Colourful, long-lasting blooms best for beginners
When folks who are relatively new to the world of gardening ask for help with selecting perennials, I always encourage them to try not only tough, resilient varieties, but also ones that have a long blooming period.
I then introduce them to the rudbeckia family, particularly to R. `Goldsturm,' the standard of excellence against which all other rudbeckias are judged. If space is an issue, I suggest the more compact R. `Little Goldstar,' which produces masses of tiny gold flowers centred with black-seed cones. It blooms from late June through September.
Next, I take them to the perennial geranium section, where the star performer is the beautiful G. `Rozanne.' This somewhat spreading variety pumps out its magnificent blue colour from early July right into October.
My next stop is the coreopsis display, where the well-known C. `Zagreb' hangs out. It's one of the oldest, most reliable performers. We've enjoyed its compact, spiky foliage and golden flowers in our garden from June well into October.
Then it's off to visit the yarrows, where the newer `Vintage' series resides. Available in four colours (red, rose, violet and white), these basal branching, compact plants rebloom throughout the summer.
Many other perennials have extended blooming periods, but to me, these varieties are proven icons that provide easy colour all summer and into the fall. This year, however, I may be adding some new members to my “long bloomers” list.
When I used to frequent gardens, garden centres and growers in Europe, I discovered some gems. One of them was the Whiteman Company in The Netherlands, who rebranded as Darwin Perennials. A leader in the introduction of new perennials, their varieties have added much depth to this plant category. Every year they came up with some real jewels, many of which are still favourites.
To my surprise, Whiteman was later purchased by the Ball Horticultural Company, one of the world's largest horticulture firms, and it continues to operate as Darwin Perennials. We've had a long association with Ball and a deep appreciation of how they care for and work with growers around the world. Their innovative ideas, sharing of information and encouragement to mechanize and modernize operations have helped many growers be far more successful. They have also made thousands of new plants available to consumers.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Karl Batschke, president of Darwin Perennials. I reached him in Chicago at Ball's headquarters. Ironically, he too was a former perennial customer of Whiteman's at his family business in Michigan. Knowing the history of the Whiteman Company and its goal of sourcing some of the best new perennials in the world, he said this objective continues but with a significant difference. Darwin is committed to encouraging their breeders to develop new perennials that have better pest and disease tolerance, greater plant longevity and a far longer blooming period.
As thousands of conventionally bred seedlings are examined, Darwin is asking their breeders to look for unique characteristics, selecting them down to hundreds and, finally, narrowing them down to the few most promising plants. Batschke said it's important to determine the right genetics to ensure these new perennials, especially the longer-blooming ones, improve year after year and continue to provide colour over a longer period.
According to Batschke, three issues are important when developing new perennials:
■ The ultimate goal is to ensure consumers have remarkable, durable new plants.
■ The new plants must fit the parameters of what growers need to produce high-quality products.
■ There needs to be a constant, reliable supply of these new plants to meet the growing demand around the world.
I appreciate this approach because it ensures that these new perennials have been vetted before arriving at garden stores. What we're really talking about here is the development of perennials that act like annuals in providing longer blooming periods, with the bonus of coming back each year for a repeat performance. This is a major step forward in the world of perennials. We must remember, however, that first-year plants need to become established and may not perform up to expectations until they have truly settled in and matured.
So, what are these exciting new varieties? Will they be available in B.C. this year? I ran the following list by Batschke and got his approval and his assurance that enough of these varieties will be in growers' hands this spring to ensure good availability. Because growers receive most of these new plants as small “plugs,” it will be late June or July before they have sized-up enough for sale.
Here is the exciting lineup of some of the plants that we can expect to see this year:
Achillea `Milly Rock' Series: Zone 5a, Grows 10-12 inches, Blooms April-september.
Armeria `Dreameria' Series: 5a, 10-12 inches, March-october.
Coreopsis `Uptick' Series: 5, 12-14 inches, March-november.
Lavender `Primavera': 7a, 16-18 inches, spring/winter.
Leucanthemum `Whitecap': 5a, 14-16 inches, March-october.
Nepeta `Whispurr Blue': 4a, 24 inches, April-september.
Penstemon `Cherry Sparks': 5a, 18-20 inches, May-august.
Phlox `KA-POW' 5 colours: 4b, 1820 inches, June-august.
Salvia `Mirage' Series 9 colours: 7, 12-14 inches, March-september.
Veronica longifolia `Forever Blue': 4b, 16-18 inches, June-october.
The ultimate test for each of these plants is their performance in our gardens. Try a few in your perennial areas to extend the colour.
A huge thank you to Darwin Perennials and the Ball Horticultural Company for their innovation and dedication to breeding new plants.
Their efforts are making a remarkable contribution to the world of gardening.