Illicium parviflorum ‘BananAppeal’ (Bailey Nurseries)
This compact, well-behaved Illicium from
Bailey has golden yellow foliage and keeps a nice mounded form. Unlike ‘Florida Sunshine,’ BananAppeal doesn’t send out long, gangly shoots and the leaves don’t bleach out in winter. With anise-scented foliage, it is a perfect accent plant in shade gardens, maintaining its small stature and luminescent yellow-gold foliage. No suckers to date. Deer resistant. Partial shade, Zones 7-9.
Petunia ‘Midnight Gold; (Ball FloraPlant)
This new introduction from
Ball FloraPlant is a unique, first-of-its-kind novelty color of deep crimson to black with lemon border. It has exceptional branching with profuse flowering. Slightly more vigorous than the Double Wave Double Petunia Series, it features huge double blooms that are great for hanging baskets. Partial Sun to Sun.
Senecio candicans ‘Senaw Angel Wings’ (Concept Plants)
A sensational, rounded plant with large, broad, toothy, silvery white, velvety leaves, ‘Senaw Angel Wings’ from
Concept Plants can be used to create a bold backdrop to green-leaved plants and colorful flowering perennials in sunny, drought-tolerant borders, rock gardens, succulent gardens, and containers. A frost-tender perennial, it will overwinter indoors or can be treated as an annual in cold winter regions. Partial to Full Sun, Zones 8-11.
Plastic Pots Made From Recycled Plastics CTi Plastics)
CTi has introduced its FlowPot program as it works with PlasticBank to include recovered plastics that are ocean-bound and incorporate into a number of their designs of plastic decorative containers. Plastic Bank is an economic development firm that empowers disenfranchised communities to exchange any type of plastic for currency.
Basewell Rooting System (Dümmen Orange)
D
ümmen Orange has introduced a breakthrough in root systems. Basewell bare-root cuttings feature advanced root development with no growing media. This allows Dümmen Orange to ship Basewell products to growers from off-shore production locations, ready to transplant directly into the finish container. Basewell Rooting System also received the Medal of Excellence award for
Technology of the Year from
Greenhouse Grower.
Chrysanthemum ’Rainbow Circus’ (Dümmen Orange)
Dümmen Orange also introduced a new pot mum, Chrysanthemum ‘Rainbow Circus.’ This new bi-colored variety with vibrant red and yellow flowers resembles a circus tent. The single-flowered series is characterized by the stunningly beautiful bi-color effect wrapped around a fresh green center. Watch this new introduction to fly out of garden centers in 2020.
Ficinia truncata ‘Ice Crystal’ (Flamingo Holland)
With a fascinating look of frost, this evergreen grass-like perennial from
Flamingo Holland grows to 6 to 8 inches tall with short, hardened rhizomes from which emerge tufts of 3- to 4-inch long flat and narrow, slightly recurved, dark-green leaves that have parallel edges and a blunt tip with membranous white margins that appears to give the plant a frosty variegated look. Hardiness reported down to 20°F.
Croton ‘Ty Dy’ Series (ForemostCo Inc.)
ForemostCo introduces a new series of unique Crotons called ‘Ty Dy’ which currently includes Twisted, Gnarly, Tubular, and To The Max. These colorful and uniquely shaped leaves offer excitement not previously seen in Crotons. These will be an exciting addition for retail in the coming seasons.
Under the Sea Coleus ‘Pink Tuna’ (Hort Couture Plants)
Hort Couture Plants has drawn consistent accolades for its Under the Sea Coleus collection, and this year is no exception. ‘Pink Tuna’ features a marginal leaf color bright lavender changing to pink and moving to a center of crimson for an eye-popping effect.
Under the Sea Coleus ‘Red Snapper’ (Hort Couture Plants)
‘Red Snapper’ takes a similar path with a bright cherry red marginal color with a deep crimson center. Both are show-stoppers and will be customer-stoppers at any garden center in future seasons.
‘Jack Frost’ Japanese Maple Hybrids (Iseli Nursery)
Jack Frost maples from
Iseli Nursery are an exciting new line of small to medium-sized landscape trees. Hybridized over the last 20+ years using
Acer pseudosieboldianum as the foundation for hardiness combined with the beauty in leaf and branching of
Acer palmatum, they have been evaluated and selected to tolerate the dramatic weather shifts in the upper Midwest of North America. Jack Frost maples bring a new level of durability to a popular group of landscape trees. Rated at Zone 4 hardiness, the series currently includes three selections.
‘Seaside Serenade Newport’ Hydrangea (Monrovia)
The Seaside Serenade series from
Monrovia is no stranger to awards, as we have recognized several others in previous Retailers’ Choice Awards. This year, Newport joins the series, bringing the series total to 10 very unique hydrangeas. Judges were drawn to Newport’s deep-rich color tones. This rebloomer features color changes with soil pH, more blue-violet in acidic soils, and deeper pink in alkaline soils. Rated for Zones 4-9.
Iris versicolor ‘Purple Flame’ (North Creek Nurseries)
How about an iris with purple foliage? This new, sultry selection from
North Creek Nurseries was discovered at Mt. Cuba Center’s gardens. Compared to other iris selections on the market, ‘Purple Flame’ has a richer, more intense cast to stems and flowers. However, the true beauty lies in the irresistible foliage. Emerging in March, the purple flame-like foliage provides a wow factor of vivid and intense eggplant purple foliage, aging to the typical green foliage followed by an encore of rich and abundant purple flowers.
AquaPots (Proven Winners)
This is the first Retailers’ Choice Award given to
Proven Winners for a non-plant. Proven Winners has partnered with Michael Carr Designs to offer AquaPots, the first ceramic self-watering containers. The AquaPot system was invented and patented by Jack Barnwell, an award-winning landscape designer from Mackinac Island, MI, and co-owner of C3 Gardens of Naples, FL. Currently offered in eight beautiful designs (in a range of sizes and colors), they are freeze, frost, and hurricane resistant. Environmentally responsible, AquaPots reduce water use and are impossible to overwater with virtually zero run-off or leeching of fertilizer. BFG is the exclusive distributor of AquaPots.
Buxus NewGen Boxwood ‘Freedom’ and ‘Independence’ (Willoway Nurseries/SynRG)
New for 2020, the NewGen family of boxwood from
Willoway Nurseries is bringing the industry a new generation of plants that have proven themselves through years of trialing with a better tolerance of boxwood blight, better resistance to boxwood leafminer, and overall stunning appearance. Now available in two varieties, ‘Freedom’ and ‘Independence’ are hardy in Zones 5 to 8 and will be available through the SynRG network of growers.
Members of The Garden Center Group once again presented Retailers’ Choice Awards to 13 exhibiting companies for 15 products at Cultivate’19 in Columbus, OH. The Garden Center Group’s Danny Summers led the search as garden retailers selected the best new products to bring excitement and high level of interest for their stores in the coming season.
The Garden Center Group thanks all retailers participating in the Retailers’ Choice Awards selection process. The awards at Cultivate’19 are a joint presentation by AmericanHort/Cultivate’19 and The Garden Center Group.
Check out the slideshow above for a closer look at the products receiving recognition.
Brian Sparks is senior editor of Greenhouse Grower and editor of Greenhouse Grower Technology. See all author stories here.