like pink flowers with uneven petals and bright yellow centers on mounded plants from early summer through frost. Suited for full sun to part shade, the plant should reach 14” tall (26” including flower stems) and 18 inches wide.
Full disclosure: I’m partial to Echinacea (coneflowers) of every color and size. But I found this variety to be especially cool for its white-tipped pink petals that are reminiscent of a French manicure. The flowers land at different heights on mounded plants that attract pollinators and bloom nearly nonstop from summer through fall. Hardy in zones 4-9, they’re expected to reach 20-24 inches tall and 24 inches wide at maturity. And like most coneflowers, they’re considered deer-resistant.
These airy plants remain covered in deep blue flowers with white centers all summer long, filling sunny containers densely. They would also work well as edging plants or in rock and crevice gardens. Treated as annuals, the plants are 8-12 inches tall with a 10-12-inch spread, and are more heat-tolerant than earlier Lobelias.
These petunias bloom continuously through frost as a container or bedding plant. Their ruffled petals set them apart from standard petunias, and each flower’s fading white center provides eye-catching detail against its cotton-candy pink petals. Expect them to grow 6-12 inches tall and trail up to 24 inches in a pot.
This one demands another disclaimer: I’ve never really cared for begonias (something about their thick stems). But that all changed when I received this unique variety with a spreading habit and dense branching that allowed cheery, yellow-centered white flowers to completely obscure those stems. The plants grow 6-10 inches tall and 20-27 inches wide in either sun or shade.
Beacon Impatiens are always a great choice for their resistance to downy mildew, a fatal disease that often plagues the straight species Impatiens walleriana. These new varieties produce vibrant yet elegant and understated flowers that perform like champs in full to part shade. They spread abundantly and bloomed from spring through fall. They would work equally well in beds or trailing over the sides of containers, growing 14-18 inches tall and 12-14 inches wide.
These bi-colored beauties spread while retaining a somewhat mounded shape, so they didn’t sprawl out of control, as some petunias might. And their two-toned, boldly colored blossoms with a star-shaped center pattern commands attention without clashing with nearby plants. Grow them in full sun and expect them to reach 7-10 inches tall and 20-30 inches wide.
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Jessica Damiano writes regular gardening columns for The Associated Press. She publishes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter. Sign up here for weekly gardening tips and advice.
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