January/February 2003 Excerpt

What’s in Vogue for 2003
New plant introductions come in shapes, colors, and styles to suit all kinds of gardens.

By Eva Monheim


There have been overlaps between gardens and fashion ever since Adam first donned a fig leaf. Like fashion designers, plant breeders study trends; they try to anticipate what gardeners will be looking for—a new flower color, a new fragrance, greater drought tolerance or disease resistance. Both industries gear up to introduce their new lines; paralleling the launch of the upcoming season’s designer fashions is the unveiling of the new plants for 2003. While designers first present their new fashions on the runways in Paris, Milan, and New York, new plants are spotlighted in seed catalogs and at nurseries and garden centers.

With new plant and seed catalogs arriving daily in your mailbox, the number of introductions can be mind-boggling. The competition is fierce, with each company hoping you will find space in your garden for its new releases. It is important to cast a discriminating eye over each new selection you consider, because although style may create a short-term garden celebrity, it is the character of the plant that will determine which introductions become classics.

To assist you in your selections, here are our favorite choices for the 2003 garden season. No matter what kind of garden you have, you will find something fashionable among these latest introductions.

ANNUALS: garden accessories

Most gardeners use annuals as accessories to fill in gaps in established plantings or provide color in early spring and late summer when many perennials are spent. But with the burgeoning interest in subtropicals and other so-called tender perennials, the division between annual and perennial is becoming blurred.

If, as garden clairvoyants predict, yellow will be a trendy color this summer, then Thompson & Morgan’s Rudbeckia hirta ‘Prairie Sun’ (USDA Zones 3–7, AHS Zones 7–1) will be all the rage. An All-America Selection, it has a crisp clean look that shouts, “Look at me!” The petals range in color from deep gold at the base to light lemon yellow at the terminals, while the central cone is an eye-catching olive green. The flowers bloom in late summer on two- to three-foot plants.

American Daylily and Perennials (http://www.americandaylily.com) introduces two new selections in its Patriot™ lantana series: ‘Marc Cathey’ and ‘Deen Day Smith’ (Zones 11, 12–1). ‘Marc Cathey’, named for the American Horticultural Society’s president emeritus, features a profusion of lacy-edged florets similar to the appearance of white lace appliqués with clear lemon-yellow centers. The coarse-textured, dark green leaves provide a perfect complement to the blooms. ‘Deen Day Smith’ opens canary yellow, but as the florets mature, they turn to an old rose pink with touches of apricot at the center of each bloom. Both are vigorous shrubby plants that flower earlier and longer than other lantanas and attract butteflies. Because lantanas tend to self sow prolifically where they are hardy, these selections have been bred not to set viable seeds.

They say that if you keep something in your wardrobe long enough, it will come back into style. The pendulum seems to have swung back toward snapdragons this year with the release of Antirrhinum nanum ‘Tequila Sunrise’ (Zones 7–9, 9–1) from Thompson & Morgan. This is the first bronze-foliaged snapdragon with an array of floral color in the warm hues—yellows, oranges, pinks, and reds. The bronze foliage provides color before the blooms emerge. Snapdragons grow best in cool weather.

Ball Horticultural Company (http://www.SimplyBeautifulGardens.com) is debuting Scaevola aemula ‘Zig Zag’ (Zones 11, 12–1), appropriately named for the white-and-purple-striped, fan-shaped flowers patterned to create a zigzag effect. The plant has a mounded and trailing habit and spreads two to four feet and grows six inches tall, making a great thick ground cover. This sun-loving plant flowers throughout the hottest of summers and performs well in drought conditions.

Million bells (Calibrachoa spp., Zones 11, 12–1) have made great inroads in the landscape industry over the past several years, and Proven Winners (http://www.provenwinners.com) is following up on this success by introducing several new Superbells™ Calibrachoa cultivars:‘Blue’, ‘Coral Pink’ and ‘White’. Million bells have prolific one-inch-wide, petunialike flowers triggered by long days. The plants grow three to six inches tall, and the trailing stems vary in length from six to 20 inches. They are most often seen in containers and hanging baskets, but try them as a ground cover in bright sunny areas where they will provide color all summer.

PERENNIALS: the basic wardrobe

Herbaceous perennials are the basics that keep the garden well-dressed from one season to the next. We rely on these special plants to mark time and add color to the ever-changing organic tapestry of our gardens. It is through creative use of perennials that the gardener has the greatest opportunity to put together a wardrobe that is rich in textures, colors, shapes, forms, and lines.

SPRING

There is always at least one new plant that causes palpitations among avid gardeners, and this year Podophyllum ‘Kaleidoscope’ (Zones 3–9, 9–1) from Terra Nova Nurseries (http://www.terranovanurseries.com) caught the attention of our editorial staff. This is no ordinary mayapple! Selected from a species native to the Himalayan region, this 18-inch-wide plant will stop traffic right on the footpath. It’s the sensationally mottled umbrella-shaped leaves that inspire its name, but the clusters of burgundy red flowers that bloom in mid- to late spring certainly generate additional interest in the shade garden….


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Photos credits: Rudbeckia courtesy of Thompson & Morgan; MCathey lantana courtesy of American Daylily and Perennials, Scaevola Zigzag courtesy of Ball Horticultural Company.