George's Current Ramblings and Readlings

The Best New Trees and Shrubs of 2021

February 2nd, 2021

   A miniature version of the popular Knock Out rose, a super-short clematis that can be used as a groundcover, and three new dark-leafed shrubs are among the best new trees and shrubs debuting in the 2021 growing season.

The new Petite Knock Out as a standard, left, and in a pot, right.
Credit: Star Roses and Plants

   Growers, local garden centers, and other plant experts picked the following for my annual January four-part, best-new-plants series.

   Today’s best new trees and shrubs of 2021 is the final installment of this year’s series.

   Part one on best new vegetables and fruits of 2021 appeared on Jan. 12, part two on best new annual flowers of 2021 appeared on Jan. 19, and part three on best new perennial flowers of 2021 posted last Tuesday, Jan. 26.

   Some of the following new tree and shrub varieties are available online and in some plant catalogs. Most also will be available in local garden centers beginning in April.

   The details:

Petite Knock Out roses

   The long-blooming, disease-resistant Knock Out family of roses has been one of the top-selling landscape plants for years.

   New for 2021 is what Star Roses and Plants social media manager Leah Palmer calls a “game-changer” – the first miniature Knock Out.

   The new Petite Knock Out “has all the same great qualities as the other Knock Out roses, just in a perfectly petite size,” Palmer says.

   This variety grows only 18 inches tall and blooms almost all season long in a non-fading red color. Most standard Knock Outs grow four feet tall and wide – or more.

   “Petite Knock Out also comes in tree form,” Palmer adds. “Other tree roses bloom less frequently, but this one blooms throughout the season. It’s also smaller than other tree roses, making it more versatile and usable in a range of settings.”

Clematis Little Lemons in a hanging basket
Credit: Concept Plants

Clematis Little Lemons

   Knock Out roses aren’t the only shrunken-down new woody plants.

   Breeders at Concept Plants have come up with a new super-compact clematis vine that’s more at home in a pot, hanging basket, or serving as a groundcover than growing up a trellis.

   Maria Zampini, president of the Ohio-based UpShoot plant introduction company, picks Little Lemons as her favorite new woody plant of 2021 for its compact size and bright yellow, hanging, bell-shaped flowers.

   Zampini says the plant also blooms for a long time, starting in May and running into September.

   It grows only about a foot tall and spreads about two feet, ideally in full sun to part shade.

Sweetshrub ‘Burgundy Spice’
Credit: Star Roses and Plants

Sweetshrub ‘Burgundy Spice’

   This shrub variety from New Jersey’s Pleasant Run Nursery gives a radical new look to an old-fashioned native plant.

   Sweetshrub ‘Burgundy Spice’ has the familiar fruity-fragrant, late-spring maroon flowers but sports dark burgundy-purple foliage, earning it the best-new-shrub pick of Brandon Kuykendall, the nursery manager at Ashcombe Farm and Greenhouses in Monroe Twp.

   “I was skeptical about it holding the color all summer, but the few I had last year kept their burgundy leaf color through summer,” he says. “It gets eight feet tall and wide and does well in full sun to part shade.”

   Deer don’t like sweetshrubs, and ‘Burgundy Spice’ closes the season by turning leaf shades of yellow and amber in fall.

The Best New Perennial Flowers of 2021

January 26th, 2021

   Ajugas with multi-colored leaves, compact versions of two pollinator-magnet native flowers, and three exceptionally good-looking herbs are among a banner slate of interesting new perennial flowers debuting in the 2021 growing season.

Two of the new Feathered Friends ajugas.
Credit: Garden Solutions

   Growers, local garden centers, and other plant experts picked the following choices for my annual January four-part, best-new-plants series.

   The article on best new edibles of 2021 appeared Tuesday, Jan. 12, while the rundown on best new annual flowers posted on Tuesday, Jan. 19. The series ends next Tuesday, Feb. 2, with a look at the best new trees and shrubs of 2021.

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

   The details:

Ajuga Feathered Friends

   Bucks County author, speaker, and “Perennial Diva” Stephanie Cohen says the break-through perennial newcomer of 2021 is a seven-variety line of ajugas (bugleweeds) that come in brilliant new leaf colors, including gold and chartreuse.

   “Most gardeners either love or hate ajugas, which are a first-class shady groundcover but not terribly exciting,” she says.

   That’s going to change with Feathered Friends ajugas from breeder Chris Hansen of Michigan’s Garden Solutions (who also brought us SunSparkler sedums and Chick Charms hens and chicks).

