Vote for your favorite among this year's new annual introductions.

Voting is now open for Greenhouse Grower’s 2024 Readers' Choice Award!

It's time for you, our readers, to decide which variety is chosen as the best new introduction in 2024. Breeders have entered their best new varieties for you to decide which one is worthy of the Readers’ Choice award. This year voting consists of three categories: Annuals, Perennials, and Best of the Rest. One finalist will be chosen from each category. The three finalists will then face off to win the Readers' Choice Award. Voting for the finalists starts April 29. The Readers' Choice winner will be announced July 15 at Greenhouse Grower's prestigious Evening of Excellence reception during Cultivate'24 in Columbus, OH.

The voting schedule is as follows:

April 29 to May 5: Annuals
May 6 to May 12: Perennials
May 13 to May 19: Best of the Rest
May 24 to June 2: Finalists

Voting Rules and Conditions

Be sure to scroll all the way to the bottom of this page to view photos and descriptions of all the contenders in the Annuals category. There are fifteen entries this year. One vote per person, please.

Please note: You will find the voting form at the end of the entries, near the bottom of the page.

Salvia coccinea ‘Unplugged Red’ (Proven Winners) 

Colors: So Blue, Pink, and White 
Uses: Borders, containers, landscapes, mass plantings
Plant Habit: Upright and vase shaped
Type: Annuals
Description: The larger, stunning scarlet flower spikes of this newcomer give it tremendous impulse appeal at retail. Growers will find it has greater flower power in a truer shade of scarlet compared to other varieties of scarlet sage. ‘Unplugged Red’ meets the increasing demand for attractive annuals with native roots. It is a cultivar of Salvia coccinea, which is native from South Carolina to Florida, west to Texas and south into Mexico. These native roots hint towards its strong tolerance of heat, humidity, and poorer sandy soils. It is beloved by pollinators, but is typically not browsed by deer. 

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Scaevola Stardiva Series (Proven Winners) 

Colors: Blue, Pink, and White 
Uses: Containers, edges, groundcover, landscape 
Plant Habit: Mounding, trailing 
Type: Annuals
Description: Meet the first-ever series of Scaevola aemula with star-shaped rather than fan-shaped flowers. Though both types have five petals, those of the new Stardiva series are arranged in a perfect star formation, lending a larger, fuller appearance to the blossoms. Pollinating bees are quick to find the tiny white bullseye that rims the throat of each flower. These plants form a compact, densely mounded to semi-trailing mound that is smaller overall than Whirlwind Scaevola. They are extremely durable in sun, heat, humidity, rain, drought, and wind. Color doesn’t get any easier than Stardiva! 

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Pericallis ‘Senetti Blue Spoon’ (Suntory Flowers) 

Colors: Blue and white 
Uses: Container plantings, beds 
Plant Habit: Upright, bushy 
Crop Time: 10-20 weeks 
Type: Annuals 
Description: Your customers will want the scoop on this new Senetti plant with spoon-shaped flowers. Bright blue blooms are spoon shaped with contrasting white quills. Plant habit is more upright and vase shaped than mounding. Perfect for early spring sales, Senetti plants thrive in cooler temperatures. No other plant delivers this much color early in the season. 

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Helianthus ‘Sunfinity Double Yellow’ (Syngenta Flowers) 

Colors: Yellow 
Uses: Patio containers and in ground
Plant Habit: Bushy, Upright 
Type: Annuals
Description: Your favorite Sunflower, Sunfinity, now has a new variety addition! Double the sun and double the garden fun with this truly innovative double-flowered vegetative Sunflower. ‘Sunfinity Double Yellow’ upholds Sunfinity’s brand promise of unmatched garden performance. It offers continual flowering and a high resistance to powdery mildew throughout the summer season. Vigorous plants with well-branched habits are versatile in both large patio containers and in ground. 

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Angelonia AngelFlare Series (Ball FloraPlant) 

Colors: Black, Cranberry, Orchid Pink 
Uses: Combos and containers 
Plant Habit: V-shaped, Upright 
Crop Time: Pots/Quarts: 1ppp 6 weeks; Gallons: 1 ppp 7-9 weeks; Tubs/Baskets: 3 ppp 10-12 weeks 
Type: Annuals
Description: The new AngelFlare series of Angelonia from Ball FloraPlant has an open, V-shaped habit that helps it mix well into combos with other heat-loving varieties and provide “extra flair” to containers of all sizes. The colorful flower stalks are durable for all types of environments, and they punch-up any pairing with style and texture. Combine it with items like Cuphea or Lantana for a season-extension sales opportunity! Available in Cranberry, Orchid Pink, and most unique is 'AngelFlare Black', a never-before-seen color in the Angelonia class that is sure to add drama and elegance to any combo container. 

