Exciting Plants for 2020!

We are looking forward to another wonderful Spring on Cape Cod this year. In fact, we are planting our perennials starting at the end of January! Winter never seems very long to us in the greenhouse, that’s for sure.

Since we do grow a large amount of our perennials and annuals starting early in the year, we actually have to get everything planned and ordered in late summer to early fall. So, we have the benefit of already knowing the fun and new varieties that we will have available this year (provided there’s no crop failures…fingers crossed!). The many plant breeding companies have been very busy trying to create plants that are easier to care for, bloom longer, have less issues (i.e. fungus, mildew), fun colors or shapes of flowers and more manageable sizes. Here are some of the cool plants we are looking forward to trying out this year:

Annuals:

Angelonia Archangel Coral – This series from Ball seed has the largest blooms of any Angelonia and thrives in heat, humidity and drought! Typically we see various blues, purples and white with an occasional redish-pink but we are excited for this beautiful coral pink color. With an upright habit, this works great in window boxes or containers.

Lobularia Easy Breezy White and Pink – we love Lobularia, it makes a great trailing feature in containers and window boxes and is cold tolerant for our temperamental springs. However, unless there’s some shade for it in the summer, it can tend to stop flowering when it gets really hot. This is where the genius plant people at Ball Seed have outdone themselves with this new Lobularia that can withstand the heat for several weeks longer than other varieties (testing in Texas heat!). We are excited to see if this can last all summer up here since we don’t quite get that hot.

Salvia Roman Red – Salvias are so great for all season blooms and this one boasts the only vibrant red salvia on the market. With blooms similar to Black and Blue salvia it gets to be 28-34″ tall and wide so it will work great in the landscape or in a large container.

Artemisia Sea Salt – This silver foliage accent plant has soft texture and a semi-trailing habit getting only 8-10″ tall. A great accent plant in containers and window boxes with a nice pop of silvery-white foliage.

Artemisia Makana Silver – This. is. cool. A fun thin silver foliage makes a billowy cloud in this mounding plant that will get up to 24″ tall. Great as an accent in a container or the garden.

Didelta Silver Strand – Another new silver foliage, this on is actually a spreading succulent so it’s perfect for a hot dry location. It’s velvety, silver foliage will cascade nicely in a pot or hanging basket.

Plectranthus Guacamole – There are a lot of cool new foliage plants including this one! With a yellow and green leaf and red stems, this is sure to stand out. It’s a trailing variety and will do well in hanging baskets, containers and window boxes, getting 18-24″ long.

Cassia Popcorn – We did have this last year and it was great so worth repeating! This plant has a lot of cool features – first, it has rounded, clustered yellow blooms that look like popcorn, but even more incredible, the foliage smells like buttered popcorn…really! It’s a tropical plant that likes the heat, is drought tolerant and repels deer. It does get large so it’s best in the ground or in a large container.

Nemesia Honey Bicolor Orange Flame – This new color with a bloom that has dark violet top, pale yellow bottom and orange eye is quite stunning. Nemesia is great for early spring as it is cold tolerant. It’s upright habit gets to be 12-14″ tall.

New Guinea Impatiens Wild Romance Red and White – This variety has a large double flower that resembles a rose or gardenia when it flowers. It has a vigorous habit getting to be 30″ tall in the garden.

Streptocarpus Lady Slippers – With a large flower count, this will give an impressive show of color and does well as an outdoor plant or houseplant. It prefers shade and will get to be 8-10″ tall and wide. We will have Grape Ice (a mix of purple and white) and Yellow Pink (ruffly flower with pink upper petals and yellow below).

Beacon Impatiens – A true breakthrough for Impatiens lovers. If you’ve had issues with Impatiens Downy Mildew in the past, these are the Impatiens for you. They look and perform just like your typical impatiens, providing great mounds of color in the shade, but they are resistant to downy mildew and have performed well in many outdoor trials around the country.