Woody ornamentals serve as the foundation of many great landscapes, but beyond their traditional uses, shrubs also add color, structure, texture and interest to small gardens and even containers.
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Abelia 'Sweet Emotion'
From Proven Winners Color Choice comes super hardy ‘Sweet Emotion’ abelia, with rich fragrance and hot pink flower buds, making it a knockout landscape plant for both northern and southern climates. The spicy-sweet blooms cover its 5- to 6-foot tall and wide frame from late May to early June. The glossy summer foliage turns an attractive orange-red in fall. Hardy to Zone 4.
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Azalea 'Encore Autumn Fire'
Autumn Fire boasts large, dark red, semi-double blooms and is the heaviest blooming Encore yet. Part of the Southern Living/Sunset Western Collection, Autumn Fire provides up to 10 months of color, and its spectacular spring bloom is repeated by early summer, going straight through until a heavy frost. Measuring 2 ½ feet by 3 feet in the landscape, Autumn Fire is hardy to USDA Zone 6A.
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Buddleia 'Miss Violet'
If you enjoy tidy and petite ‘Miss Ruby’ and ‘Miss Molly,’ you will appreciate ‘Miss Violet.’ At a compact 4 to 5 feet tall and wide, it has the same great habit, plus loads of deep violet flowers. This interspecific hybrid from Proven Winners Color Choice is approved for sale in Oregon and Washington State, and is hardy to Zone 5.
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Buddleia 'Sweet Red Jam'
HGTV HOME Plant Collection’s ‘Sweet Red Jam’ buddleia has large, red flower panicles that reach up to 6 inches in length and three to four times the number of flowers as compared to other red types. Reaching 5 feet high and wide, it is hardy from Zones 5 to 10 and has good re-blooming characteristics.
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Hydrangea 'Electric Rouge'
From the HGTV HOME Plant Collection, ‘Electric Rouge’ hydrangea is a show-stopping, re-blooming mophead with reddish-pink, fluorescent blooms. It boasts bright, floriferous blooms on a 5-foot high and wide plant with dark-green foliage. This Zone 5 plant works as a single specimen or in a grouping in the landscape, and the blooms are great as a cut flower.
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Ilex glabra 'Gem Box'
‘Gem Box’ holly’s broadleaf evergreen foliage makes it look more like a boxwood than an inkberry. This dense, ball-shaped dwarf selection from Proven Winners Color Choice has small, dark green leaves with attractive red tips during the spring flush. It maintains tight branching right to the ground, never bare-legged like other cultivars. Hardy to Zone 5.
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Loropetalum 'Jazz Hands Bold'
One of five in a new series from Proven Winners Color Choice, ‘Jazz Hands Bold’ Chinese fringe-flower’s tassel-like, magenta blooms are larger than those on any other loropetalum. It’s an eye-catching addition to the extra big, round, purple foliage that holds its rich color through summer, not fading to green like other selections. Hardy to Zone 7b.
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Nandina 'Lemon Lime'
Gold medal winner at Plantarium, the international nursery trade fair, 'Lemon Lime' is the first heavenly bamboo with bright lime green new growth. Part of the Southern Living/Sunset Western Collection, the older foliage on this sterile cultivar will fade to grass green, but never turns red. With dense foliage, the plant will reach 3 to 4 feet tall and is hardy to Zone 6.
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Climbing Rose 'Starlet Beauty Mauve'
The Starlet Beauty series from Ball Ornamentals is the elegant little sister of large-flowered classic climbing roses. Poised to grace patios and small garden spaces, its fully double, English-type roses flower all the way up and re-bloom until frost for continuous color and fragrance. It has huge consumer appeal. Fast to fill a trellis, fast to get to market, Starlet Beauty rows upright or horizontally, and is available in Pink, Mauve, Tangerine and Ruby.
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Rose 'Artful Anna'
‘Artful Anna’ rose is HGTV’s answer to customers’ demands for low-maintenance roses. This Zone 5 bloomer produces single, yellow flowers from summer through fall, and blooms do not fade over time. You’ll enjoy a high bloom count on a compact, 4-foot high and wide, disease-free plant.
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Salvia micropylla 'Little Kiss'
Better behaved than salvia ‘Hot Lips,’ ‘Little Kiss’ remains tight and compact at only 18 inches tall by 18 inches wide. Part of the Southern Living/Sunset Western Collection, it is heat and drought tolerant, and deer don't like them, but hummingbirds do. ‘Little Kiss’ is hardy to Zone 8, testing for 7.
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Spiraea japonica 'Double Play Red'
A color breakthrough, ‘Double Play Red’ spiraea from Proven Winners Color Choice is the first and only variety with true red blooms. Dark burgundy spring foliage extends its seasonal interest beyond flowering for the perfect double play. At a compact 2 to 3 feet tall and wide, it is a versatile addition to the landscaper’s palette, and will do well in either full sun or part shade. Hardy to Zone 3.
We contacted the breeders who will be displaying their new varieties in California in April, and they gave us a sneak peek. Check out the slideshow below to see some of the newest introductions you’ll get to see at this year’s California Spring Trials.
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You can also see new blooming potted plants, annuals and perennials that will be hitting the consumer market in 2016. Also, look for our March issue to see these varieties, up close and personal, in Greenhouse Grower magazine.
And whether you make the trip or not, you can virtually hit the California Spring Trials trail with the editors of Greenhouse Grower in April. Editor Laura Drotleff and Group Editor Carol Miller, together with Dr. Allan Armitage, will visit every stop to bring you the latest varieties and breaking news. Subscribe to Greenhouse Grower‘s Benchrunner eNewsletter to make sure you get our daily updates while in California, April 11-17. In addition to our popular slideshows, full of photos and descriptions of the most exciting new varieties, we’ll also provide the latest news and industry insider perspectives on new introductions.
01513 New Shrubs You'll Find At The 2015 California Spring Trials