Posted on: February 11, 2008
Wallflowers Need Not Apply
Fruit, vegetable, flower or herb – vibrant colors, robust flavor and durability are hot traits in 2008's gardens
By Bev Bennett
CTW Features
A gardener’s dream – day lilies are easy to grow, accepting of lax care and drought tolerant. Image courtesy Paradise Garden Nursery/Oakes Daylilies
This year's hottest plants are all about vibrant color, according to Nona Koivula, executive director of All-America Selections.
Fragrant red carnations, deep lavender vinca cora and chocolate mint coleus, a non-flowering dark-leafed plant edged in mint green are some of the new varieties getting the nod from the Chicago area AAS, a non-profit organization that tests and introduces superior new flowers and vegetables grown from seed.
If you're thinking about what to plant this spring you'll be pleased to learn that breeders are offering good looks and more for your garden. These flowers and vegetables are resistant to disease, heat and drought, and you'll find the sturdy plants in both annuals and perennials to suit your gardening interests.
Vinca cora, an annual with an abundance of small flowers, isn't the delicate posy it once was.
"It's usually prone to disease. But this one has disease resistance," says Stephanie Turner, director of seed products for the Park Seed Company in Greenwood, S.C.
The vinca cora carried by Park Seed is also heat tolerant, according to Turner.
Salvia and petunias, also annuals offered in appealing colors, are good hot-weather choices as well, according to Koivula.
Heirloom tomatoes were prized for their robust flavor, not their ease of growing. Now, however, you can have a tomato with great flavor and durability. "It's called Country Taste. It's an heirloom type, with the taste and look of an heirloom, but the hybrid is less prone to problems," Turner says.
You may not have day lilies on your "to-plant" list, but Ken Oakes suggests giving them a try.
"They're easy to grow and very tolerant of lax care," says Oakes, who owns Oakes Daylilies & Paradise Garden Nursery in Corryton, Tenn. "Day lilies are also very drought tolerant; even last year, which was terrible -– they took it," he says. Oakes, who offers about 400 varieties of day lilies, suggests spacing them around the garden.
"They're great big flowers in different shapes and colors." Oakes also recommends adding ornamental grasses to the garden, especially if you're in an area that doesn't get much rain.
"Last year the Southeast was very dry. The ornamental grasses came through and looked great," he says.
