The Best New Perennial Flowers of 2022

January 25th, 2022

   Compact versions of two popular native plants, three new ornamental grasses with golden blades, and two new dark-leafed flowers top the list of interesting new perennials debuting in the 2022 growing season.

   Growers, local garden centers, and other plant experts picked the following 14 perennial-flower choices for the annual four-part, best-new-plants series I compile at the beginning of each year.

   The article on best new edibles of 2022 appeared Tuesday, Jan. 11, while the rundown on best new annual flowers posted last Tuesday, Jan. 18. The series ends next Tuesday, Feb. 1, with a look at the best new trees and shrubs of 2022.

   The following new perennial flowers are available online and in some plant catalogs and will start showing up in local garden centers in April.

   The details:

Amsonia ‘String Theory’

   Amsonia hubrichtii, commonly called “bluestar,” is an under-used native perennial with blue spring flowers and showy fine-textured foliage that turns gold in fall. The main rap against it is that some people think it gets a little tall and floppy with its three-foot height.

   New for 2022 is ‘String Theory,’ a compact version that knocks a foot off of amsonia’s usual height.

   “It’s more compact than the species, plus the leaves don’t turn chlorotic (yellowish) in summer,” says Chris Ruger, a grower for the wholesale Quality Greenhouses near Dillsburg who picks ‘String Theory’ as his favorite new perennial of 2022.

   The variety blooms a little later in spring than the species but still retains the periwinkle-blue flower color as well as the brilliant golden fall-foliage color.

   Plants grow just under two feet tall, ideally in full sun. Amsonia is also heat-tolerant and not a favorite of deer.

Golden/yellow fountain grasses

   This must be the year of the golden fountain grass, which is a compact, deer-resistant type of ornamental grass. Three different experts picked three different new gold-bladed fountain grasses as their favorite perennials of 2022.

   Bucks County author, speaker, and “Perennial Diva” Stephanie Cohen likes the new Lumen Gold variety for both its growing habit and rich golden color.

   “It’s short, fine-textured, grows in a clump, and looks good all season long,” she says. “I’m growing it, and I love it.”

   Lumen Gold’s brightest golden foliage color comes in spring. Plants then soften to lemon in early summer, then more to lime-green the rest of the year with a touch of orange in fall.

   Sinclair Adam, director of Penn State’s Trial Gardens in Lancaster County, likes the new ‘Yellow Ribbons’ fountain grass.

   “It starts out with yellow foliage in early season, then turns greener in midsummer, and in fall the yellow comes back,” Adam says, adding that it has “spotless foliage” and a uniform habit when several are grown in a group.

   Both Lumen Gold and ‘Yellow Ribbons’ grow about two feet tall with a slightly wider spread.

   And one that Walters Gardens’ Laura Robles likes is Prairie Winds ‘Lemon Squeeze.’

   Robles says ‘Lemon Squeeze’ has chartreuse-gold leaves and is “one of the best for vigor that we’ve seen in gold-leafed (fountain grasses) with absolutely no burning in the sun.”

   This one grows a bit larger at about three  tall and wide.

   All three of the above varieties produce tan plumes in mid to late summer in addition to the golden foliage and grow best in full sun and good drainage.

Fountain grass Worryfree Hush Puppy

   Lower Paxton Twp. horticulturist David Wilson, marketing director for Overdevest Nurseries’ Garden Splendor line of plants, also picks a fountain grass as one of his two favorite new perennials of 2022, but it’s a green-leafed one.

   Wilson likes Worryfree Hush Puppy for two reasons: 1.) it’s sterile (meaning no unwanted seeding around), and 2.) it has unusually long-lasting flowering spikes (“inflorescences”).

   Bred at the University of Georgia, Hush Puppy is one of four showy, non-invasive selections in the new Worryfree series.

   Wilson adds that Hush Puppy has a “nice, full, and vigorous free-flowering habit with inflorescences that last much longer than conventional varieties like ‘Hameln.’ In our trials, we’ve witnessed displays that last at least four weeks longer than other varieties.”

   Plants grow three feet tall and four feet wide, ideally in full sun. It’s also drought-tough, deer-resistant, and good enough to make the industry’s Handpicked for You list.

Dianthus EverBloom Strawberry Tart

   Wilson’s other favorite new-for-2022 perennial is this short new flower, commonly called “garden pinks,” that has an unusually long bloom time.

   “In our trials, Strawberry Tart flowered first in early June and then came back to rebloom almost continuously into late July and the early fall months,” Wilson says.

   He adds that the best flowering comes when the spent flowers are trimmed off to encourage fresh new foliage and more flower buds.

   Strawberry Tart grows six to eight inches tall, does best in full sun, and also was good enough to make the Handpicked for You list.

Lily ‘Apricot Fudge’

   Monica Gembusia, the annual and perennial manager at Highland Gardens in Lower Allen Twp., is a lily fan in general but singles out this Asiatic lily as her favorite new perennial.

   Gembusia says ‘Apricot Fudge’ is a “unique apricot-colored variety with double, rose-like flowers and chocolate-colored anthers that stand above the flower.”

   It grows two to three feet tall, has a light sweet fragrance, makes a nice cut flower, and grows best in full sun.

