GARDENER'S READING ROOM
Annuals

What's New for 2011

Coveted Spring Arrivals to Watch For

Looking for something enviously new and special for your pots this year? Be sure to watch for two new Calibrachoa (million bells) colors in the Superbells® series: ‘Blackberry Punch’ and ‘Coralberry Punch.’ ‘Blackberry Punch’ is a seductive magenta with a deep black throat. ‘Coralberry Punch’ features a dark red throat that bleeds into the lighter pink-peach of the flower.

Many of us were wowed by the Supertunia® ‘Pretty Much Picasso’ last year (even if we couldn’t get our hands on it!). This beautiful trailing petunia features a purple center rimmed with kelly green. Yes, green! We expect to see a greater supply of ‘Pretty Much Picasso’ this year, along with three new black petunias. Petunia ‘Black Velvet’ is a solid, saturated black-purple. ‘Phantom’ features the same black flower, but set off by a lime-green star. ‘Pinstripe’ is also black, but marked with thin cream stripes down the center creases.

Another noteworthy and new-ish annual is Ptilotus ‘Platinum Wallaby.’ Introduced in recent years, ‘Platinum Wallaby’ features silver flower spikes with bristly heads. These heads unfold slowly to show lavender color. Although the genus Ptilotis (pronounced ‘til-lo-tis’) is native to Australia, these new hybrids perform well here as annuals. ‘Platinum Wallaby’ is drought-tolerant and extremely long-lasting. We’ve seen it flower into November. It’s an annual that just gets better and better as the season progresses!

By Molly Malecki
Skylights Spring 2011, Vol 26, No. 1

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