What's New for Your Garden This Spring?

If you detect a pattern here, kindly ignore it. Last year about this time, I posted on this blog for the first time and the post was all about new plant introductions for 2008. So here I am again. Same theme…different year. What can I say? It’s just not spring without looking forward to the new plant gems that come on the market each year.

Apart from a couple of fun coneflowers, the new introductions last year were really nothing to write home about. That is most certainly not true this year.

My first case in point is a new Buddleia unlike any we’ve seen before. Many gardeners have come to love and appreciate the many wonderful qualities of the Buddleia, commonly called Butterfly Bush. In addition to attracting butterflies and hummingbirds, they are easy to grow and relatively pest-free.

This spring we have the first in a new series of Buddleia called ‘Lo and Behold’ introduced by the Raulston Arboretum. Their first introduction is Blue Chip, a two foot mounder that flowers continuously throughout the summer. It is perfect for front of the border, groundcover or even containers. It is deer resistant and drought tolerant. As it is hardy only to zone 5, it will do best in a sheltered southern location for us. I can’t wait to try this one and there will be more in the series to follow.

I’ve yet to meet a coneflower I didn’t like and I’m happy to discover that we will have more to choose from this year. For all of you Iowa State Cyclone fans who may be looking to show your school spirit in a new way, there are a couple of new coneflowers just for you. Echinacea ‘Tomato Soup’ and Echinacea ‘Mac ‘n Cheese’ are vivid cardinal and gold respectively. Both are new introductions from Terra Nova nurseries and they retain all of the ‘easy to grow’ characteristics we have come to appreciate about coneflowers. I’m not sure if they will be available locally this year, but they are widely available through mail order catalogs or through online sources.


A couple of other new coneflowers to check out: Echinacea Hot Papaya, the first ever double orange and Echinacea Pink Poodle, featuring large 4” double blooms that resemble zinnias.

Knock Out roses hit the market a few years ago and I have to say, they are aptly named. It’s hard to find fault with a rose that is hardy, low maintenance, disease resistant and a repeat bloomer. There are now seven in the series with this spring’s introduction of the Sunny Knock Out Rose. It is the first yellow rose in the series and if it’s anything like its predecessors, it will be a winner in any garden.

So many more plants to discuss, but alas, other duties call. Check out the new Endless Summer hydrangea Twist-n-Shout, the new Campanula Jelly Bells and a lovely new Tradescantia called Sunshine Charm.