2007 New Varieties

Abutilon

'Fairy Coral Red' abutilon hybrid from Athens Select sports handsome salmon to pink flowers and remains less than 18 inches tall in containers and the landscape. 

Achillea

Sahin's 'Flowerburst Red Shades' is another great achillea from seed. It is a smashing blend of mainly red, rose and violet shades. 

Achillea 'Pomegranate' from Blooms Of Bressingham's Tutti Frutti Series features rich, velvety red flowers. It offers an outstanding compact, sturdy and full habit. Bred by Sahin in the Netherlands.

Aeonium

Aeonium 'Kiwi' from EuroAmerican Propagators is a low-growing, mound-forming succulent that forms rosettes of fleshy, spoon-shaped leaves that are uniquely colored with yellow, chartreuse, pink and red. 

Angelonia

Part of a new series at Danziger, 'Alonia Pastel Pink' is a fast-growing angelonia with a compact growth habit and fantastic branching. It has abundant, light-pink flowers and an excellent performance in early spring and fall.

'AngelMist Spreading White' angelonia from Ball FloraPlant thrives through extreme heat, humidity and moisture, and offers big retail appeal from the clean, bright color and dark green leaves. 

Anthurium

From Oglesby's in-house breeding program comes anthurium 'White Heart.' It is resistant to Xanthomonas, and the flowers are shiny white with a splash of green and a contrasting dark pink spadix. 

Bacopa

The new 'Blutopia Blue' and 'Snowtopia White' bacopa from PanAmerican Seed are the first ever bacopas from seed. 'Blutopia Blue' flowers approximately 10 days earlier and has a mounded habit compared to slightly prostrate 'Snowtopia White.' 

Bacopa Scopia 'Great Pink Ring' from Danziger blooms early and continuously with large, light-pink flowers with a purple center. It's a vigorous grower with a well-branching habit.

Begonia

Benary's Nightlife series has enlivened its offerings with the introduction of 'Nightlife Pink.' The delicate, pink flower petals create a soft glow against its dark chocolate foliage. 

Benary's 'Nonstop Mocca Pink Shades' shines against its dark chocolate foliage. Like the other colors in the series, 'Nonstop Mocca Pink Shades' has 4-inch, fully double flowers. 

Bidens

With large, golden-yellow flowers, Fischer's 'Mexican Gold' bidens feature a dense, mounding/semi-trailing habit. It is a fantastic complementary plant for combination planters and mixed baskets. 

Breeding for the Brilliance series from Bodger Botanicals has been for more vigor. Each of the three colors, including the new 'Brilliance White,' has an upright but stout habit. They are large-flowered and present the flowers atop the plants. 

'StrawBurst Yellow' bracteantha from Fischer USA has outstanding flower color and a well-branched habit. With excellent heat tolerance and frost hardiness, this variety will perform all season long. 

Buddleia

Blooms Of Bressingham's Buddleia 'Butterfly Heaven' is a beautiful flowering shrub with large, fragrant flowers to bring butterflies to the garden. It features long, tapering panicles of tiny, sweetly scented lavender florets with orange eyes.

Caladiums

Abbott-Ipco's 'Candyland' is an intermediate sized, white lance-leaf (strap) variety with pink spots and pink or white main veins. It is suited to all pot sizes and breaks well even without de-eying. 

Abbott-Ipco's 'Twist & Shout,' a fancy-leaf variety with a burnt orange background and olive spots and leaf margin, represents a new color for caladiums. This variety should be de-eyed to improve pot habit. 

Calibrachoa

Super-uniform flower timing and a mounding, trailing habit make Ball FloraPlant's Cabaret calibrachoa series a winner for bench-run programs. New 'Cabaret Yellow' joins the series for 2008. Beautiful flowers drive consumer interest at retail. 

Proven Winners' Superbells 'Apricot Punch' calibrachoa will be available only at independent garden centers next spring. It is a small and compact plant with a 6- to 10-inch height and golden apricot flowers with a distinctive dark umber eye that creates a striking bicolor effect. Superbells prefer full sun. 

Celosia

Benary's Celosia plumosa 'Smart Look' is crowned with an abundance of neon red plumes. The deep bronze foliage adds a striking contrast when planted in full sun or partial shade settings. 

