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Heidi and Rod’s Top 10 New Plants for 2024
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Susan Martin
We’re back with this year’s edition of Heidi and Rod’s Top 10 New Plants for 2024! They know a good plant when they see one and since they have the advantage of growing many of the new varieties before they are introduced, you’ll get to benefit from their experience. Let’s see who made the list for 2024.
#1 – Supertunia® Saffron Finch™ Petunia
What’s Heidi’s favorite new annual she trialed last year? Supertunia Saffron Finch petunia – the most vibrant yellow petunia she has ever seen or grown. It performed beautifully in the landscape at Garden Crossings last summer in full sun paired with ColorBlaze® El Brighto coleus, Surefire® Cherry Cordial™ begonia and Sweet Caroline Bewitched After Midnight™ sweet potato vine. It packs a great punch of color in containers, too, and pairs well with just about every other color. Like all Supertunia petunias, no deadheading is needed for it to bloom non-stop all season.
Annual, full sun to part sun, grows 4-12” tall x 18-24” wide, suitable for containers and landscapes, pollinator friendly.
#2 – Superbells® Double Vintage Coral™ Calibrachoa
Double Superbells are becoming more popular every year because of their unique rosebud-like shape and vivid colors. This new variety stands out from the rest because of its super unique coloration which is a blend of orange, yellow and burgundy. It’s the perfect color for creating a warm-toned container recipe, plus it coordinates with the 2024 Pantone® Color of the Year – Peach Fuzz. There’s nothing else like it and we know you are going to love it as much as we do! This new Superbells is sure to sell out quickly, so be sure to order early.
Annual, full sun to part sun, grows 6-12” tall x 12-24” wide, best grown in containers due to its need for well-drained, acidic soil, pollinator friendly.
#3 – Kirigami™ Deep Blue & White Aquilegia
This new-to-us columbine was incredibly impressive in the trial gardens last spring and summer. Its vigor and size were greatly improved over some older varieties, and it was so loaded with flowers that we could easily pick it out from across the garden. When you are yearning to see color again after a long winter, columbine comes roaring back to life and lights the place up. The flower shape is distinctive from many other perennials, and we like how the Kirigami columbines display their flowers with their faces shining upward and outwards so they can really be appreciated. We love both varieties in this series – Kirigami Deep Blue & White and Kirigami Red & White.
Perennial for zones 4-9, full sun to part shade, grows 22-24” tall x 16-20” wide, best grown in landscapes, rabbit resistant, pollinator friendly.
#4 – ‘Watermelon Ruffles’ rose mallow Hibiscus
When Heidi first walked past this new rose mallow, she had to do a double take! The heavily ruffled texture of its bright pink blossoms are like none other, representing a breeding breakthrough for Hibiscus. Did you ever make pom-poms for your high school float? ‘Watermelon Ruffles’ reminds us of those fun times when life was carefree. Who doesn’t need a little more fun in their life? Plus, you’ll get to enjoy them for many months since the plant is covered in flowers from top to bottom from mid- to late summer into fall.
Perennial for zones 4-9, full sun to part sun, grows 4 ½’ tall and wide, best grown in landscapes, pollinator friendly.
#5 – Westcountry™ ‘Desert Sun’ lupine Lupinus
Can anyone really ever have too many lupines? Heidi thinks not! This new selection in the outstanding Westcountry series is a soft yellow and deep yellow bitone, bearing flowers that look like kernels of buttered popcorn clinging to the stems. We love it paired with red and yellow bicolor Westcountry ‘Tequila Flame’ and purple Westcountry ‘Masterpiece’lupines. These showy perennials become the focal point of the garden in early summer when they are in their full glory. Their unique star-shaped foliage continues the season of interest long past the bloom time.
Perennial for zones 4-9, full sun, grows 2-3’ tall x 1-2’ wide, best grown in landscapes, deer and rabbit resistant, pollinator friendly.
#6 – Rock Candy® Ruby beardtongue Penstemon
We are continually on a quest to find long blooming perennials to add to our lineup, and that’s one of many reasons we are excited to add the new Rock Candy series of Penstemon this year. Magenta red flower spikes top the low mounded foliage of Rock Candy Ruby from early summer through fall with a light trim as needed now and then. If you’re like Heidi, you might enjoy pairing all three colors in the series together. Rock Candy Purple bears bright violet blooms and Rock Candy Light Pink is a softer pink. Penstemon is an incredibly durable, heat and drought tolerant perennial that’s easy to grow in full sun and well-drained soil. Pollinating bees, butterflies and hummingbirds all flock to the flowers, but they are typically ignored by deer and rabbits.
Perennial for zones 5-8, full sun, grows 12” tall and wide, suitable for containers and landscapes, deer and rabbit resistant, pollinator friendly.
#7 – ‘Apple Slices’ Indian pinks Spigelia
If you are looking for some uncommon perennials to add to your sunny or partly shaded landscape, take a closer look at this lesser known plant. It’s a cultivar of a native wildflower that hummingbirds love. ‘Apple Slices’ is a vigorous selection that produces deep wine red, tubular flowers with a yellow throat that acts as the perfect target for hummingbirds. It is fairly long blooming beginning in early summer, and since the flowers are self-cleaning, you won’t need to deadhead the plant to keep it looking neat and tidy. Expect to see more blooms if you grow it in full sun.
Perennial for zones 5b-9, full sun to part shade, grows 18-22” tall and 16-18” wide, best grown in landscapes, pollinator friendl
#8 – Funyella™ Clematis
If you have watched any of Heidi’s YouTube videos, you know she is a huge fan of clematis. You’d better bet that Funyella will be a new addition to her garden! While most clematis bloom with pink, purple, red or white flowers, this new cultivar produces double, light yellow blooms on burgundy stems beginning in late spring. The grapefruit-scented flowers are followed by silky white seed heads in the summertime. Funyella clematis scrambles quickly up trellises, through fences, or up and over mailboxes, forming a full mass of fresh green foliage that’s attractive all season. This unique clematis is definitely worth a closer look!
Perennial for zones 4-9, full sun to part shade, grows 6-10’ tall x 3-4’ wide, best grown in landscapes, pollinator friendly.
#9 – Illuminati Spice™ mock orange Philadelphus
The heady fragrance of mock orange in late spring to early summer is enough to earn its place in every landscape. Elegant, double, white flowers appear prolifically on upright stems, which makes this a gorgeous specimen plant when in bloom. Once it’s finished flowering, this variety has thick, dark green foliage that keeps its good looks all season, unlike some mock orange varieties that can get ratty by midsummer. All of these traits make Illuminati Spice a great candidate for foundation plantings and short hedges in addition to being a beautiful specimen plant for the early season border.
Shrub for zones 4-7, full sun to part shade, grows 4’ tall and wide, best grown in landscapes, deer resistant, pollinator friendly.
10 – Sonic Bloom® Punch Weigela
You might not expect a weigela to be the showiest plant in the landscape, but that’s exactly what we found when we observed it in the trial gardens. This compact shrub is absolutely covered in intense punch pink flowers in late spring to early summer, and the flowers really pop against the bronze-green foliage. Even better, like all of the Sonic Bloom cultivars, this new variety blooms up to three times per season, continuing the color show until fall. Hummingbirds, butterflies and other pollinators all love weigela, but deer tend to pass it on by. If you are looking for a showy, easy to grow, long blooming shrub for your landscape or foundation planting, Sonic Bloom Punch weigela checks all the boxes.
Shrub for zones 4-8, full sun, grows 2 ½-4’ tall x 4’ wide, best grown in landscapes, deer resistant, pollinator friendly.
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