Gardeners can't wait to plant new annuals
It is what gardeners have been waiting for all winter … the roundup of new annuals to plant in our containers and gardens. There is an abundance of new selections this year. Here are the ones I can't wait to try.
Calibrachoa Superbells Hollywood Star colors containers with brilliant magenta flowers with purple-edged yellow centers. Growing 6 to 10 inches tall and up to 24 inches wide, it begins blooming early in spring and continues until hard frost. This star performer is no prima donna, offering thousands of blooms that never need deadheading.
Plant this beauty in full sun. Imagine its flowers in a pot with tall, bright yellow marigolds, purple-leaved coleus, and Diamond Frost euphorbia. Wow!
Celosia Asian Garden boasts spikes of fluffy, bright, rosy-pink flowers on sturdy 3-foot stems. It was named an All-American Selections award winner for its early and extended bloom time and long-lasting flower color.
Pollinators love this heat- and drought-tolerant, all-summer bloomer. Plant it as the thriller in large containers. Picture Asian Garden surrounded by bold-colored coleus, yellow osteospermum, and a yellow and white lantana. Add a calibrachoa to trail over the edge.
Fairy gardeners or those who plant in terrariums or small containers will love the new Sea Monkey series of Under the Sea coleus from the fine folks at Hort Couture. Available in apricot-, purple- and rust-margined, uniquely shaped leaves, these cuties grow just 5 to 7 inches tall.
Try planting coleus Sea Monkey Purple with fiber optic grass and a bright pink flowering vinca in a small pot. So cute!
Plant hybridizers have heard my pleas for cyperus Prince Tut. Now choosing a cyperus makes me feel like Goldilocks. King Tut is too big; Baby Tut is too small. Finally, Prince Tut is just right. Half the size of his daddy, Prince Tut still offers the same large poms on sturdy stems that don't flop.
Plant it in full sun to light shade and water regularly. Prince Tut is a natural to add texture to container gardens. Combine it with bold-foliaged plants like coleus and sweet potato vine. Add zinnias in your favorite color - fabulous! I am going to set a plant or two in my pond where it will grow happily in shallow water.
Pentas is an annual often overlooked by gardeners who only make a trip or two to the garden center in spring. It arrives late, but is the life of the party once summer heats up. Hummingbirds, butterflies, bees and other pollinators adore its clusters of star-shaped flowers. The Falling Star series gives us a trailing variety in three colors - pink bicolor, rose and white.
Pentas is a sun worshipper that prefers well-drained soil. Growing 10 to 12 inches tall and up to 24 inches wide, pentas Falling Star Pink Bicolor is gorgeous in a hanging basket or spilling over the edge of a window box or large container.
I am excited about two new varieties of flowering vinca named 2017 AAS Winners - Mega Bloom Orchid Halo and MegaBloom Pink Halo. Orchid Halo sports purple flowers with large white centers. The blooms of Pink Halo exhibit the same large white centers but are surrounded by softer pink petals. Flowers sit atop plants that grow up to 15 inches tall.
Grow flowering vinca in full sun and in well-drained soil. Partner either variety with white calibrachoa, purple-foliaged coleus and bright yellow marigolds.
• Diana Stoll is a horticulturist who blogs regularly gardenwithdiana.com.