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Heliotropium ‘Aromagica Purple’ (Proven Winners) 

Colors: Purple
Uses: Containers, landscapes, mass plantings
Plant Habit: Mounded
Type: Annuals
Description: Two key improvements make ‘Aromagica Purple’ heliotrope worth growing: incredible summer garden performance and a well-branched, layered habit. While others can look tired and sparse by midseason, this new selection remains full and covered in large, fragrant, purple blossoms. They attract pollinating bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds all summer long, especially with a little deadheading now and then. Expect the flower color to be most intense in high light conditions. This plant’s rugose, dark green foliage and fragrant blooms are typically not attractive to deer. 

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Coleus ‘ColorBlaze Mini Me Chartreuse’ (Proven Winners) 

Colors: Chartreuse 
Uses: Containers, borders, mass plantings, landscape, window boxes, houseplant 
Plant Habit: Mounded 
Type: Annuals
Description: Expanding on opportunities for smaller scale recipes, ‘ColorBlaze Mini Me Chartreuse’ is a small but mighty coleus. Unlike some dwarf varieties, this selection displays excellent vigor, forming a compact, densely branched clump with no pinching or PGRs required to maintain a tidy habit. This brilliant chartreuse, feathery textured coleus pairs well with other medium vigor varieties in container recipes and adds a bright splash of color in tight spaces in both sun and shade. It’s resistant to downy mildew and, like all ColorBlaze coleus, blooms very late in the season, if at all, extending its garden performance into the fall. 

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Dahlia ‘Hypnotica Candy Corn’ (Dümmen Orange) 

Colors: Orange, White and Yellow 
Uses: 1 Gallon/3 Gallon 
Plant Habit: Upright 
Crop Time: Propagation 3-4 weeks. 1 quart: 7-9 weeks from transplant using 1ppp. 2.5 quart: 7-9 weeks from transplant using 1ppp. 8 inch: 7-9 weeks from transplant using 1-3ppp 
Type: Annuals 
Description: 'Candy Corn' is a new fun and vivid variety added to the Hypnotica series of Dahlias. Named for its candy look-alike pattern with bright yellow, orange, and white. It has a medium-vigorous habit and fantastic branching. 

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Cyclamen persicum ‘Illusia’ (Schoneveld Breeding) 

Colors: Pink 
Uses: Indoor floral 
Plant Habit: Compact 
Crop Time: 27 weeks 
Type: Annuals 
Description: 'Illusia' is a one-of-a-kind product. It has a very unique flower shape; you immediately see you are looking at something special. Our breeders succeeded in creating a true novelty of extraordinary quality. 'Illusia' has unfolded and reversed flowers with a beautiful contrast in colors. Pink is the first color to be introduced in this series. The details, like the little beard in the flower, make it a joy to look at. 

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Lobelia erinus ‘Masterpiece Blue with Eye’ (Benary) 

Colors: Blue with Eye 
Uses: Garden beds, pots, hanging baskets, mixed containers 
Plant Habit: Well-formed, mounding 
Crop Time: 12-14 weeks 
Type: Annuals
Description: ‘Masterpiece Blue with Eye’ from Benary is the first F₁ Lobelia hybrid from seed on the market that can truly keep up with vegetative F1 hybrids in terms of performance. This Lobelia flowers very early with larger, striking blue flowers with a white eye and displays a well-formed, mounding plant habit. ‘Masterpiece Blue with Eye’ truly stands out thanks to its excellent heat tolerance in summer and impressive field performance. This Fleuroselect Gold Medal Winner not only looks its best in beds and fields, but is also very suitable for pot and container production. Elevate your garden with a true blooming breakthrough! ‘Masterpiece Blue with Eye’, a work of art for every garden.

