Planting flowers is one of the easiest things you can do to lift your spirits and improve your world for the next six months (or longer). This spring let’s follow our hearts and take time to smell the roses!
Pretty Petunias
Two of my favorite Suntory Flowers varieties have hearts on their flower petals – Surfinia Heartbeat Improved and Surfinia Purple Heart. If you look closely, you can see five distinct hearts on each sweet white bloom.
The landscape performance is outstanding. Smaller flowers withstand rain. They look beautiful in hanging baskets, window boxes, containers and beds. They retain their compact, tidy, mounding semi-trailing growth habits.
They look great mixed with other spring annuals, adding a touch of love to your combos. Mix the two together for the Sweethearts Mix. Simply, adorable! Or plant Purple Heart with a veteran in mind.
Later this summer, when it gets hot out, be sure to fertilize to keep those hearts beating! The expression of the pattern is affected by temperature and nutrition.
Another outstanding, romantic-looking Surfinia petunia is the Summer Double series. Blooms look like tight little tissue flowers or rosebuds. Heat and weather tolerance is exceptional. Smaller blooms shed water with ease. Larger double petunias can get drippy and soggy looking. Not these!
Surfinia Summer doubles also “bury their own dead.” Spent blooms are discretely tucked away as new blooms cover them. These plants also have a very compact, mounded, semi-trailing growth habit.
Romantic Roses
Suntory Flowers offers two shrub rose lines selected for disease resistance. Brindabella Roses are vigorous and produce fully petaled blooms, like you’d see in a hybrid tea. The three prime ones – Purple Prince, Pink Princess and Crimson Knight – all have a classic old fashioned rose fragrance. You will want all three of these beauties in your court!
Both Purple Prince and Pink Princess have earned awards for performance and fragrance from American Garden Rose Selections and American Rose Trials for Sustainability.
Looking for more smaller plants? Sunrosa roses have compact, bushy habits and are loaded with smaller blooms. Sunrosa Red received the prestigious Master Rose Award from American Rose Trials for Sustainability. And the bright Yellow Delight received a regional award. Fragrant Pink has larger blooms with a classic rose fragrance.
Modern shrub roses offer the disease resistance and hardiness that make it easy to have the garden of your dreams. Beyond the blooms, both Brindabella and Sunrosa have outstanding foliage that will go the distance all season. Many roses will defoliate, and you’re left with twigs. At the University of Georgia, Sunrosa Red was graded on foliage and achieved a perfect score in a hot, humid climate.
By: Natalie Carmolli for Proven Winners® ColorChoice® Shrubs
A Freely growing rose garden has plenty of natural charm, but thoughtful plant pairings can make your roses stand out even more. To learn more click here for an informative article.
Click here to sign up for our monthly NEWSLETTER packed with great articles and helpful tips for your home, garden and pets!
