20 New Cold-Hardy Perennials For A Rock Solid Line-Up In 2017
Low maintenance, pollinator friendly, naturalistic, long-lasting — perennials are all that and more. With consumer demand up for pollinator-attracting plants and low maintenance varieties, perennials are a must-have to round out your product mix. It’s tough to find a perennial that isn’t a perfect fit for flower beds, borders, mass plantings, small space gardens, and containers, so you’ll want to have plenty on hand for your customers. These 20 perennials are tough enough to take the cold, ensuring they will add color and texture in the garden until the first killing frost.
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Anemone 'Fantasy Red Riding Hood' (Plants Nouveau)
From the breeder of the Pretty Lady Series, this new, thickly petaled, single flowered, rosy-pink selection is vigorous and fills pots quickly. Covered in blooms from late July to October, this new selection is a grower and gardener’s dream with its many flowers and strong, upright stems. The fall seed heads are like little, creamy white cotton balls that last and give interest to the fall garden until a hard frost. Hardy in Zones 5 to 8.
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Clockwise Campanula Series (Syngenta Flowers)
The Clockwise Campanula Series is the first F1 hybrid Campanula portenschlagiana. Offering fast, uniform production, this new seed variety is hardy to Zones 3 to 7 and ideal for quart- and gallon-sized containers. Clockwise campanula flowers its first-year so no vernalization period is needed.
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Beyond Blue Campanula Series (Syngenta Flowers)
A new campanula interspecific variety, the Beyond Blue Series features large flowers on an upright growing plant. It requires no vernalization and is hardy to Zones 5 to 9. Beyond Blue flowers have no seed set, which results in a longer flowering period from late spring to early fall.
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Dianthus ‘Constant Beauty Garnet’ (Green Fuse Botanicals)
‘Constant Beauty’ has been selected to maintain its flowering throughout the summer, even in warmer regions. It flaunts large, semi-double flowers that include a fragrance. Garnet, the newest introduction, has a dark burgundy color. Hardy to Zone 4.
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Gaillardia ‘Mesa Red’ (Kieft Seed)
‘Mesa Red’ is an F1 gaillardia from seed that puts out lots of fast color on “no-flop” plants. The new Red color for 2017 has a more consistent, redder color than other gaillardias on the market. Mesa is drought tolerant once established, with intense, non-fading color all season. It performs well in landscapes and mixed containers, and is hardy in Zones 5 to 10.
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Gaura ‘Bantam White Improved’ (Green Fuse Botanicals)
‘Bantam White Improved’ is an earlier flowering variety, with natural flowering occurring in the spring versus summer. Varieties within the Bantam series develop a more mounded display of flowers, creating a tidier habit. Hardy to Zone 5.
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Geum ‘Rustico Orange’ (Terra Nova Nurseries)
This long-lived perennial that has a compact, mounding habit and numerous red-orange flowers. Its dense, deep-green foliage, large attractive leaves, and long bloom time are only a few of the many great qualities that make this plant ideal for a woodland setting or container. It is hardy in Zones 5 to 9.
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Heuchera ‘Primo Black Pearl’ (Proven Winners)
Black Pearl has wonderfully dark foliage, with ruffled, scalloped leaves that give this perennial a unique edge over other coral bells. White flowers are held in rosy pink calyxes, but this plant is easily enjoyed just for its knock-out foliage. Hardy in Zones 4 to 9.
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Heucherella ‘Plum Cascade’ (Terra Nova Nurseries)
Being the first, true purple trailing variety in the world, ‘Plum Cascade’ has unique lobed, and purple-silver leaves with small, light-pink flowers. The excellent vigor of this perennial makes for elegant mass plantings and inventive accents, containers, borders, and mixed beds. Hardy in Zones 4 to 9.
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Heucherella ‘Fun and Games Hopscotch’ (Proven Winners)
‘Hopscotch’ is a strong performing, orange heucherella that has leaves that emerge red with dark red centers early in spring, before lightening to bronze red. Each leaf is lobed, giving it a unique lacy texture in the garden. In the heat of summer, the leaves mellow to deep green. In late spring, cream, bottlebrush-shaped flowers appear above the foliage. Hopscotch is a H. villosa hybrid, which means that it is naturally more heat and humidity tolerant and has greater vigor than heucherellas without such parentage. The foliage is evergreen in most climates. Hopscotch is hardy in Zones 4 to 9.
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Hibiscus ‘Ballet Slippers’ (Walters Gardens)
'Ballet Slippers' has feminine, white flowers touched with pink edges. Its habit is phenomenal, forming a perfectly rounded habit with bright-green leaves. Hardy to Zone 4.
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Iberis sempervirens ‘Snowsurfer Forte’ (Syngenta Flowers)
This vigorous selection of evergreen candytuft grows up to 28 inches tall with flowers that start early and continue up the stems as the days get longer. The plant and the flowers will be as much as four times larger than older forms of Iberis sempervirens. After blooming, the plants hold an excellent shape with a deep-green color. Hardy in Zones 3 to 9.
