George's Current Ramblings and Readlings

Best New Trees and Shrubs of 2020

February 4th, 2020

   A new line of blight-resistant boxwoods, a super-short version of native chokeberry, and a disease-resistant new leucothoe are among the best new trees and shrubs debuting in the 2020 growing season.

NewGen boxwoods hope to take some of the bite out of boxwood blight.
(Credit: Saunders Genetics)

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

   Today’s best new trees and shrubs of 2020 is the final installment of this year’s January series.

   Part one on best new vegetables, herbs, and fruits of 2020 ran Jan. 14, part two on best new annual flowers of 2020 ran Jan. 21, and part three on best new perennial flowers of 2020 ran last Tuesday, Jan. 28.

   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:

NewGen boxwoods

   Boxwood blight has become a growing and fatal threat to boxwoods throughout the mid-Atlantic region, sending breeders scrambling to find varieties that are resistant to this fungal disease that first showed up in Pennsylvania in 2012.

   Virginia’s Saunders Brothers – one of the nation’s leading boxwood growers – is introducing the first two varieties in a line of boxwoods found and tested to have high resistance both to boxwood blight and leafminers (a common bug pest of boxwoods).

   Dubbed NewGen, the line debuts with a compact, rounded form called Independence (similar to ‘Green Velvet’ and ‘Green Mound’) and a slightly more upright variety called Freedom (similar to ‘Green Mountain’ and ‘Winter Gem.’)

   Both are slow-growing, dense in habit, and not favorites of deer. Independence will grow to about three feet tall and wide in 15 years, while Freedom will grow about six inches bigger.

   Boxwoods grow best in loose, well drained soil in morning sun and afternoon shade, although they’ll also do well in deeper shade and in full sun with adequate soil moisture.

   Dave Krause, a buyer for Stauffers of Kissel Hill garden centers, likes those two as well as a third compact new boxwood that’s also highly blight-resistant called ‘Little Missy.’

Best New Perennial Flowers of 2020

January 28th, 2020

   A hibiscus with nearly black leaves, a heavy-blooming version of a native pollinator plant, and a tropical that’s cold-tough enough to survive our winters are among the most interesting new perennial flowers debuting in the 2020 growing season.

Summerific Evening Rose is a new hardy hibiscus with hot-pink flowers and nearly black leaves.
(Credit: Proven Winners)

   Growers, local garden centers, and other plant experts picked the following choices for our four-part, best-new-plants series each January – a good month for gardeners to plan what to plant in the coming season.

   The article on best new vegetables, herbs, and fruits of 2020 appeared Jan. 14, and the one on best new annual flowers of 2020 ran last Tuesday, Jan 21. The last installment on best new trees and shrubs of 2020 runs next Tuesday, Feb. 4.

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

   The details:

Spigelia ‘Little Redhead’

Spigelia ‘Little Redhead’ is an improved new version of this native perennial that blooms heavier than the species.
(Credit: Walters Gardens)

   Commonly known as Indian pink, this native perennial has been popular lately with wildflower fanciers (although often somewhat hard to find).

   ‘Little Redhead’ is a new named variety of the species, selected for its uniformity and heavy bloom.

   Both Todd Kephart, buyer for Stauffers of Kissel Hill garden centers, and Bryan Benner, a perennial grower for wholesale Quality Greenhouses near Dillsburg, pick it as their top new perennial of 2020.

   “It has awesome tubular red flowers that are very attractive to hummingbirds and other pollinators,” says Kephart.

   “It’s a more floriferous, garden-worthy form of the species with red and yellow flowers,” adds Benner.

   ‘Little Redhead’ grows in part shade to full, about two feet tall.

Best New Annual Flowers of 2020

January 21st, 2020

   A new line of disease-resistant impatiens, a sunflower that thinks it’s a blooming bush, and a velvety trailer that people can’t resist touching top the list of interesting new annual flowers debuting in 2020.

Beacon impatiens performed well in Penn State’s 2019 flower trials.

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

   The article on best new vegetables, herbs, and fruits of 2020 ran last Tuesday, Jan. 14. The best new perennial flowers of 2020 runs next Tuesday, Jan. 28, and the best new trees and shrubs of 2020 runs Feb. 4.

   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:

Impatiens Beacon series

   Breeders from Syngenta Flowers last year gave us a new line of bedding impatiens called Imara XDR that fought off the deadly downy mildew disease that’s plagued our once-favorite annual flower since 2012.

   New for 2020 is a separate line from PanAmerican Seed that looks to be an even better, fuller choice.

   Named Beacon, this six-color line looks and performs like the impatiens of old, except without the threat of collapsing in mid-summer from disease.

   Deb Shearer, co-owner of Ashcombe Farm and Greenhouses in Monroe Twp., picks Beacon as her favorite new annual for their durability and because they’re “more compact than Imara. Hopefully, there will be new colors in addition to the original six.”

   Both Beacons and Imaras bloomed full steam ahead in Penn State’s Trial Gardens last summer while older ones died next to them. The Beacons scored slightly higher than the Imaras.

   “They were stellar,” Trial Gardens Director Sinclair Adam said of the Beacon series. “I didn’t see any problems with disease.”

