Better Homes and Gardens (Australia)
Starring scene-stealers Plant these dazzling new releases
BIGGER, BOLDER... NEW RELEASES TO BLOW YOU AWAY
There’s nothing subtle about these new flowering plants. They’re not for filling in a bare patch or acting as a backdrop in your bed. These are the new stars, the scene-stealers of your garden that will dazzle you with their colours and amaze you with their vigour. They may look delicate, but they have hearts of steel. They’ve been bred to enhance their beauty and make them stronger fighters against pests or disease. And they’re all potted up now, ready to add a potent prettiness to your garden.
1 GEUM ‘PINK PETTICOATS’
A member of the rose family but without the thorns, ‘Pink Petticoats’ grows masses of dancing, semi-double, ruffled blooms. It’s much more floriferous and flamboyant than previous geums, and the flowers last longer too.
Landscape: Ideal as the centrepiece in a perennial border. Position: Full sun, but likes shade if it’s very hot. Height: 35 x 40cm. Soil: Well-drained, enriched with compost. Care: Deadhead to encourage more flowers. When to plant: Spring. Best zones: Cool to temperate.
2,3 PETUNIA SUPERTUNIA® VISTA
Pop up and delight is the petunia’s plight. But now this no-fuss annual is more vigorous and its flowers last much longer. It comes in shades of pink and startling silver, with a rich crimson throat. Landscape: In pots, hanging baskets, and in front of borders. Position: Full sun. Height: To 60cm. Soil: Well-drained, rich in compost.
Care: Feed with flower-boosting fertiliser and water as needed. When to plant: Spring. Best zones: Cool, temperate, sub-tropical.
4,5 IMPATIENS BEACON™
A favourite of lazy gardens for their ability to thrive on neglect and in the moist shade, impatiens have been devastated recently by downy mildew. The Beacon has solved this crisis with its high resistance to the blight and the bright lights can again be turned on in the shade.
Landscape: In pots, garden beds.
Position: Sun, shade.
Height: To 50cm.
Soil: Most soils.
Care: Keep soil moist and protect from wind.
When to plant: Spring.
Best zones: Cool, temperate, sub-tropical.
6 SALVIA 'AMANTE'
This is simply an outstanding beauty and has been hailed as a genetic breakthrough in terms of colour. The flower spikes produce dark, almost black, calyxes from which emerge brilliant fuchsia flowers that last all summer.
Landscape: Borders, cottage gardens.
Position: Full sun.
Height: To 1.2m.
Soil: Well-drained.
Care: Keep soil moist, remove faded flowers.
When to plant: Spring.
Best zones: Cool, temperate. Petunias come in red, purple, pink and white, but limit your choice to two to match your garden colour scheme.
SWEETSCENTED SALVIAS ARE YOUR GARDEN’S SERENADERS
BE BLESSED BY THE SUN AS YOU PLOT A JOURNEY OF DELIGHTS
7,8 SURDIVA® SCAEVOLA
With striking new colours and new compact forms, this scaevola adds fresh enchantment to these little five-fingered flowers. Coming in ‘Fashion Pink’ and ‘Deep Violet Blue’, the flowers now appear on the end of shorter spikes, rather than the traditional meandering stems.
Landscape: Groundcover, hanging baskets, pots.
Position: Full sun.
Height: To 30cm.
Soil: Well-drained.
Care: Drought and heat tolerant. Doesn’t like frost.
When to plant: Spring.
Best zones: Temperate.
9 SWEET GARLIC BORDER STARS®
You can turn your paths into a Milky Way with these new stars that now have low water needs, minimal maintenance and a long flowering period. Landscape: Cottage or herb gardens, rockeries, borders. Position: Full sun, part shade. Height: To 40cm. Soil: Most soils. Care: Water regularly. When to plant: Spring. Best zones: Cool, temperate.
10,11 FEDERATION DAISIES®
The expanded Super Sized series is explosive, producing an abundance of double flowers up to 7cm wide and in party packs of punchy colours. No hangovers here though. They’re tolerant of harsh weather and are disease resistant. Landscape: Sunny plots and pots. Position: Full sun. Height: To 60cm. Soil: Most soils. Care: Water regularly. When to plant: Spring. Best zones: Cool, temperate, sub-tropical.
12 ALLIUM ‘SUMMER BEAUTY’
It’s a small world, but you can have many of them with these new globes of tiny, lilac, starlike flowers. Bees love them and they’ll buzz around your blooms like baby spacecraft.
Landscape: Borders, beds, pots.
Position: Full sun.
Height: To 45cm.
Soil: Moist and well-drained.
Care: Water regularly.
When to plant: Spring.
Best zones: Cold, temperate.
13 CALIBRACHOA SUPERBELLS®
These mini petunia wannabes are learning to shine in their own right by producing masses of double, white-fringed flowers in a wild range of colours from spring to autumn. Landscape: Baskets, pots. Position: Sun.
Height: To 25cm. Care: Heat tolerant, low maintenance. Soil: Well-drained. When to plant: Spring. Best zones: Temperate.
14, 15 KANGAROO PAW BUSH GEMS®
Art and architecture combine with vibrant colours on longer-lasting flowers to turn marvellous into magnificent. Landscape: Borders, pots. Position: Full sun.
Height: 50 to 75cm. Care: Drought and heat hardy, low maintenance. Soil: Well-drained. When to plant: Spring. Best zones: Dry, hot or warm.
16 DAYLILY ‘STELLA BELLA’
The butter yellow flowers last only one day, but there’s a new bunch the next day, and the next, for up to six months.
Landscape: Borders, pots, cottage.
Position: Full sun to part shade.
Height: To 40cm.
Care: Drought and heat hardy, low maintenance.
Soil: Well-drained.
When to plant: Spring.
Best zones: Cool, coastal, pool sides.
17, 18 HYDRANGEA ‘MAGICAL RUBYRED’
No summer slumbers with this rousing ruby-red display, and the passion is on high voltage from spring to autumn.
Landscape: Beds, entrances, patios, courtyards, pots.
Position: Full sun.
Height: To 2m.
Soil: Well-drained.
When to plant: Spring.
Best zones: Cool, temperate.