Keep an eye out this winter for these gardening show-stoppers

By T.C. Conner

The Write Gardener



Did you know that we’ve just left the decade of the “Noughties?” It seems social statisticians see the need to name these passages of 10-year cycles.

Some decades are memorable just by their number; the 60s had Beatlemania; the 70s gave us disco; the 80s brought us Reaganomics; and the 90s opened our eyes to the Green Movement, diversity and getting back in touch with ourselves.

What legacy has the Noughties left for gardeners? I’m going to let you answer that for yourselves. I gave you my 2009 “Best Of” gardening report in last week’s column; going back much further in my memory than a year or so is excruciating. So, let’s get 2010 off to a good start by reporting on the future instead of the past. And the future offers gardeners a winning selection of new flowers to plant and grow.

Three American Beauties

First up is Fleuroselect’s 2010 Gold Medal Winners – Three American Beauties: Gaillardia x Grandiflora ‘Mesa Yellow’; Physostegia Virginiana ‘Crystal Peak White’; and Sanvitalia Speciosa ‘Million Suns.’

Hello, yellow

The first, yellow gaillardia or Mesa Yellow, is just gorgeous! I don’t think I’ve seen a brighter, cheerier shade of yellow on anything in anyone’s garden.

If you’re in need of bright yellow, with golden centered puff balls, this is the flower for you. Hardy to our zone (5), you’ll want to plant this fine specimen in a site with plenty of sun, good drainage, and in an area where visitors can’t miss it.

Oh, behave

Physostegia Virginiana is commonly known as obedient plant or false dragonhead. Flowers are arranged on spikes and measure about an inch across. Fleuroselect’s media sheet shows near-white to lavender colored flowers.

I have a similar colored obedient plant in the backyard planted in an area with poor drainage. This doesn’t seem to bother my physostegia, but it does have wandering stolons. Don’t fret though; breeders have solved that problem with Crystal Peak White. Flowering from July into September, this obedient plant can be grown in containers, or in traditional perennial beds.

Ray of sunshine

Sanvitalia Speciosa ‘Million Suns’ – also called creeping zinnia or Mexican zinnia – is Fleuroselect’s new annual with golden yellow daisy-like petals. It’s compact growth habit will make it especially appealing to container gardeners and those with limited garden space. Uses include hanging baskets, window boxes, and along edges and borders.

Look for the bright yellow golden orbs of Million Suns to be available at local nurseries this spring, as well as the other Fleuroselect Gold Medal Winners I mentioned.

All-America Selections

All-America Selections offers four new award winners; it also selected gaillardia ‘Mesa Yellow’; plus Viola ‘Endurio Sky Blue Martien’; Antirrhinum majus, a snapdragon, ‘Twinny Peach’; and an annual Zinnia marylandica ‘Zahara Starlight Rose.’

Don’t be blue

I heard it mentioned that some violas look like a monkey’s face but I don’t really see it. ESBM is a bluish-purple beauty that mounds to 6 inches and spreads 10 to 12 inches wide. It can be planted in containers and along edges of paths and walkways. You can expect to see this lovely little pansy flowering well after the first frost when planted in autumn and again in spring after snow melt.

Snap these up

“Who took the snap out of Snapdragon?” All America Selections asks in their media release announcing the winners. Their answer: “‘Twinny Peach,’ the AAS winner, is a snapdragon without the snap. Why? Because it is a double or butterfly flower form that does not have the jaws or joints to snap.” AAS is referring to the dragon-like appearance of the flowers of regular snapdragons.

Aboutflowers.org puts it like this: “The gaping mouth and huge under jaws of a lizard or crocodile are very fairly suggested in the conformation of the flower.”

Twinny Peach, as its name implies, is peach-colored with tones of yellow and light orange. Snapdragons are especially useful and long-lasting in bouquets.

Star of the show

My favorite out of all the above mentioned flowers is AAS award-winner ‘Zahara Starlight Rose,’ a stunningly beautiful new zinnia (Zinnia marylandica).

Zinnias are one of the easiest summer annuals to grow and Zahara Starlight Rose is one of the prettiest I’ve seen in a long time. It has rose and white bi-colored petals, with the rose color starting at the center and expanding outward in a fire-flash pattern. It grows 12 to 14 inches tall and like snapdragons, are long-lasting for use in bouquets.

Keep these award-winners on your radar for this coming spring. You should be able to find them in your seed and flower catalogs that are arriving in the mail. Order early so you can be sure to get the flowers you want before they run short. I’ve got my eye on a new clematis; it’s blue and I’m in love with it! (Clematis X ‘Zoblueriver’ Blue River.)

Note: Also new for 2010 – a compilation of my best articles into book format, if you’re interested in a copy, please e-mail thewritegardener@aim. com.



T.C. Conner is a Master Gardener and columnist for Allied News. He can be reached at tc@thewritegardener.com. Check out his blog at www.the writegardener.wordpress.com. Published January 6, 2009 in Allied News. Pick up a copy at 201A Erie St., Grove City.

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