The Envelope Please! The Winner is—–

Every year new perennials tempt customers to buy them. Some become instant successes, others never achieve notoriety, and some really bad plants hang around forever. It gets more and more difficult to pick the winners and losers. I am either brave or foolhardy for attempting to do this.

Let’s have a drum roll. We are putting down the green carpet. Each plant vying for contention will strut its stuff before entering the garden arena. They have been primped, the pr is out, and can they perform as well in the garden to get us excited about them.

First coming down is Helleborus ‘Pink Frost’. It reminds us of another top seller ‘Ivory Prince’ because its buds face outward. The official name is Helleborus x ballardiae Gold Collection ‘Pink Frost’ . She is showing off her buds that appear burgundy and white and open a soft light pink, and maturing to a burgundy red. Her skirt of foliage is a delicious shade of silver green. The delicious attribute of this plant, depending where you live, is the long bloom time from Jan. to April. This dazzling hellebore is very comfortable performing in part to dense shade. Gardeners will be using in shady nooks or in containers. The deer seldom eat, but occasionally browse. The competition is very heavy this year with so many entries. The other contender is ‘Ruby Racer’ and it is exactly as it says it’s a dynamite ‘Ruby Red’. The flowers have been fed an excellent regime of vitamins because each bloom is 3 “ wide. Customers really love big buds and flowers.

Peonies are always showy. However, the new Itoh hybrids are demanding center stage.  They produce buds over a longer period of time and extend the blooming season. This gives you a better chance to sell them. Their increased vigor helps the foliage stay greener longer. ‘Bartzella’ was a big yellow double introduced a few years ago. Big and Bodacious would be my description. The newer ones like ‘Kopper Kettle are divine! How often do you see semi-double flowers in shades of red, yellow, and orange that look copper from a distance. The cross between herbaceous and tree peonies  makes them easy to grow as new shoots emerge after the dormancy of winter. Many have extremely strong stems so you avoid staking. You have to admit this plant has real sex appeal.

PRG will continue to post Stephanie’s list of winning plants over the next few weeks.  Stop back by.

Photos Courtesy of Walters Gardens, Inc. and Skagit Gardens.