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Presenting the 2025 Editor’s Choice Award Finalists for Best New Variety

Brian D. Sparks By Brian D. Sparks|July 2, 2025

After many new introductions earlier this year, some varieties stand out from the rest. Greenhouse Grower will give out three awards in breeding at the Evening of Excellence during Cultivate’ 25 on July 14. One of these awards, the Editor’s Choice Award, is selected by the editor of Greenhouse Grower.

Check out the slideshow above for a closer look at this year’s Editor’s Choice Award finalists, and keep reading to learn more about each variety. The Evening of Excellence is held on Monday, July 14 in the Short North Ballroom at Cultivate’25, powered by AmericanHort. Doors open at 5:00 p.m. and the event begins at 5:30 p.m.

Begonia Mega Cool series (Benary)

This new begonia series is available in four colors and features extremely large flowers that fill the pot quickly.

Cyclamen ‘Dragon Blue’ (Schoneveld)

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The first blue (violet) cyclamen in commercial horticulture, this introduction is short, useful for 4- to 6-inch containers, and is an excellent choice for a flowering indoor plant.

Dahlia Cherie series (Danziger)

The Cherie series has a mounding habit and bears large double flowers in both solids and bicolors. The flowers on the plants in containers look like they are resting on the foliage. However, as plants grow out in the landscape, the flower stems stretch above the leaves and are even more showy.

Digitalis DiBella series (Hem Genetics)

This is a first-year flowering digitalis that requires no vernalization and is ideal to USDA Zone 5. It features strong stems and uniformity of flowering among colors.

Pentas ‘Phenom’ (Green Fuse Botanicals)

A new pentas series features several colors, but the literal stars of the show are ‘Phenom Star Red’ and ‘Phenom ‘Star Lavender’. Each has white, star-shaped flowers bordered with picotee edges of red and lavender, respectively.

Salvia ‘Mystical’ (Ball FloraPlant)

This is a compact plant with medium vigor, an upright habit, and good branching. Its flowers are shorter and narrower than Mysty, with more stems and narrower foliage.

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Brian D. Sparks is Editor of Greenhouse Grower and GreenhouseGrower.com. See all author stories here.