Many perennials in local gardens were relatively unknown 20 years ago. Some, like the hardy iceplants, are new to cultivation, brought to us by horticultural explorers and tourists. Others are natives, with newly recognized garden potential. The whole tribe of agastaches – wildflowers from the Southwest – falls into this category
Some are new and improved forms of familiar flowers, either hybrids bred intentionally or naturally occurring, or mutations that caught someone’s eye. The changeling might have flowers or foliage markedly different from the norm or it might be taller or shorter. A seemingly inexhaustible parade of heucheras with red, purple, yellow, orange or variegated foliage and flowers in every shade of red, pink, coral and white have come out each of the last few years.
Some plant breeders are selecting for more weather-hardy, profuse-flowering and disease- and insect-resistant plants. We all benefit from their patience and commitment to quality. The Germans are at the forefront of this movement so I always look for new perennials with cultivar names in German. Fortunately, several American growers also are conducting extensive testing programs.
Every year I make room in my garden for dozens of new plants.Growers who hope I will take a fancy to theirs and help make the plants better known send a few to me gratis. (Friends think this is an enviable perk of being a garden writer, but when I find a box with 32 bare-root, 2-inch-tall chrysanthemums on my front porch, I view them with as much enthusiasm as a basket full of abandoned kittens.)
Most of my perennials come home the usual way, via shopping cart and Visa. However acquired, there are always outright failures and an abundance of fair to middling (do I really need another yellow daylily?). But there also are perennials that become instant favorites.
One of these is the red-veined dock Rumex sanguineus var. sanguineus, not really new to cultivation but a crossover from the herb garden. Grown for its striking leaves, this ornamental herb serves the same function as coleus to the shady annual garden, bringing texture and complexity placed alongside flowers less gifted in the foliage department.
An overwhelming selection of new geraniums is flooding the market but blue-flowered “Rozanne” from Blooms of Bressingham is a real standout. Tough and resilient, it blooms for months, an improvement on the old favorite “Johnson’s Blue.”
A new geum has captured my heart. Last year, on the recommendation of a nurseryman friend at Paulino’s Gardens, I planted “Flames of Passion” in my sunset border. I forgot about it until this spring when brick red, slightly double flowers danced above soft green foliage. The tag promises rebloom.
These are just a few of my instant hits, but eEvery year many more await discovery. As they say, “you’ve got to kiss a lot of frogs … ” but it’s worth it when you find the occasional prince.
Marcia Tatroe is a garden writer and lecturer. E-mail her at rltaurora@aol.com.