Hibiscus Summerific ‘Edge of Night’

   Brandon Kuykendall, the nursery manager at Ashcombe Farm and Greenhouses in Monroe Twp., picks this hefty tropical-looking perennial as his favorite new-for-2022 perennial.

   Kuykendall says ‘Edge of Night’ has “dark leaves and pink bubblegum-colored blooms splashed with white. I like that it’s more compact than other hardy hibiscus, and the pink blooms really pop against  the contrasting dark reddish-purple foliage.”

   Plants grow about three-and-a-half-feet tall and four-and-a-half-feet wide, ideally in full sun. Flowers span seven to eight inches wide when fully open during the day.  

Hibiscus Head Over Heels Desire

   If you like big, bold, and bright, here’s another new hardy hibiscus variety that’s the favorite new perennial of Leah Palmer, public relations manager at Chester County-based Star Roses and Plants.

   Palmer likes Head Over Heels Desire for its huge scarlet flowers that grow on four-foot-tall bushy plants with dark-burgundy foliage.

   She says the variety is “compact, dense, and completely stunning in the garden and landscape,” adding that it’s also a nicely branched plant for heavy and even blooming.

   Head Over Heels Desire grows best in full sun and can spread three to four feet wide.

Coneflower Lovely Lolly

   Penn State Trial Gardens Director Sinclair Adam likes this durable new coneflower as his other top new perennial of 2022.

   “After three winters with no losses or damage and blooming very well in all years, this is an excellent addition to the coneflower collection,” Adam says of Lovely Lolly.

   This new coneflower has double flowers that bloom in a rich raspberry color for weeks in summer.

   It grows about two feet, prefers full sun, and doesn’t flop, meaning staking isn’t needed, Adam adds.

Eupatorium Euphoria Ruby

   One that I liked best in last year’s Penn State Trial Gardens was this new down-sized version of a worthy, pollinator-attracting native perennial.

   Commonly called Joe Pye weed, this type of eupatorium is a bit big for a lot of gardens, topping out at six feet or more tall for the straight species. Even recent “dwarf” varieties often go four feet tall and wide.

   Euphoria Ruby is a new variety that grows just over three feet tall, doesn’t flop, and is a heavy bloomer, too, with its magenta umbrella-shaped clusters.

   Bees and butterflies love it, and Euphoria Ruby will grow in damp or dry soil, ideally in full sun.

Anemone Spring Beauty Pink

   Angela Treadwell-Palmer, founder and co-owner of Alabama-based Plants Nouveau, picks this as her favorite new 2022 perennial because it’s the first deep-pink, spring-blooming anemone.

   Spring Beauty Pink is virtually covered in bubblegum-pink flowers in late spring.

   Treadwell-Palmer says plants might look delicate, but they’re actually “super-sturdy” and seldom bothered by any bug or disease issues. And she notes that early pollinators appreciate the spring blooms.

   Spring Beauty Pink grows 10 to 12 inches tall in full sun to part shade.

Catmint ‘Summer Magic’

   Treadwell-Palmer also likes this new catmint because of its exceptionally long bloom time – running non-stop from May until September most years.

   “It blooms and blooms all summer,” she says. “The upright, deep-lavender blooms are held high above the grass-green foliage and never flop.”

   Treadwell-Palmer also says that ‘Summer Magic’ grows well in containers and isn’t a favorite of cats, “so no smashing the plants rolling all over it.” 

   Plants grow 15 to 18 inches tall and do best in full sun.

Phlox Bambini Lucky Lilac

   Garden phlox is a summer-blooming native perennial that has two main drawbacks – it’s prone to powdery mildew disease and can flop in its three-foot-tall species form.

   Phlox Bambini Lucky Lilac is a new variety that’s both ultra-compact (just 10 inches tall) and resistant to mildew. Those two features are why Maria Zampini, president of the Ohio-based UpShoot plant introduction company, names it as her favorite new 2022 perennial.

   Zampini also likes the flower color – a mix of light and dark violet-purple with dark pink eyes.

   Bambini Lucky Lilac grows in full sun to part shade and blooms for weeks from early summer until early fall.

Sedum Rock ‘n Grow ‘Back in Black’

   Sedum has long been a late-summer favorite for its succulent leaves that make it heat- and drought-tough.

   Walters Gardens’ Robles believes Rock ‘n Grow ‘Back in Black’ is a winner because it adds dark foliage to the show along with nicely contrasting garnet-red flowers in late summer into early fall.

   Robles says the variety also “maintains its upright habit for the entire season, resisting opening up like some of its predecessors tend to do.”

   Plants grow about two feet tall, ideally in full sun.

Artemisia SunFern

   This new two-variety series looks like a fern but is actually a fern-like type of Russian wormwood that’s much more suited for drought and sun than ferns, most of which prefer damp soil and afternoon or full-day shade.

   Seth Reed, marketing manager for Darwin Perennials, which is introducing SunFerns, says these make good accent plants in the landscape as well as good textural companions to flowers in a container.

   They’re cold-hardy, mounding perennials that grow about 18 inches tall.

   SunFern Olympia has dark-green leaves with red stems, while SunFern Arcadia has gray-green foliage.

Read George’s post on Best New Perennial Flowers of 2021