By September, any annual plant that still looks great in the landscape is a winner! Four to five months of color is a great return on the investment.
One great opportunity to see how our bedding plants perform is at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. The horticulture program is so extensive, the animals are almost secondary! Just like at theme parks, plants in heavily trafficked public places need to hold up. The most amazing bed the zoo has runs the length of an entire city block next to a solar-panel covered parking lot! The following varieties really stood out this summer.
Granvia Super Strawflowers
Granvia bracteanthas make a big statement in the landscape, especially in a mass planting. A bed of Granvia Gold makes you want to follow the yellow brick road!
It also makes a great focal point at the end of a long bed, as shown with Granvia Peachy Keen, a lighter shade of orange.
Inside the zoo, Granvia Crimson Sun was planted in a red-themed bed next to coleus and and dramatic tropicals.
Strawflowers also fit the zoo’s nature objectives by attracting pollinators. Another bonus is harvesting the blooms for dried flower crafts. I wonder if they do that! The yield would be amazing.
Soiree Flamenco and Kawaii Vincas
Suntory has been breeding distinctively different vincas, which are botanically known as catharanthus. The Soiree Kawaii varieties produced tidy mounds of cute flowers. Kawaii means “cute” in Japanese. Soiree Flamenco varieties look more like a typical vinca except the flowers are ruffled and even have a fringe edge. Both are excellent border plantings, with Kawaii being more compact than Flamenco.
Flamenco Salsa Red has rich red blooms with a light pink edge. It has been the top performer in the Flamenco series this summer.
Kawaii Coral Reef has coral pink blooms with white center eyes. It looked amazing paired with bright green Colocasia and the variegated impatiens with bright yellow foliage and orange blooms.
Kawaii Red Shades has bright red blooms with dark red center eyes. In addition to landscape borders, it’s a great summer red in combo planters. We like to mix it with Kawaii White Peppermint and Blueberry Kiss for Fourth of July.
Surdiva Fan Flowers
Our top-performing Survival scaevola is White Improved. It makes an excellent border groundcover. The concentration of fan-shaped blooms look as white as snow! They look especially nice against the contrasting dark purple vincas. It really looks like a snow drift! Surdiva also makes a nice filler and slightly trailing spiller in combination planters.
Mad About Mandevillas
Zoo staffers love our new Sun Parasol mandevillas and show how they can be used in landscapes.
FiredUp Orange has bright pinwheel shape blooms that blend nicely with other plants in the landscape at the knee-high level. Here they are tucked behind red geraniums. FiredUp Orange has slender foliage and stands upright. No need to stake with a trellis.
Giant Peach Sunrise has larger classic mandevilla blooms on a full vining plant. Supports are recommended. Sun Parasol Giant varieties are normally trained to trellises in large pots, but they can also be incorporated into landscape display beds.
For more information about Suntory Flowers, visit suntoryflowers.com.
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