Clematis

'Clematis Bourbon,' available from Donahues Clematis Specialists, has vibrant red, 5- to 6-inch flowers. The round flowers have contrasting yellow anthers. It is ideal for container growing and blooms June through early August. 

One of the new Magnum Opus selections from Speedling Inc., this 6-inch finished clematis comes in assorted colors. 

Coleus

Coleus 'Stained Glassworks Witch Doctor' from Ecke Flower Fields is the newest addition to the full sun-tolerant Coleus Stained Glassworks line. They are easy to grow and provide consumers with a range of vivid color choices. 

Coreopsis

'Corey Yellow' coreopsis from Fischer USA features bold blooms with bright, golden-yellow flowers and unique dark red centers. 'Corey Yellow' is a strong, upright plant that produces extra-large flowers all summer long.

Cuphea

Proven Winners' new 'Totally Tempted' cuphea features bright crimson flowers that will provide constant spring and summer color. 'Totally Tempted' is humidity and drought tolerant, is oedema resistant and will reach a height of 6 to 12 inches in full sun. It is very heavy flowering with a tighter habit than other cupheas. 

The three new Goldalia dahlias from Fischer USA, Orange, Rose and Scarlet, offer outstanding wow appeal. These flowers are great for quick turns with their compact habit and excellent branching. 

Delphinium

Sahin's Delphinium x cultorum 'Centurion Lavender' features wonderful, soft lavender with a lavender and white bee. It is the sixth color in the series, which also includes White, Sky Blue, Rose, Pink and Gentian Blue. 

 Geranium

Geranium 'Maestro Neon Pink' from Ecke Geraniums-Oglevee Products is part of the medium vigor Maestro series that offers large blooms. 'Maestro Neon Pink' provides bright, electrifying splashes of color, creating consumer appeal and superb sell-through at retail. 

Geranium 'Patriot Orange' from Ecke Geraniums-Oglevee Products is a bold and exciting new color addition to the vigorous Patriot series, offering full-size plants with large blooms. Patriot works well in containers and ground beds with proven heat tolerance and landscape performance. 

Gerbera

Florist De Kwakel's standard gerbera 'Ecco' is a warm red standard gerbera variety with a proper black center. It performs well in production and has good vase life. 

Grasses, Sedges And Rushes

All of PanAmerican Seed's Grasses of Fantastic Foliage can be sown, grown and sold together as a complete package. New varieties include juncus 'Blue Arrows,' juncus 'Javelin,' koeleria 'Blue Sprite,' stipa 'Sirocco' and stipa 'Capriccio'. 

Sahin's Natural Look Program is a new collection of grasses, sedges and rushes. They are heat tolerant and low maintenance. Some varieties include juncus 'Spiralis,' milium 'Aureum,' carex 'Auburn' and isolepis 'Fibre Optics.' 

Hibiscus

Athens Select's 'Panama Bronze' hibiscus grows to a hardy 4 feet tall and is equally wide. Foliage is deeply cut and beautiful, with the bronze color remaining stable through even the hottest days. 

Impatiens

Like the rest of the 17 Envoy colors, Bodger Seeds' 'Cherry Star' is large-flowered and possesses excellent vigor. 'Cherry Star' is a great choice for 4-inch pots and larger, as well as baskets and landscapes. 

Proven Winners' new Rockapulco series of double impatiens boasts bigger and brighter blooms. Available for 2008 will be Orchid, Appleblossom, Dark Orange, Purple, Red, Rose and White. Each is heat tolerant for extended spring and summer color. 

Iochroma

Athens Select's 'Purple Queen' Iochroma cyanea offers large, velvety leaves and purple, tubular flowers that demand attention in a border or lively container. Iochroma is native to Central and South America and should be treated as an annual in most parts of this country. 

Lantana

When you start with the soft oranges and pinks of this bicolor beauty, you have a focal point that can combine with a wide range of colors in mixed containers. 'Apricot Fizz' lantana from EuroAmerican Propagators reaches a height of 12 to 18 inches. 

Lobelia

Three new varieties are joining Selecta's Magadi lobelia series, including 'Magadi Blue White Eye.' It has a mounded habit, thick branching and outstanding summer performance. 

Mums

The main feature of Ball Seed's 'Five Alarm Red' garden mum from Ball Chrysanthemum is its intense, super-vivid red color. 'Five Alarm Red' boasts excellent heat tolerance with a slightly open habit. 