   Feathered Friends include bird-named varieties with gold/chartreuse foliage (Cordial Canary and Tropical Toucan), gold/burgundy/green blends (Fancy Finch, Petite Parakeet, and Parrot Paradise), and ones that are nearly black (Noble Nightingale and Fierce Falcon).

   “All are winter-hardy in Zones 4-8, and all produce beautiful cobalt-blue flowers,” says Cohen. “The flowers can last several weeks. I want to grow them all.”

   Feathered Friends plants grow only four inches tall and root as they creep to form a tight, weed-choking mat. They’ll do best in shade to part shade.

Ironweed ‘Summer’s Swan Song’
Credit: North Creek Nurseries

Ironweed ‘Summer’s Swan Song’

   Another 2021 break-through is this compact and heavy-blooming version of a native perennial that’s one of the best at attracting pollinators.

   Ironweed is a late-summer to early-fall purple bloomer that doesn’t show up in many gardens, mainly because it’s so tall (five feet and up), prone to leaning, and susceptible to rust and mildew leaf diseases.

   Dr. Jim Ault at the Chicago Botanic Garden came up with this new hybrid that solves all three of those issues.

   ‘Summer’s Swan Song’ earned the highest five-star rating in the Garden’s three-year trial of ironweeds, the results of which came out last year.

   This variety grows only three feet tall, has interlocking branches that help hold it into a compact bush shape, and tested out with no disease despite other infected ironweed varieties around it.

   ‘Summer’s Swan Song’ blooms heavily in purple from September into October and has narrow, olive-green leaves and red-purple stems.

   “A diversity of butterflies, moths, and bees are attracted to the flowers,” the Chicago Botanic Garden’s evaluation noted.

The Best New Annual Flowers of 2021

January 19th, 2021

   A showy new sweet potato vine, two heavy-blooming new begonias, and arguably the best yellow petunia yet top the list of interesting new annual flowers debuting in 2021.

Sweet potato Sweet Caroline Medusa

   Growers, local garden centers, and other plant experts picked those and more for my four-part, best-new-plants series that I compile each January – a good month for gardeners to plan what to plant in the coming season.

   The article on best new edibles of 2021 appeared last Tuesday, Jan. 12. The best new perennial flowers of 2021 will post next Tuesday, Jan. 26, and the best new trees and shrubs of 2021 is scheduled for Feb. 2.

   Some of the following new annual flowers are available in seeds or plants online and in some plant catalogs. Most also will show up in plant form in local garden centers beginning in late April to early May.

   The details:

Sweet potato Sweet Caroline Medusa

   Ornamental sweet potato vines have become a popular vining annual for pots and hanging baskets because of their colorful leaves.

   New for 2021 is Sweet Caroline Medusa, a Proven Winners variety that adds the twist of very narrow leaves on a dense, bright-green plant.

   Chris Wallen, a grower for the wholesale-only Quality Greenhouses near Dillsburg, describes the leaves as “finger-like” and says Medusa can fan out nearly three feet. He picks it as his favorite new annual introduction.

   Sweet potatoes grow best in full sun, although they’ll grow well but less colorfully in fairly shady spots.

Begonia Sprint Plus Rose
Credit: Penn State Trial Gardens

Begonia Sprint Plus Rose

   This new heavy-blooming wax begonia was one of Sinclair Adam’s two favorite new annual flowers of any kind in the 2020 Penn State Trial Gardens in Lancaster County.

   Adam, the Trial Gardens’ director, says Sprint Plus Rose is an “exceptional bloomer with a very uniform habit. It was the top-scoring begonia tested in sun.”

   Wax begonias also are versatile enough that they do well in shade – as well as any light between sun and shade. And they’re not a favorite of rabbits either.

   Sprint Plus Rose blooms non-stop all season until frost in a rosy-pink shade. Plants grow only six to eight inches tall and spread 10 to 12 inches wide.

The Best New Vegetables and Fruits of 2021

January 12th, 2021

   If even a fraction of the estimated 16 million new gardeners who tried growing their own food for the first time last year goes at it again this year, demand will remain high for vegetable seeds and young, spring-time transplants.

Kitchen Minis are edibles bred for indoors growing.
Credit: PanAmerican Seed

   The bottom line is that you’d better get your seed orders in early and your plans in place over winter, especially if you’re a gardener who seeks out specific, must-have varieties.