   Venelin Dimitrov, senior product manager at Bucks County’s W. Atlee Burpee Co., likes the Beacon ‘Paradise Mix’ blend and reports that those were healthy and still blooming well into October in Burpee’s trial garden.

   Stauffers of Kissel Hill buyer Todd Kephart also likes Beacons and says some growers are starting to grow only Imaras and Beacons because they’re so much more disease-resistant than other impatiens.

   Beacons grow about 18 inches tall in shade, part shade, and with adequate soil moisture, even full sun.

Best New Vegetables, Herbs, and Fruits of 2020

January 14th, 2020

   We’re only about nine weeks away from traditional pea-planting time (St. Patrick’s Day) and the beginning of a new growing season.

‘Medium Rare’ is a meaty new tomato debuting in 2020.
(Credit: W. Atlee Burpee Co.)

   It’s not too soon to think about what to buy, order, or make plans to plant while the selection is best. Especially with sought-after new varieties, supplies are often limited.

   For your planning pleasure, I’ll take a look over the next four weeks at what growers, local garden centers, and other plant experts believe are some of the best new plants poised to hit the market in 2020.

   Let’s start with best new edibles today, then continue with the best new annual flowers next Tuesday, Jan. 21, then best new perennial flowers on Jan. 28, and finally, best new trees and shrubs on Feb. 4.

   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:

Tomato ‘Medium Rare’

   Bucks County’s W. Atlee Burpee Co. is always good for at least one new tomato, and this year’s catalog star looks to be ‘Medium Rare,’ a newcomer that Burpee senior product manager Venelin Dimitrov calls the “best-tasting pink beefsteak type.”

   Dimitrov says ‘Medium Rare’ beat a farm-stand pink heirloom and the perennial flavor champ ‘Brandywine Pink’ to win a Burpee blind taste test.

   The variety matures in 75 to 80 days and produces hefty 14- to 20-ounce fruits.

Tomato ‘Celano’ is a new AAS award-winning grape tomato.
(Credit: All America Selections)

Tomato ‘Celano’

   This compact, hybrid, patio-type grape tomato was good enough to be one of three new tomatoes that earned 2020 All America Selections awards for its performance in independent national testing.

   ‘Celano’ has a sturdy, bushy habit and is a semi-determinate producer of grape-sized oblong fruits that ripen deep red.

   AAS judges said ‘Celano’ is sweeter than competitors, has excellent resistance to late blight, and is an early and “phenomenal” yielder.

Gardening Trends of 2020

January 4th, 2020

   Younger gardeners, succulents, eco-friendliness, and “plant parenting” are shaping up as some of this year’s hot trends in gardening.

Houseplants, younger gardeners, and succulents are three of 2020’s brewing gardening trends.

   Here’s what gardening trend-watchers say they see in their 2020 compost-stained crystal balls:

More gardening… and younger gardeners

   Interest in gardening continues to grow – and it’s no longer just mainly the over-50 crowd.

   Not only did lawn and garden spending set an overall record of more than $52 billion in 2018, according to the National Gardening Association’s 2019 National Gardening Survey, but participation by the Millennial generation (ages 18-34) continues to grow at a higher rate than other age groups – now equaling the Gen Xers, Baby Boomers, and beyond.

   Millennials accounted for a quarter of 2018’s record gardening spending, which NGA says comes despite these younger gardeners having lower household incomes than older age groups and being more likely to live in an apartment or condo.

   More than a third of Millennials also said they planned to spend more on gardening last year, which was higher than the overall average of 29 percent who said they planned to spend more.

   Across all generations, gardening sales grew 10 percent in 2018, according to Euromonitor International, the world’s leading independent provider of strategic market research.

   NGA says that about three-quarters of all U.S. households engage in some form of gardening or lawn care.

Houseplants are cool again.

“Plant parenting”

   This is a new term catching on that refers to plant care – especially Millennials’ flourishing interest in houseplants. At least two new books include “plant parenting” in their titles, and the term is popping up throughout social media.

   “The houseplant craze continues,” says Andrew Bunting, vice president of horticulture at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. “Just look at the houseplant influencers on Instagram. I have a colleague, Summer Rayne Oakes, who just wrote a houseplant book, and she has 127,000 followers. The houseplant trend and phenomenon is engaging Millennials, in particular, with plants and gardening.”

   The theory is that because Millennials are delaying child-rearing and often living in rented apartments and condos, they see houseplants both as a convenient, space-saving way to grow plants as well as a way to connect to nature and nurture.

   Todd Kephart, a buyer at Stauffers of Kissel Hill garden centers, said SKH’s houseplant sales have been trending upward for years and increased another 14 percent last year. “I don’t expect this upward trend to end anytime soon,” he says.

   Deb Shearer, a co-owner at Ashcombe Farm and Greenhouses in Monroe Twp., said the houseplant boom is the No. 1 trend she’s also been seeing. “Old houseplants are new again, and everyone is searching for the newest and most unusual,” she says.

   An offshoot of this trend, says Katie Dubow, author of the Chester County-based Garden Media Group’s 2020 Garden Trends Report, is that people are increasingly interested in ways to decorate with houseplants.

Read George’s column on 14 striking indoor plants to beat the winter blues