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Iberis ‘Monte Bianco’ (Florensis)
This vegetative variety is an early, large, white-flowered variety with clear white, round-shaped flowers. It is a fast growing version of ‘Appen-Etz,’ and is hardy in Zones 3a to 8b.
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Perovskia atriplicifolia ‘Blue Steel’ (Kieft Seed)
Now greenhouses can produce high-quality, affordable perovskia from professional-grade seed. ‘Blue Steel’ has a higher, much more uniform germination. No vernalization or overwintering is needed. Aromatic, silvery foliage carries clouds of small blue flowers on strong silver stems that do not break or split easily. ‘Blue Steel’ is heat and drought tolerant for the home gardener and hardy in Zones 4 to 9.
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Phlox ‘Pink Profusion’ (Green Leaf Plants via Eason Horticultural Resources)
Developed by Jim Ault at Chicagoland Grows, this phlox is a cross between P. subulata and P. stolonifera. It's known for its large (1¼ inch), attractive, intense, purplish-pink flowers with deep, reddish-purple center eyes surrounded by white halos, and a long bloom time (late March to mid-June in Northern states). The flowers will cover the dark-green foliage in peak bloom time. Hardy in Zones 5 to 8.
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Rudbeckia × ‘American Gold Rush’ (Intrinsic Perennial Gardens)
‘American Gold Rush’ is an Intrinsic introduction. This naturally compact plant reaches 22 inches at the most, with a rounded habit and heavy bloom starting in late July through September. The golden yellow, 3 inch flowers have arched petals. Foliage is thinner and hairy, giving this plant excellent resistance to Septoria, the fungus that affects ‘Goldstrum.’ Gold Rush grows well in full sun and a well-drained soil. It is hardy in Zones 4 to 9.
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Salvia ‘Sensation Medium Purple Rose’ (Florensis)
The vegetatively propagated series of Salvia Sensation has fast, basal-branching plants that develop many upright, very stable flower spikes, with intense colors. A medium-sized series has been selected for productions in 2½ quart to gallon containers. In the second and later years, the plants develop year after year as uniform and powerful blooming plants in consumers’ gardens. Salvia ‘Sensation Medium Purple Rose’ is available through Darwin Perennials. Hardy in Zones 4a to 9b.
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Sedum × ‘Pillow Talk’ (Intrinsic Perennial Gardens)
‘Pillow Talk’ is an Intrinsic introduction that is a substantial plant with hybrid vigor that reaches 24 inches tall and wide. Its gray-green foliage is larger and held on rose-colored stems that at times can have reddish edges. Large, 5 to 6 inch flower heads of deep pink and magenta stand out from the crowd. ‘Pillow Talk’ has a fall color of chartreuse and pink. It is resistant to Rhizoctonia and grows well in a well-drained soil in a location that has full sun to light shade. This sedum is hardy in Zones 4 to 9.
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Veronica ‘Venture Blue’ (Terra Nova Nurseries)
What makes this veronica stand out from others is its great garden performance, intermediate plant size, and mildew-resistant foliage. In addition, it has lovely purple-blue flowers in narrow spikes, excellent branching, and a dense, compact spreading habit and excellent vigor. ‘Venture Blue’ is hardy in Zones 4 to 8.
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Veronica ‘Vernique Shining Seas’ (Green Fuse Botanicals)
Veronica ‘Vernique Shining Seas’ has mid-blue flowers with a few white petals that peek through the overall blue tone, revealing a bicolor effect. Like all Vernique Veronica, they are early to flower and programmable. Their garden height is 12 to 18 inches. Hardy to Zone 4.
View all
Anemone 'Fantasy Red Riding Hood' (Plants Nouveau)
Clockwise Campanula Series (Syngenta Flowers)
Beyond Blue Campanula Series (Syngenta Flowers)
Dianthus ‘Constant Beauty Garnet’ (Green Fuse Botanicals)
Gaillardia ‘Mesa Red’ (Kieft Seed)
Gaura ‘Bantam White Improved’ (Green Fuse Botanicals)
Geum ‘Rustico Orange’ (Terra Nova Nurseries)
Heuchera ‘Primo Black Pearl’ (Proven Winners)
Heucherella ‘Plum Cascade’ (Terra Nova Nurseries)
Heucherella ‘Fun and Games Hopscotch’ (Proven Winners)
Hibiscus ‘Ballet Slippers’ (Walters Gardens)
Iberis sempervirens ‘Snowsurfer Forte’ (Syngenta Flowers)
Iberis ‘Monte Bianco’ (Florensis)
Perovskia atriplicifolia ‘Blue Steel’ (Kieft Seed)
Phlox ‘Pink Profusion’ (Green Leaf Plants via Eason Horticultural Resources)
Rudbeckia × ‘American Gold Rush’ (Intrinsic Perennial Gardens)
Salvia ‘Sensation Medium Purple Rose’ (Florensis)
Sedum × ‘Pillow Talk’ (Intrinsic Perennial Gardens)
Veronica ‘Venture Blue’ (Terra Nova Nurseries)
Veronica ‘Vernique Shining Seas’ (Green Fuse Botanicals)
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Janeen Wright is former Editor for Greenhouse Grower. . See all author stories here.