Wow your clients with the latest new plants | Greg Carrick, Garden City Plastics

Wow Your Clients with the latest new plants

GREG CARRICK | GARDEN CITY PLASTICS

Want to know how to WOW your clients? Have the perfect shaped plant in every position in your design? Keep up to date with the latest releases that suit the Landscape market for fantastic results giving a great return on investment for both you and your clients.

New Plant Releases drive a huge part of the horticultural market opening up numerous options and ensuring you have the right plant in the right position in your design. They are not just new, they are mostly improved selections or breeding from older varieties that have other benefits to make them more attractive or useful in the landscape.

Here we have put together a selection of recent plant releases that are selected due to their potential use in the landscape market. Not only 'use' really, it's more to do with performance and other benefits such as improved shape, range of planting options and possibly hardier plants than the previous release of that species. What we are looking for are plants that will make your clients happy and give you the confidence with some new varieties that will perform as expected so everyone is happy with the end result.

Plant Breeding is now an art form that many know nothing about. Plants that are cross pollinated then chosen from batches for their relevant benefits of foliage, flower or growth habit, can take years to turn into a new variety.

These are often bred with the end result in mind, resulting in a more purposeful plant for your new gardens or renovations. Funny enough, a great Australian plant named Brachyscome, which is a low growing Australian native daisy with a blue flower, is mostly bred overseas than in Australia. Just shows you how the European market approaches this issue too. In this article we have spoken to key growers and breeders who have given us a small but interesting list of some of the most exciting new plant releases of recent times. They are aimed specifically for the landscape arena and will give great value for money when planted.

We have Plants Management Australia (PMA) who are the people who deal with various breeders and bring their plants to the market and help promote the benefits to a wider audience.

Ball Australia are one of Australia’s largest growers of flowering plants for a wide range of purposes. From supplying cut flower growers, to vegetable farms and every seedling growing nursery in the country.

Last, but not least we have some recent releases from Flemings Nurseries who, as you would all know, are the largest grower of Ornamental and Fruiting trees in the country and one of the great innovators in the Australian Nursery Industry.

SALVIA PURPLE AND BLOOM

Botanical: Salvia guaranitica Salvia Purple and Bloom, an outstanding new release, is free flowering with a generous number of black spires bursting with purple blooms from spring to autumn. The royal purple florets open from dark, almost black calyxes above the foliage. Salvia ‘Purple and Bloom’ is a great choice for gardens or containers. These rugged plants require little and do so much. Characteristics: Pollinator plant, Drought Tolerant, Heat Tolerant, Low Maintenance

NANDINA 'LEMLIM'

Botanical: Nandina domestica alba Looking for easy care, low maintenance and high impact foliage? This stunning evergreen plant has it. With lush lime green foliage year-round which gives you a contemporary look year-round with minimal maintenance. The new foliage creates an explosion of lemon tones fading to lime green as they age. The compact habit means there is no pruning required to maintain the neat natural shape. Characteristics: compact, evergreen form with a tight habit, extremely versatile and tolerant of a wide range of growing conditions, frost tolerant Available now at your local wholesaler, see the support centre: www.pma.com.au/supportcentre

EUPHORBIA 'ASCOT RAINBOW'

Botanical: Euphorbia x martinii This hardy shrub was selected for its distinctive foliage which changes with the seasons. The foliage displays tones of cream, green and blue merging to stunning red and pink colouring throughout the cooler months of the year. Spikes of flowers in a blend of cream, lime and green appear from late winter through spring. Characteristics: distinct foliage that changes with the seasons, year-round foliage interest, as tough as they come - sun, frost, wind: the lot! Available now at your local wholesaler, see the support centre: www.pma.com.au/supportcentre

CAREX 'FEATHER FALLS'

Botanical: Carex oshimensis 'Feather Falls' ‘Feather Falls’ is a highly decorative Carex with outstanding garden and pot performance. The long clean and crisp foliage will reward you with a year-round maintenance-free plant. A highlight of this new variety is its beautiful plumes of feathery flower stems that emerge from the centre of the fresh new variegated foliage during the spring months. Characteristics: year-round impact, perfect for edging and mass planting, ideal container feature Available now at your local wholesaler, see the support centre: www.pma.com.au/supportcentre

