14 Cool Season Plants To Kick Off The Spring Season
Spring wouldn’t be spring without dramatic swings in temperatures and weather that ranges from relentless rain to an unexpected dusting of snow. These new introductions for 2016 are early bloomers and tough performers that don’t mind a bit of cold. Several of them bloom from planting to first frost for multi-season color. Consider them for combos, hanging baskets, decorative containers, and more to get your spring sales off to a strong start despite the weather.
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Anemone 'Harmony Blue' (Sakata Ornamentals)
Harmony Anemone is a great choice for spring holiday sales and lasts well through the summer season. Harmony boasts clear, vibrant colors and exceptional flower power. With Harmony there's no need to pick sides. It works well for both annual and perennial programs. As an annual, it can be paired with other annual cool crops in small pots, mixed containers, and color bowls. You can also use it to kick off the perennial season, as it is a superb cold crop for premium pots in early spring.
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Begonia TopSpin Series (Syngenta Flowers)
The new TopSpin Begonia Series is tolerant of cool growing temperatures, making it ideal for early spring production. It offers great field performance in a wide climate range because of its strong vigor, flower size, and branching. TopSpin also has a long selling season — early spring through summer sales.
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Calibrachoa StarShine Series (Selecta)
StarShine is the first true star series in calibrachoa. Grower-friendly novelty StarShine varieties each have a stable, wow, star pattern, plus strong greenhouse and garden performance. Uniform timing and habit mean the series can slot right into regular calibrachoa programs with confidence. Plants are truly striking in mixed and mono hanging baskets. Colors in the series include Apricot, Cherry, Pink, and Violet.
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Fuseables Paradise Island (PanAmerican Seed)
Paradise Island is a striking new intro that is the first Fuseables to contain seed-grown Kabloom calibrachoas. You get the stunning beauty and reliable, efficient performance of this superstar, combined with the balance and precision that patented Fuseables Precision Multi-Pellets deliver every time.
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French Marigold ‘Fireball’ (PanAmerican Seed)
Meet the New World marigold. ‘Fireball’ introduces germplasm never seen before in African or French marigolds and puts multicolor blooms on the same plant. It is a completely new look for premium packs, pots, and decorative containers. Flowers mature and change color for a great-looking contrast of red, orange, and yellow. Their habit is similar to other dwarf-crested French marigolds.
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Iberis gibraltarica ‘Lavish’ (Green Leaf Plants)
The flowers of ‘Lavish’ open white and mature to a deep lavender color. Plants have an excellent, branching habit with green foliage. Vernalization is not required for flowering. ‘Lavish’ is hardy in Zones 7 to 10, and it overwintered in Green Leaf Plant’s Zone 6b trial garden. Bred by Darwin Perennials, ‘Lavish’ is sun loving and grows to 10 to 12 inches.
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Iberis ‘Sweetie Pie’ (Plants Nouveau)
If snow came in shades of lavender and lilac, describing this new candy tuft would be easy. Imagine lavender-colored snowballs edging your flowerbeds or enhancing your spring and early summer containers. The flowers of ‘Sweetie Pie’ begin lavender and age to a lighter shade of lavender during the summer months. The plants form perfect mounds and make the best plants for pots.
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Osteospermum ‘Bright Lights Yellow’ (Proven Winners)
‘Bright Lights Yellow’ is one of few osteospermums that also thrives in the summer heat, so you’ll have colorful blooms all the way from spring through fall. Gardeners in Sun Belt states can even grow it as a winter-flowering annual. It has low water needs and is a neatly mounded plant suitable for growing in containers and landscapes.
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Pansiola (Viola ×wittrockiana) ‘Anytime Quartz Improved’ (Proven Winners)
‘Anytime Quartz Improved’ will now hold the blue color in the blooms better, so gardeners can truly enjoy the multiple tones of yellow and silvery blue on white, and a vigorous trailing habit. The Anytime pansiolas are heat-tolerant pansies that will bloom through summer in most climates, and are a strong variety to recommend as a winter-flowering annual for Sun Belt states.
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Pansy ‘Cool Wave Morpho’ (Wave)
The Cool Wave series delivers easy spreading color for spring and autumn, so you can extend your growing season for the popular Wave Brand. Plants work great in combos, baskets, and as a groundcover. They have superior overwintering hardiness — Cool Wave is the earliest pansy to return in spring. New Morpho is a popular bicolor now available in this premium category to pump up sales.jpg
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Pericallis ‘Senetti Ruby Red’ (Suntory Flowers)
Ruby Red is a breakthrough color in Senetti pericallis, which is best known for vivid blues, purples, and magentas. Ruby Red’s flowers have solid, deep, wine-red petals with dark centers. Plants match the original Senetti series from Suntory Flowers. Senetti is best positioned as a cool crop for early spring sales.
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Phlox ×procumbens ‘Pink Profusion’ (Green Leaf Plants)
This phlox has a profusion of deep-pink blooms with a small purple eye in spring. It requires good drainage and has evergreen foliage. ‘Pink Profusion’ is hardy in Zones 5 to 8 and grows in sun to part shade. It comes from Chicagoland Grows.
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Primula ‘Sweet 16’ (Ball Ingenuity)
Primula ‘Sweet 16’ offers extremely large flowers, is early to flower, and has a unique color range. Blooms open white, change to pink, and finish rose. This blending of colors creates an appealing product for impulse sales at the garden center or as gift plants at grocery or florist departments.
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Snaptastic Snapdragon Series (Syngenta Flowers)
Perfect for early spring sales, Snaptastic snapdragons produce large flowers with long-lasting color. Plants have strong roots and stems that lead to less breakage during transport. The series works well in a variety of containers, including 4- to 6-inch pots, quarts, and gallons, and it makes excellent combinations. The Snaptastic Snapdragon series received an honorable mention in Greenhouse Grower’s Medal of Excellence program for breeding.
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SunPatiens (Sakata Ornamentals)
SunPatiens offer unrivaled three-season flower power and good pull through demand at retail. These plants represent a breeding breakthrough: robust, sun-loving, heat-loving impatiens that thrive in full sun or part shade and deliver continuous color from spring through hard frost.
View all
Anemone 'Harmony Blue' (Sakata Ornamentals)
Begonia TopSpin Series (Syngenta Flowers)
Calibrachoa StarShine Series (Selecta)
Fuseables Paradise Island (PanAmerican Seed)
French Marigold ‘Fireball’ (PanAmerican Seed)
Iberis gibraltarica ‘Lavish’ (Green Leaf Plants)
Iberis ‘Sweetie Pie’ (Plants Nouveau)
Osteospermum ‘Bright Lights Yellow’ (Proven Winners)
Pansiola (Viola ×wittrockiana) ‘Anytime Quartz Improved’ (Proven Winners)
Pansy ‘Cool Wave Morpho’ (Wave)
Pericallis ‘Senetti Ruby Red’ (Suntory Flowers)
Phlox ×procumbens ‘Pink Profusion’ (Green Leaf Plants)
Primula ‘Sweet 16’ (Ball Ingenuity)
Snaptastic Snapdragon Series (Syngenta Flowers)
SunPatiens (Sakata Ornamentals)
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Janeen Wright is former Editor for Greenhouse Grower. . See all author stories here.