A valuable source
of what’s “hot” comes from people in the industry like John
Elsley, Director of Horticulture at Klehm's Song Sparrow Perennial
Farm. He shared a long list of future plant stars with a group
of garden writers in Chicago last summer. Here are some of my
favorites from his list:
Orange Meadowbrite
cornflower (the cultivar name is 'Art's Pride' )
While in Chicago, I had the opportunity to see this exciting
orange cornflower for myself in the trial fields at the Chicago
Botanic Garden and take home a plant. In full sun, it was about
2-3 feet tall. Meadowbrite was created by Dr. Jim Ault from
the Chicagoland Grows program, a partnership among the Chicago
Botanic Garden, the Morton Arboretum and the Ornamental Association
of Growers of Northern Illinois. Zone 4-9; Heat Zone 1-9. I
can attest to the fact that it’s not happy in Zone 10B. Limited
distribution will guarantee a waiting line for this plant.
Mail-order sources in 2004 are Wayside Gardens, White Flower
Farm, Jackson and Perkins, Song Sparrow, and Plant Delights.
Echinacea 'Paranoia'
(Paranoid Cone Flower).
According to Plant Delights, this plant came from echinacea
crosses of E. paradoxa x purpurea. It has a compact (1 foot
wide x 10 inches tall) growth habit and lovely rigid yellow
flowers. Zone 7B-10.
Endless summer
hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Endless Summer’)
This introduction from Monrovia is going to be hot in 2004.
Who could resist a hydrangea that blooms on both old and new
wood? That means it’s guaranteed to bloom and produce more flowers
than others of its type. It is reported to be unusually hardy
compared to other Hydrangea macrophylla, even in Zone 4 climate.
Endless Summer is a mop-head type with flowers up to 8 inches
in diameter, with pink blooms in alkaline soils and blue blooms
in acidic soil. Since Endless Summer blooms on new wood, removal
of spent flowers will encourage rebloom. Height and spread is
3-5 feet. Zone 4-9.
Two variegated
forsythias
Foliage variegation adds another dimension to a shrub such as
forsythia that brightens spring but is boring the rest of the
year. It’s potential is huge.
Suwan's Golden Leaf Korean Forsythia (Forsythia viridissima
`Suwan Gold')
This forsythia is a small to medium-sized shrub typical of the
genus except that it has vivid yellow small leaves with slight
serration. It’s best color emerges in light shade; in deep shade
the leaves turn chartreuse. Zone 5-8.
Kumson Forsythia
(F. viridissima ‘Kumson’)
Large, dark green leaves are accented with an attractive network
of silver veins; stems are reddish. Pale yellow flowers in early
spring are often tinged green. Best grown in normal garden soil
in full sun to partial shade. Mature height is 6-8 feet. Zone
5-8.
Gaillardia ‘Fanfare’
This gaillardia stays nicely compact and has non-stop flowering.
A single row of tubular red-and-yellow petals are arranged round
a dark reddish center. Each petal starts out red then shifts
to yellow at the trumpet-like flared tip. Zone 3-8.
Lirope 'Pee Dee
Gold Ingot' (Golden Monkey Grass)
This grass is a 10 inch-tall clumping Monkey Grass with chartreuse
golden foliage that’s brightest after the new foliage emerges.
It’s ideal for a golden accent in dark parts of the garden.
Small spikes of lilac-lavender flowers typical of the genus
appear in late summer. Zone 6-10.
Candy lily (Pardancanda
'Sangria’)
Candy lilies are new to me but they’re very similar to the iris-like
Belamcanda but with larger flowers. Compact plants produce lovely
3-inch plum flowers. Zone 5-9.
Years ago, Flower
Carpet roses got me hooked. I used it as a ground cover in the
frontyard of my home in New York. An abundance of blooms covered
plants from spring until Christmas. Unfortunately, where I now
garden, Zone 10B, pushes them past even their limits of toughness
and disease resistance. Still, I don’t begrudge those in more
moderate climates who can grow carpet roses and I’m happy to
report that in 2004 yellow is being added to the Anthony Tesselaar
Flower series that already includes pink, white, appleblossom,
red, and coral.
‘Blushing’,
a pale pink rose, joins Red Knock-out, which won an award from
the All American Rose Society in 2000. Knock-out is from the
Conrad-Pyle Company/Star Roses and if Blushing is anything like
Red Knock-Out, it’ll be another winner. Red is said to be so
maintenance free that it rivals the Carpet Series. I’m trialing
Red in my Zone10B garden and so far it’s handling the humidity
and heat with aplomb, which it’s supposed to, as well as disease.
At maturity, Blushing should be 3-feet tall and wide. The 3-inch
flowers are single-petaled and clustered 3-15 together. Zone
4.
'Honey Perfume’
Rose captured one of the three 2004 All American Rose Society’s
awards. AARS describes ‘Honey Perfume’ as apricot-yellow blooms
with an attractive spicy scent. The blooms appear in dense clusters.
This floribunda also claims to have excellent resistance to
rust and powdery mildew.
‘Golden Zebra’
Daylily (Hemerocallis x `Malja' PP No. 14221). Beautiful
variegated foliage on a dwarf daylily. Who could ask for anything
more? In the shade, the variegation is a lovely green and white;
in sun, green and yellow. Clear golden-yellow clusters of flowers
appear on very short stems in summer. Overall plant height is
1 foot (with flowers a bit more), spreading to 2 feet.
Dwarf bottlebrush
'Little John' (Callistemon citrinus 'Little John') is sized
just right for a sunny spot in the border. Similar to its larger
relatives, blood-red blooms cover the tips of branches. Leaves
are blue green. Reported to grow slowly to 3 feet tall and 5
feet wide.
Salvia microphylla
'Hot Lips.' This beauty is a wild selection of the Mexican
Salvia microphylla. It’s a fast-growing shrubby plant reaching
6 feet and 2 1/2 feet wide. Its delicate flowers are bicolor.
When the nights are warm, new flowers are all red with an occasional
solid white one. As nights cool, new flowers open bicolor red
and white. Zone 7-9a.
Resources:
Plant Delights: www.plantdelights.com
Heronswood: www.heronswood.com
Blooms of Bressingham:
www.bobna.com
2004 All-America
Selections: www.all-americaselections.org
Fleuroselect: www.fleuroselect.com/
University of Georgia
Trials Classic City Garden 2003 Awards: http://ugatrial.hort.uga.edu/ClassicCtyAwd/default.asp
Klehm's Song Sparrow
Perennial Farm: http://www.klehm.com/
Conrad-Pyle Company/Star
Roses: www.starroses.com