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Begonia x benariensis ‘BIG White Bronze Leaf’ (Benary) 

Colors: White Bronze Leaf 
Uses: Packs, pots, hanging baskets, mixed containers, landscape 
Plant Habit: Upright 
Crop Time: 12-14 weeks 
Type: Annuals
Description: ‘BIG White Bronze Leaf’ is an exciting new introduction to the illustrious BIG Begonia family. ‘BIG White Bronze Leaf’ is the industry’s first pure white bronze leaf from seed within the interspecific begonia class. With this variety, you get true interspecific garden performance, and a perfect fit for the BIG Begonia series. ‘BIG White Bronze Leaf’ has an impressive contrast between bright, white flowers and dark, lush chocolate leaves. It has extraordinary flower power with a BIG flower size — This product is going to be a Rock Star in your garden! BIG Begonia, the first Interspecific Begonia on the market, is a vigorous, well-branched, and uniform plant series that works great for landscape use as well as containers that flowers two weeks earlier than competing varieties. An outstanding performer in all climates and soils, it’s also rain and heat tolerant. BIG Begonia is the most trusted begonia in its class. Everywhere. 

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Verbena ‘Empress Sun Kiss White’ (Dümmen Orange) 

Colors: White 
Uses: 1 quart, 2.5 quart, baskets 
Plant Habit: Mounded 
Crop Time: Propagation: 4 – 5 weeks. 1 quart: 4 weeks from transplant using 1ppp. 2.5 quart: 6-7 weeks from transplant using 1ppp. 10-inch basket: 8 weeks from transplant using 3ppp 
Type: Annuals
Description: Part of a brand-new verbena series, ‘Empress Sun Kiss White’ defies expectations when it comes to heat and humidity tolerance, extending the bloom season for all regions of North America. All four colors in the series (Blue, White, Red, Pink) possess a mounding habit with a compact-medium vigor, making ‘Empress Sun Kiss’ the ideal item for premium containers and mixes. The upright-facing nature to the flowers is especially unique to ‘Empress Sun Kiss’, providing “kisses” of color over the entire plareant. An excellent item for summer holiday promotions. 

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Lobelia ‘Stratus Blue’ (Westhoff) 

Colors: Blue and white 
Uses: Small pots, hanging baskets 
Plant Habit: Upright to mounding 
Crop Time: 8-10 weeks from a 102 cell liner for a finished 4-inch pot. 10-12 weeks for a finished 10-inch hanging basket at 3-4 ppp. 
Type: Annuals 
Description: First Picotee Lobelia on the market, Lobelia ‘Stratus Blue’ is in a category of its own. While it shares the same incredible heat tolerance of its Hot series breeding heritage, the large, early flowers edged in white make for a striking plant in the greenhouse or in the garden center. 

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×Petchoa ‘SuperCal Premium Rose Star’ (Sakata Ornamentals) 

Colors: Rose Star 
Uses: Containers, hanging baskets
Plant Habit: Mounding 
Crop Time: 9-12 weeks 
Type: Annuals 
Description: When it comes to garden performance, SuperCal petunias are uniquely superior to all other petunias. Part petunia, part calibrachoa, they are all-weather performers that can stand up to cold and heat. Plus, they can withstand heavy rains and bounce right back with little to no damage. New ‘SuperCal Premium Rose Star’ has big blooms that feature a unique watercolor pattern. These amazing season extenders are a great option for both early spring and summer promotions. 

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Petunia ‘Hells THE RED!’ (Westhoff) 

Colors: Red 
Uses: Small pots, hanging baskets, combination planters 
Plant Habit: Mounding 
Crop Time: 8-9 weeks from a rooted 102 cell liner
Type: Annuals
Description: This is the new standard by which all Red Petunias will be judged. ‘Hells THE RED!’ is truly a strong performing plant, with a very flexible mounding habit, but with an intense color that is difficult to describe other than “The Red”. 

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Canna ‘Cannova Gold Leopard’ (American Takii) 

Colors: Gold petals with red spots 
Uses: Garden, container, combinations 
Plant Habit: Upright 
Crop Time: 85-110 days from sowing to flower 
Type: Annuals 
Description: ‘Gold Leopard’ is the newest addition to the F1 Canna Cannova series. ‘Gold Leopard’ features a striking golden flower petal dotted with red! The main flower spike is visible above the foliage, but ‘Leopard’ also features side lateral shoots that emerge over time providing additional flowering as the plant matures. ‘Gold Leopard’ along with all other Cannova varieties can function as standalone container plants or in combination with other complementary genus. ‘Gold Leopard’ has excellent garden performance and is durable in all environments.