2019? It’ll be out of this world
There’s a galaxy of new arrivals to enjoy this year... including a lettuce grown in space
AT THIS time of year, Britain’s leading nurseries take the wraps off scores of exciting new plants that they hope will tempt gardeners during the season ahead. Some of the newcomers are truly groundbreaking, while others are an improvement on existing forms or are worth trying simply for their novelty value.
Among the stellar line-up for 2019 are shrubs, perennials, annuals, climbers and hardy succulents, along with a host of edibles, including salads, veggies and fruit. Of course, not every fresh face is worth growing, so I’ve picked my favourites to help take the guesswork out of decision-making.
It’s not very often a new salad vegetable comes along that can be described as tasting ‘out of this world’. Yet a lettuce that’s just been launched in Britain certainly lives up to the star billing – because it’s the first plant ever to be grown and eaten by astronauts on a space mission. Developed in the USA, lettuce ‘Outredgeous’ is a romaine type with shiny, purple-red leaves. Seeds of the showy variety were supplied to the International Space Station in 2015, and raised inside a special growth chamber aboard the orbiting laboratory.
Thirty-three days after sowing, the first lettuce was harvested by Commander Scott Kelly. After cleaning the leaves with sanitising wipes, Kelly and his fellow astronauts tucked into their bounty. Nasa later quipped that it was ‘one small bite for man, one giant leaf for mankind’.
Until recently, this leafy treat has been available only to gardeners across the pond, but it will now be offered in Britain by Suttons Seeds. The company’s product development manager, Rob Smith, has tested it in his own garden and commends its ability to turn red in lower light conditions. Annuals and bedding plants will be turning out in force in 2019. Dahlia ‘LaBella Maggiore Fire’ is a compact cactus type, producing spiky red and yellow flowers from July to October, while Nemesia ‘Masquerade’ boasts coconut-scented yellow flowers topped with upright white petals.
Pick of the bunch has to be Impatiens x hawkeri ‘Wild Romance’, a New Guinea busy Lizzie with gardenia-like, pale pink flowers on bushy, 19in-tall plants. Bred by a Dutch nursery, it will be offered to British gardeners by Thompson & Morgan. Happy in sun or light shade, it’s ideal for pots or the ground.
Also keep an eye out for Rudbeckia ‘Savannah Mixed’, a coneflower with amazing colour-changing blooms. Held on 20in stems, lime and yellow flowers produced in early summer take on shades of red, orange and green as they mature.
Last autumn I visited the Gro- South horticultural exhibition, where commercial nurseries took the wraps off shrubs due to enter garden centres this spring. Among the tempting newcomers were variegated Hebe ‘Tip Top’ and Berberis thunbergii ‘Chocolate Summer’, a low-growing form with reddish-purple leaves.
My favourite was Nandina domestica ‘Summer Sunset’, a dwarf form of sacred bamboo. Growing to only about 1ft, this hardy variety’s young leaves are bright red. In summer, pink buds open into white flowers and are followed by red berries in autumn. It’s perfect for patio pots or borders.
Set to debut at the Chelsea Flower Show in May, Clematis ‘Meghan’ boasts deep red flowers and is named in honour of the Duchess of Sussex. Growing to just 5ft, it’s perfect in smaller spaces and blooms twice – in May and June, followed by a second flush in late summer.
Several other clematis are set to scramble up the nation’s walls and fences, including ‘Mirabelle’, ‘Spotlight’ and ‘Blue Musk’, which has large, bluish blooms with an almond fragrance. Another climber worth looking out for is sweet pea ‘Capel Manor’, a Spencer type with lightly scented, frilly purple-blue flowers.
The trend for succulents shows no signs of waning, with a glut of hardy houseleeks set to arrive in garden centres. Chick Charms is a range of ten different varieties from America, while ‘Polaris’, ‘Atlas’ and ‘Cosmos’ are among the Star series of sempervivums that have been bred in Poland.
This is one small bite for man... one giant leaf for mankind