Gardening with Allen: Flowers get nod as year’s winners

Six new flowers have been given All-America awards for 2018.

The most interesting is a new Cuphea, commonly known as Mexican Heather.

FloriGlory Diana is propagated from cuttings instead of seed. It is the most likely to be available as plants this year. FloriGlory Diana has larger flowers and more flowers than other cupheas available. Compact 10 to 14 inch plants are excellent for borders or containers.

Canna ‘South Pacific Orange’ is more compact and uniform than other cannas. Plants have more branches, resulting in more flowers. Plants are grown from seed rather than tubers so they are less likely to be bothered by diseases. Cannas are attractive to butterflies and humming birds.

Marigold ‘Super Hero Spry’ is a compact French marigold with dark maroon lower petals and golden yellow upper petals. It is more uniform than other Spry varieties, including a more stable color pattern. It is earlier to bloom and does not require deadheading.

Zinnia ‘Queeny Lime Orange’ has large dahlia-like blooms on sturdy, compact plants growing about 2 feet tall. The unique and very attractive color evolves from dark coral/peach/orange to a light peach with a dark center as the flowers age. The sturdy stems and large flowers (up to 4 inches) make it an excellent cut flower that will last for up to 3 weeks.

Gypsophila ‘Gypsy Improved’ is a new, improved variety of gypsophila or baby’s breath. The flowers are semi-double, and are also a bit larger in size and produce more flowers per plant, resulting in a fluffy white mound of beauty. Gypsy White Improved has better branching and a better growth shape than its predecessor, making it perfect for containers, small spaces and garden beds. It has a much longer bloom season and better heat tolerance than Gypsy Compact White.

Ornamental Pepper ‘Onyx Red’ is one of those stunning double-take plants that steal the show. It has compact, well-branched ornamental plants adorned with eye-catching dark black foliage. The contrast between the diminutive black foliage and tons of shiny red fruits is striking and makes a bold statement in the garden. Plants are vigorous, continually growing but retain their neat, compact habit, making Onyx Red a wonderful plant for beds, borders and containers.

Information

All-America Selections is an independent, nonprofit organization for testing new varieties of flowers and vegetables. Varieties are tested in trial gardens throughout the US and Canada, including the Pacific Northwest. Judges are professional horticulturists, including many university professors. Their website, all-americaselections.org, includes additional information on this year’s award winners as well as previous winners. The site has a list of online seed and plant sources.

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