Yoder Brothers' Garden Mum 'Monica' from the European Collection of Prophets features large, two-tone yellow anemone flowers that sit atop a perfectly shaped sphere habit. Approximate flowering is Sept. 27. 

Osteospermum

Goldsmith Seeds' Asti Osteospermum series is the first osteo from seed available in separate colors. Benefits include fewer virus, tag and royalty issues. Asti offers great heat and cold tolerance. Pictured is 'Asti White.' 

Sunny osteos from EuroAmerican Propagators offer a full range of vibrant and unique colors. 'Zara' is a spoon-shaped Sunny with lilac-colored petal edges. 

PanAmerican's new 'Matrix Morpheus' pansy features blooms that show off a vibrant blue cap, complemented by yellow lower petals with eye-appealing whiskering. 

Pentas

Benary's 'Northern Lights Lavender' pentas is more tolerant to cooler growing temperatures and low pH levels and is free flowering in cool as well as hot landscape settings. The lacy flower umbels unfold in a graceful manner that leaves a vision of stars in the northern sky. 

The 'Starla' Pentas series from Goldsmith Seeds is uniform and offers a tight bloom window and large, long-lasting flowers. Plant vigor handles the stress of cool, northern nights and hot, southern days. 

Petunia

Bodger Botanicals' Blanket petunias offer excellent garden performance, with plants spreading to 6 feet. New for 2007 is 'Blanket Zinfandel,' which covers itself with thousands of dime-sized, deep burgundy flowers. 

Bodger Botanicals' Tiny Tunias possess an outstanding, compact habit. New for 2007 is 'Tiny Tunia Cabernet,' featuring deep burgundy flowers with a velvety texture. 

Phlox

Phlox 'Snow Crisp' from EuroAmerican Propagators is a delicate-looking, compact plant that has brilliant, pure white flowers. It's a lavish bloomer that requires minimal care. 

Portulaca

Joining the rest of the colors, Fuchsia rounds out Bodger Seeds' Stopwatch series of portulaca. It is compact in habit, and no growth regulators are required. Stopwatches are early to bloom. 

Ball Seed's 'Tiger Eye Gold' is the world's first F1 rudbeckia. 'Tiger Eye Gold' produces full, well-branched plants with a dense flower canopy and long-lasting single, golden yellow blooms. 

The vegetatively propagated Cathedral series of Salvia farinacea from Bodger Botanicals offers a more stout habit. Flowers are considerably larger and crop times are significantly shorter.

Danziger's 'Sallyfun Blue' salvia is a compact and well-branched plant with early and abundant blue flowers. It blooms well in hot, dry summer conditions and grows year round where winter temperatures are mild. 

Sanvitalia

Selecta's 'Tsavo Double Gold' Sanvitalia procumbens has a low-medium vigor, a summer-long mounding habit and flowers early. It makes a great item to be mixed in baskets and containers. 

 Verbena

Aztec verbena from Ball FloraPlant offers unwavering uniformity. New for 2008 is 'Aztec Dark Red,' a clean, deep red color with no white eye. The mounded, trailing plants stay lush and healthy from spring through autumn. 

The Tuscany verbena series from Goldsmith loves heat and is naturally compact and well-branched. It requires fewer PGRs, and full, bushy plants produce tons of color. 

Vinca

Cora Vinca from Goldsmith Seeds has patented disease resistance to aerial Phytophthora and features large flowers and thick, glossy foliage. 

New 'Titan Pure White' from Ball Seed produces large flowers in a true, pure white with no pink center ring and excellent overlapping petals. Titan F1 vinca offers hybrid vigor from seedling to finish in the garden. 

Viola

'Floral Power White Rose Wing' F1 Viola x williamsiana from Sahin is a unique bicolor, clear white flowered viola with a soft pink wing. It offers an upright habit and is natural and compact.

Zinnia

Distance zinnias from Bodger Seeds feature a superior basal branching habit. 'Distance Mix' has medium-large, semi-fully double flowers in Yellow, Scarlet, Pink, White, Orange, Cherry and Plum.

Ball Seed's 'Solcito' Zinnia maritima features lots of small, golden-yellow blooms topping the lush green foliage. It fills containers easily with a mounded, spreading habit.