• Home
  • Meet Mary Schier
  • Speaking
  • Writing
  • Contact
  • Northern Gardener Book

My Northern Garden

May 30, 2013 · Leave a Comment

Final Exam for New Plant Introductions

Plants

new plant introductionsI’m one of those lucky garden writers who gets sent new plant introductions to try out about a year before the plants are introduced to the public. This is fun for me because they’re free (thank you, Proven Winners and Sakata!) and because I get a chance to see what kinds of color trends and plant styles will be on the market next year.

For the plants, this is their final exam before graduation. They’ve been tested like crazy in greenhouses and growing ranges, but always under the care of horticulturists. Now, they must undergo testing by regular gardeners — avid gardeners, of course, but ones that have other jobs, families and the usual distractions from plant maintenance. Good luck to them all!

I got my Proven Winners plants first, so this post deals largely with them. The box included a mix of annuals and perennials, and I put most of them into containers. I especially like the container pictured above with this dark purple coral bells (Dolce® ‘Blackberry Ice’), and a new pink mini-petunia (Supertunia® ‘Flamingo’). I added a side-oats grama, a Minnesota native grass that will be part of my meadow planting. I love the textures of the three plants together and think the pink and purples complement each other.

pwpots2The package also included some new begonias (Surefire™ ‘Rose’), so I combined them with a red calibrachoa (Superbells® ‘Pomegranate Punch’) in a two matching lime green pots. I’m hoping these will do well in the sunny area in my front garden. I used the same combination, along with a dainty ‘Diamond Frost’ euphorbia in another container near the front entry.

Not all the new plant introductions went into containers, however. A diminutive sedum was planted in the front garden, where it will echo the shapes and colors of my other sedums. A couple of new bright purple verbena (Superbena® ‘Violet Ice’) were planted in my Mom’s garden, where they will probably get better care than any of my plants. That lady definitely has a green thumb!

Finally, I have two plants I’m still figuring out where to put. One is a new goji berry—Sweet Lifeberry® (Lycium barbarum) which is said to grow 12 feet tall. I think I have a good spot in back for it, but any time you have a 12-footer, you’ve got to stop to think. The last one is a plant I’ve never heard of—Creme Fraiche™ deutzia. I like its variegated foliage and hope to find a nice spot where it can complement the plants around it. The Proven Winners website recommends it be planted near yellow-flowered perennials or annuals.

As the summer goes on, I’ll report from time to time on how my trial plants are doing — including a post on my Sakata plants.  Which are your favorite of the new plants introduced this year?

Related posts:

  1. Sneak Peek: This Calibrachoa is a Winner Along with about 300 other garden writers, horticulturists and bloggers,...
  2. Supertunia Bordeaux is a Super Container Plant There’s no prize with this proclamation, just my unending admiration...
  3. A Quick Way to Plant Bulbs It’s not too late to plant bulbs for spring blooming....
« Update on the Winter Sowing Containers
Planting a DIY Meadow »

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Connect

  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • RSS Feed for Posts

Grow it, Minnesota Podcast

Now Available!

My Northern Garden book

Follow on Instagram

mynortherngarden_mary

I’ve loved this container in the front of our ho I’ve loved this container in the front of our house, but things are looking faded, so it’s time for a refresh. Out went the Persimmon supertunias (love them, but they have done their duty) and a new cuphea I’m testing (great plant.) In go fall celosia in bright yellow and bronze orange garden mum, both from @shopbachmans. I kept the Queen Tut papyrus for its spikey texture. We’re ready for fall! 

#fallcontainer #fallplanting #fallcelosia #gardenmums #mngardener #fallinMinnesota
Meet shaggy soldier, a weed that I have gotten to Meet shaggy soldier, a weed that I have gotten to know quite a bit this summer. It spreads like crazy, seeds abundantly and is all over my community garden. Sone sources say it is an edible herb but I’m just pulling for now. Next year, I’ll smother it out with newspaper, cardboard and/or mulch. What weed is your nemesis this year? #weedsinmygarden #galinsoga #shaggysoldier #mngarden #communitygarden #weedy #herborweed
Just another morning in the garden with my monarch Just another morning in the garden with my monarch friends. Have a peaceful, joyous Sunday! #communitygarden #monarchbutterfly #weekendvibes💕 #pollinators
What’s the difference between having enough sun What’s the difference between having enough sun and plenty of sun in the garden? These two Tithonias tell the tale! 