OSTEOSPERMUM PURPLE SUN

Botanical: Osteospermum ecklonis Osteospermum Purple Sun features large flowers on plants with excellent branching and full, mounded habits. Has great consumer appeal. Featuring a vibrant orange colour that transitions into a deep purple ring surrounding the heart. Superior branching that controls the habit. Characteristics: Pollinator plant, Drought Tolerant, Heat Tolerant, Low Maintenance, Available now at Facey's Nursery / Plantmark / Meyer Nurseries

CERCIS MERLOT

Botanical: Cercis canadensis A new addition to Fleming’s Enchanted Forest range, Cercis canadensis ‘Merlot’ has several features that make it superior to its well-known cousin -‘Forest Pansy’. ‘Merlot’ features thicker, glossier leaves with improved heat and drought tolerance and is a more compact, dense habit than ‘Forest Pansy’. This is an excellent home garden tree with great seasonal features – spring flowers, dark foliage and autumn colour. Available as 45L & 150L from Fleming’s Nurseries.

PLECTRANTHUS 'MONA LAVENDER'

Botanical: Plectranthus 'Plepalila' Mona Lavender is a particularly attractive form of Plectranthus that does not spread like other members of the family, but rather forms a neat low shrub with an upright, erect habit. Mona Lavender is a wonderful solution to shady areas in the garden as well as making an ideal container or basket specimen for sheltered patios or entertainment areas. Characteristics: attractive foliage and outstanding performance, fast-growing for autumn colour impact, year-round foliage interest Available now at your local wholesaler, see the support centre: www.pma.com.au/supportcentre

"There are some great recent release varieties that fit the role of a terrific addition to both domestic and commercial Landscape situations. Special thanks to Ball Australia, Plants Management Australia and Flemings Nurseries for their plant lists. Please look at where these plants are available and make sure they become a part of your gardening palette."

STYRAX SNOWCONE

Botanical: Styrax japonicas If you love a flowering tree – this new introduction from Fleming’s Nurseries is sure to please! This beautiful small tree positively abounds with lovely small white flowers in late spring – hence its name. This tree looks too delicate to be able to survive tough sites, but has performed well when exposed to hot and windy conditions. The dense mid-green foliage is almost obscured by the delicate pure white bell shaped flowers in late spring. Autumn colour is generally unremarkable yellows. Produces a good central leader and regular branching. A perfect tree when a statement is needed. Available as 45L from Fleming's Nurseries

LIRIOPE 'EMERALD CASCADE'

Botanical: Liriope muscari Emerald Cascade has dramatic weeping emerald green foliage, and produces cobalt blue berries in the spring and summer. It is non-invasive, spreading slowly to form graceful thick mounds of foliage, and makes for a dense ground cover when planted en masse. It's for this reason that it lends itself perfectly to low maintenance landscapes, in both the domestic and public open space environments. Characteristics: superb indoor plant for a green wall, a lush and hardy shade lover, copes with a dry shaded area Available now at your local wholesaler, see the support centre: www.pma.com.au/supportcentre

CUPHEA HONEY BELLS

Botanical: Cuphea hybrida This interspecific cuphea is floriferous with a semi-trailing habit, boasts eye-popping bicolour rose and light-yellow tubular shaped flowers. Perfect addition to the landscape, free flowering early spring to autumn. It will perform well in part shade to full sun and will endure and thrive throughout the summer. Characteristics: Pollinator plant, Drought Tolerant, Heat Tolerant, Low Maintenance, Heat Tolerant

Available now at Facey's Nursery / Plantmark

PYRUS JAVELIN

Botanical: Pyrus calleryana x pyrifolia A new ornamental pear that is going to blow you away! Fleming’s is excited to welcome our latest hybrid pear which is the narrowest of all ornamental pear cultivars. Perfect for narrow garden beds and screening and with a strong central leader, Javelin’s upright growth habit is maintained as it matures. Flower buds are tinged pink, opening to white before the foliage emerges. New growth is an attractive maroon-purple and gradually turns to the dark glossy green that is typical of pears. Autumn colour is purple-red.