   Breeders and plant developers have another intriguing lineup of new plants ready to hit the market for 2021.

   For your planning pleasure, I’ll take a look today at some of the year’s best new edibles. Then in the next three weeks, we’ll explore what growers have coming as the best new annual flowers (Jan. 19), the best new perennial flowers (Jan. 26), and the best new trees and shrubs (Feb. 2).

   Some of the following new edibles are available in seeds or plants online and in catalogs. Many also will show up in local garden centers – seeds already and plants in April and May.

   The details on best new edibles of 2021:

Kitchen Minis

   Some trend-watchers think the surge in edible-gardening will carry over into a demand for edibles that can be grown indoors – including in the winter… and without the need for costly lighting or hydroponics equipment.

   PanAmerican Seed is introducing a line of  “Kitchen Mini” plants that have been bred in Denmark just for that purpose. The plants are super-compact potted tomatoes and peppers (with other crops to follow) that produce indoors on a sunny windowsill.

   Kitchen Minis “ripen in pots as small as eight inches and in lower light conditions so you can have fresh flavors any time of year,” says Josh Kirschenbaum, PanAmerican’s vegetables account manager. “Our motto for Kitchen Minis is ‘No garden? No problem.’”

   The first introductions are small-fruited peppers – both sweet and hot ones – and a pair of cherry tomatoes – ‘Micro Tom,’ which grows 18 inches tall and produces red fruits in 50 days, and ‘Siam,’ which stays under a foot tall and produces red fruits in 70 to 84 days.

   Both of the tomatoes are determinate, meaning they ripen most of their fruits around the same time instead of producing on and on for months.

‘Midnight Cascade’ blueberry.
Credit: Bushel and Berry

Blueberry ‘Midnight Cascade’

The Bushel and Berry Collection is a line of compact fruit bushes aimed at small-space gardens and container growing. They’re also designed to be good-looking plants as well.

New in the collection for 2021 is ‘Midnight Cascade,’ touted as the first hanging-basket blueberry.

   This variety produces the same white, bell-shaped spring flowers and early-summer blue fruits as traditional vase-shaped blueberry plants but has a loose, trailing habit that’s ideal for growing out of a hanging basket.

   “The foliage has hints of red that will darken in fall weather,” adds Katie Dubow, a spokeswoman for Star Roses and Plants, which produces Bushel and Berry plants for garden centers.

   Full sun to light shade is the recommended light setting.

Gardening Trends of 2021

December 29th, 2020

   Droves of stuck-at-home families started food gardens and carved relaxation areas out of their yards this year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vegetable gardens were a hot item in 2020 and look to be popular again in 2021.

   Gardening trend-watchers say those will carry over as the biggest two gardening trends on the 2021 horizon as well.

   As we close the door on 2020, here’s the dirt on everything that trend-watchers see in their compost-stained crystal balls:

Another big vegetable year

   Edible gardening surged in 2020 as shoppers saw dwindling grocery shelves and figured this pandemic year might be a good time to grow their own.

   “While this has been trending for several years, a spike occurred with COVID-19 and the resulting issues with food accessibility and security,” said Andrew Bunting, vice president of public horticulture for the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.

   “More people were cooking at home instead of going out, so they wanted their own fresh produce to try,” adds Diane Blazek, executive director of the National Garden Bureau.

   “Research shows we picked up 16 million new gardeners during COVID-19, many of whom are under 35,” said Katie Dubow, author of the Chester County-based Garden Media Group’s 2021 Garden Trends Report.

   She says that more than two-thirds of adults are now growing at least some vegetables, herbs, and/or fruits – or are planning to do so in 2021.

   Another measure was the more than 18,000 people who watched live or recorded sessions of Penn State Extension’s 10-part webinar “Victory Garden Reinvented.”

   “After experiencing the self-satisfaction of growing high-quality, delicious fruit and vegetables, gardeners will continue this trend in 2021,” predicts Nancy Knauss, Penn State’s statewide Master Gardener Coordinator.

   PHS’s Bunting goes a step further. “This phenomenal return to vegetable gardening will only gain more steam in 2021,” he says.

   At the very least, says Hershey Gardens horticulture specialist Alyssa Hagarman, edible interest is likely to remain high “with young adults who are very eco-conscious.”

Information explosion

   All of those new gardeners hungered for information on how to grow edibles and more – and that trend is likely to continue, too – if not grow – in 2021.