Plus don’t forget to stop by the @mnhort booth in the dirt wing of the Horticultural building at the @mnstatefair! I’ll be there Sunday from 1 to 5 pm and would love to hear how your garden is growing! 

#sunorshade #veggarden #communitygarden #howmuchsundoyouneed #tithonia #mexicansunflower
It’s a hot 🥵 hot day and nobody is moving too It’s a hot 🥵 hot day and nobody is moving too fast. Savor the slow. #nectar #zinniasofinstagram #beelife #mngarden
Ground cherries look like tomatillos but taste lik Ground cherries look like tomatillos but taste like tropical fruit.
They are an acquired taste but I love them, especially in a spicy jam. 

For this recipe, I mixed

2.5 cups of cleaned ground cherries, 
half a cup of water,
1 cup sugar
a few stray strawberries from the fridge,
 juice of a small lemon, 
a 1-inch piece of ginger
1 tsp each of cinnamon and nutmeg

 Boil away until it is thick. Store in the fridge and use as you would any jam. 

#communitygarden #groundcherries #mngardener #cookfromthegarden
What a fabulous day, touring gardens with garden c What a fabulous day, touring gardens with garden communicators from all over the U.S. and beyond! Minnesota gardens looked good today. Than you, @gardencomm_gci for visiting the Twin Cities!
Ribbit! Saw this beauty enjoying a beautiful garde Ribbit! Saw this beauty enjoying a beautiful garden in Washington County today. #daylily #gardentour #mngarden
I’ve seen so many beautiful gardens this year an I’ve seen so many beautiful gardens this year and it’s only July 21! More to come. A few favorite pots, plants and scenes from the past couple of weeks. #gardenwriter #mngarden #containergardening #gardenart #beautifulgardens
This container in the volunteer garden is just get This container in the volunteer garden is just getting better and better. I love the drama of the Jurassic Jr Strawberry Rex begonia in front and the Whopper White begonia is filling in nicely around it. The Canna Cannova at the back of the pot is about to bloom again and the spillers give the container some movement. Having a great container to put it all in makes it even more fun. 

#ballingenuity #containergarden #mngarden #urbangarden
Today’s harvest at the community garden: 4 Glaci Today’s harvest at the community garden: 4 Glacier tomatoes (a variety for northern gardeners, as the name implies), a turnip, a few greens and a big bouquet. Since the community garden is my biggest garden space this year, flowers are a must. Zinnias, cosmos, salvia, snap dragons, marigolds and Tithonia are there for pollinators and picking. I’m giving up on sunflowers this year because the local deer chomp their heads off every time! They walk by everything else and go for the sunflowers! 🌻 who knew? 
.
.
.
#communitygarden #growyourownflowers #zinnias #mngardening
Tomato leaf diseases are interesting, if discourag Tomato leaf diseases are interesting, if discouraging. In this case, all of my Cherry Falls tomato plants — a container or basket variety — have a leaf disease. I think it’s septoria leaf spot, but I could be wrong. The fruit is fine, but the plants have stopped growing and the leaves look terrible. Time to harvest and put something else (not a tomato!) in these pots.

I started these with six other varieties — all in the same soil mix, all grown the same way. All of the Cherry Falls tomatoes I started are sick. All my other varieties are great. Anyone else have this problem with particular tomato varieties? 

#tomatoproblems #tomatodiseases #cherryfallstomato #containervegetablegardener #containertomatoes
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Top Posts & Pages

  • What to Do with Not-Quite-Ripe Winter Squash? Recipes Included
  • Can You Eat a Sweet Potato Vine Tuber?
  • How to Pollinate a Meyer Lemon Tree
  • Four Peony Problems and Solutions
  • Growing Lilies in Containers
  • Big Changes in Minnesota Hardiness Zone Map
  • How to Grow Lemons in the North (Plus a Recipe)
  • Northern Plants Deer Don't Like
  • Mushrooms Growing in Straw Bales
  • Sod Busted: 4 Ways to Remove Turf Grass

Post Categories

  • Books/Writing
  • Climate
  • How to
  • Plants
  • Recipes
  • Uncategorized
  • Why We Garden

Copyright © 2023 · captivating theme by Restored 316