The most anticipated new plants for 2008

Wednesday, 24 October 2007

The calendar may still say it’s fall, but it’s already time to start planning for spring sales. What’s new for next year? Garden Center Magazine talked to retailers across the country to see what has caught their eyes.

Eric Baker, owner, Baker Garden & Gift, Fargo, N.D.

Phormium ( New Zealand flax)

“There are a lot of new plants, but sometimes it’s a question of what’s available,” Baker said. “I like some of the red phormiums coming from the West Coast.”

He said that in the past, there have been a lot of succulents that his customers have wanted but he hasn’t always been able to get. He said many customers like succulents as houseplants, but new varieties haven’t always been as available as he would have liked for them to be.

For more: Baker Garden & Gift, (701) 237-6255; www.bakernursery.com.

Dean McLendon, manager, Bennett’s Nursery, Huntsville, Ala.

Violas

“For this fall, we’re going to greatly increase our viola line,” McLendon said. “In the past we’ve only had five or six viola varieties, but we’re expanding that to 11 or 12 for this year, so we’re basically doubling our variety choices. The ones we’re adding are ‘Penny Orange,’ ‘Penny Primrose,’ ‘Sorbet Orange Duet,’ ‘Sorbet Coconut Duet,’ ‘Endurio Blue Yellow with Purple Wings,’ ‘Penny Red Blotch’ and ‘Rocky Sky Scape.’”

Chrysanthemums from GroLink

McLendon said Bennett’s also will have some new varieties of mums this fall, including ‘Tillo White,’ ‘Red Temptress,’ ‘Conaco Orange,’ ‘Conaco Yellow,’ ‘Kismo Coral’ and ‘Sapiro Bronze,’ all from GroLink.

Proven Winners annuals

McLendon said Bennett’s Nursery grows test gardens for Proven Winners each year, to help test new annual varieties for consumer acceptance. During 2007, the nursery has grown 47 new varieties of annuals that all have been named; some or all will be available for sale in the next year or so.

“We’ve had a questionnaire for our customers to evaluate them over the summer, to help Proven Winners decide which ones are the most promising,” McLendon said. “Among the plants we’ve grown this year are three calibrachoa hybrids, three pentas, three salvias and several lantanas. There also are several cupheas and osteospermums.”

For more: Bennett's Nursery, (256) 852-6211.

Jasen Ballenger, store manager, Family Tree Nursery, Liberty, Mo.

Asian jasmine ‘Salsa’

Ballenger said he’s looking at a new Asian jasmine he called “really cool.”

“It’s called ‘Salsa,’ and it’s a tropical,” he said. “The description calls it ‘A lively dance of color,’ with orange stems and orange and cream variegated leaves. The breeder is Hines, and it looks like it’s going to be really interesting.”

Prairie Gold aspen

Now and then, Ballenger said, he sees “new” plants that may be new to the big companies, but have actually been around regionally for quite a while.

“For instance, I noticed that there was a little tiny nursery up in Nebraska that was selling Prairie Gold aspen, which is an aspen that’s native to eastern Nebraska,” he said. “Now all of a sudden I’ve seen it available through Greenleaf and J. Frank Schmidt, and they have ‘New!’ all over it. It’s kind of a neat tree, and it’s more heat tolerant than other aspen. It’s the same species -- Populus tremuloides -- as quaking aspen, it’s just a little better for hot and humid areas.”

For more: Family Tree Nursery, (816) 781-0001; www.familytreenursery.com.

The best in roses

Gardeners have been growing roses forever, but tastes have changed and the quality of rose choices has increased dramatically as breeders have created new and better varieties.

Eric Baker’s favorite roses:

Morden hybrids

“Every new rose coming out of the Morden Research Station in Manitoba, Canada, is exciting to me,” said Eric Baker, owner of Baker Garden & Gift in Fargo, N.D. “I like both ‘Morden Ruby’ and ‘Morden Fire Glow.’ They’re relatively new roses, but the research station has done a good job of breeding them; they’re very hardy.”

Dean McLendon’s favorite roses:

Shrub roses, especially Knock Out

Bennett’s Nursery grows about 2,500 roses each season.

“They come from three different sources, and are ordered by May or June for the following February,” said Dean McLendon, manager of Bennett’s Nursery in Huntsville, Ala. “Of those 2,500, the lady who handles the roses—Dot Scofield—selects about 160 varieties. She has been growing the roses here for almost 25 years and keeps up with all the different varieties. Of the 160 varieties or so that she selects, she orders most of them in multiples of ten, and considers perhaps 40 to 50 of them really popular.”

The most popular ones are the shrub roses, including Knock Out, Pink Knock Out, and Blushing Knock Out, and the new Double Knock Out.

“All four of those are extremely popular,” he said. “Another one is the Home Run rose from Weeks. And there are many more shrub roses we carry, including some from Monrovia and some others from Weeks.”

Traditional Roses

Of the more traditional roses that Bennett’s carries every year, popular varieties include Chrysler Imperial, Mr. Lincoln and Henry Fonda, as well as climbing roses Blaze, Stairway to Heaven, and Zephirine Drouhin.

Jasen Ballenger’s favorite roses:

Shrub roses, especially Knock Out

Jasen Ballenger’s customers love Knock Out roses.

“Everyone wants easy roses that are maintenance free, so everyone loves the Knock Outs,” said Ballenger, store manager at Family Tree Nursery in Liberty, Mo. “However, the response on Rainbow Knock Out this year wasn’t all that great. And we’re seeing a decline in the wild roses. More people are going for Pink Knock Out and Double Pink Knock Out. Home Run is another one that people like to some extent. People are going for any of the shrub-type roses.”

Carpet-type tree roses

Family Tree Nursery has been experimenting with selling carpet-type tree roses, such as those produced by Monrovia.

“They have them on standards, and some of them have been able to overwinter,” Ballenger said. “We’re [USDA Hardiness] Zone 5, and we planted two in the ground. One survived the entire winter, and the other one made it until the late freeze that we had.” He also has some enthusiasm among his staff for a tree rose called Polar Joy from Bailey, which is a non-grafted tree rose that’s hardy for the Missouri area.