Top 10 New Annuals for Landscapes

By Susan Martin for Proven Winners
Photographs courtesy of Proven Winners

Winter is the best time to start planning how you will spice up your landscape with new flowers in spring. From a groundbreaking Calibrachoa for landscapes to a rainbow of new Supertunias, you’ll find something to suit your garden style in this preview of new annuals for 2016 from Proven Winners.

1 - SUPERBELLS® Garden Rose Calibrachoa
This groundbreaking new Superbells® Garden Rose is the first in a brand new line of Calibrachoa that is intended for planting in the ground, as it is much less fussy about soil than most others like it. It performs admirably in containers too, so you can take your pick of where you’d like to plant it in your garden. Superbells Garden Rose is extremely vigorous, quickly covering 2-3 feet of ground, and blooms all summer without deadheading, even in hot, humid weather. Full sun to light shade.
Landscape Companions:  Meteor Shower™ Verbena bonariensis, RAINBOW RHYTHM® ‘Going Bananas’ Hemerocallis, ‘Miss Ruby’ Buddleia

2 - CAMPFIRE™ Fireburst Bidens
A breakthrough color for Bidens, Campfire™ Fireburst bears rich orange and yellow bicolor blooms on compact plants from the time of planting until the first frost. It can be planted with other vigorous plants like Supertunias in containers and landscapes. This is a full sun plant that is heat and drought tolerant once established.
Landscape Companions: SUPERTUNIA® Honey Petunia, PRAIRIE WINDS™ ‘Cheyenne Sky’ Panicum, Fine Wine™ Weigela

3 - DAHLIGHTFUL™ Dahlia variabilis
Georgia Peach, Lively Lavender and Sultry Scarlet
These gorgeous mid-sized, semi-double flowered dahlias have incredible impact when planted en masse in the landscape, and they work great as thrillers in large combination planters too. Unlike some Dahlias, the Dahlightful™ series keeps on producing flowers from early through late in the season so you’ll have color longer in the garden. Full sun.
Landscape Companions: White Knight® Lobularia, SUMMERIFIC® ‘Perfect Storm’ Hibiscus, ABRACADABRA® Orb Hydrangea macrophylla

4 –  Señorita Blanca™ and  Señorita Mi Amor™ Cleome
Gardeners have grown to love the Proven Winners line of cleomes because they are thornless, seedless, odorless, and not sticky. Señorita Blanca™ produces showy, pure white blooms while Señorita Mi Amor™ profusely bears soft blush pink flowers from spring to frost. They are superb plants for the landscape where their vigorous growth and heat, humidity, and drought tolerance make them shining stars. Full sun.
Landscape Companions: GRACEFUL GRASSES® ‘Sky Rocket’ Pennisetum, SUPERTUNIA® Bordeaux Petunia, OSO HAPPY® Smoothie Rosa

5 – Sweet Caroline Sweetheart Lime Ipomoea
With more sunfast coloring than some older sweet potato vines, this new selection keeps its lime green color all season without bleaching out. It’s also a bit less rambunctious than some, making it easier to pair with other plants. Use it as an annual groundcover in landscapes where it has proven to be extremely heat and humidity tolerant. Full sun to part shade.
Landscape Companions: SUPERBELLS® Garden Rose Calibrachoa, RAINBOW RHYTHM® ‘Primal Scream’ Hemerocallis, Senorita Blanca™ Cleome

6 - LUSCIOUS® Pinkberry Blend Lantana camara
This impressively vigorous, landscape-sized Lantana forms a mounding then trailing mass of dark green foliage dotted with pretty pink and light yellow bicolor blooms all season with minimal seed set. Grow it as a drought tolerant groundcover or in large containers paired with other very vigorous plants. Full sun.
Landscape Companions: Senorita Mi Amor™ Cleome, PRAIRIE WINDS™ ‘Apache Rose’ Panicum, INFINITINI™ Brite Pink Lagerstroemia

7 – INTENSIA® White Phlox
A neater shape, better vigor and great disease resistance are the standout features of the newest member of the award winning Intensia® series. Phlox are terrific planted en masse in the landscape because of their extended bloom time from late spring through fall and broadly mounding habit. Two keys to success: well-drained soil and planting in mid-spring once temperatures have warmed up. Phlox does not like cold, wet feet. Full sun.
Landscape Companions: SUPERTUNIA® Royal Velvet Petunia, ‘Cat’s Meow’ Nepeta, Orchid Satin® Hibiscus syriacus

8 – SUPERTUNIA® Honey Petunia
Supertunia® Honey features an incredible ever-changing array of yellow, orange, salmon, and pink blossoms on mounding, well-branched plants. Its vigor and disease resistance match that of other Supertunias and it has good heat and cold tolerance too. This is an incredibly versatile plant, blooming from spring to frost without deadheading in landscapes, hanging baskets and combination containers. Full sun to light shade. Find more new Supertunias for 2016 here.
Landscape Companions: Sweet Caroline Raven Ipomoea, RAINBOW RHYTHM® ‘Ruby Spider’ Hemerocallis, OSO EASY® Paprika Rosa

9 – Lemon Coral™ Sedum mexicanum
A tough-as-nails groundcover for landscapes and spiller for containers, this beautifully textured succulent is vigorous and drought tolerant. Its lime green to chartreuse foliage pairs well with other vigorous sun loving plants and looks great all season long. Lemon Coral™ is a breeze to grow in full sun and very well-drained soil.
Landscape Companions: Blue My Mind® Evolvulus, COLOR SPIRES® ‘Violet Riot’ Salvia, SUNJOY® Tangelo Berberis

10 – Meteor Shower™ Verbena bonariensis
An updated look for tall verbena, Meteor Shower™ has a fuller, more vigorous growth habit. Use it as a flowering thriller in your combination containers or as a vertical element in the garden. Since the plants set little seed, it won’t become invasive like most verbenas of this type. Heat and drought tolerance as well as deer resistance sweeten its appeal. Full sun.
Landscape Companions: SUPERTUNIA® Royal Magenta Petunia, ‘Tuscan Sun’ Heliopsis, Spilled Wine® Weigela

See all of the new annuals for 2016 from Proven Winners in this YouTube video. 

Learn more about all of the new plants for 2016 from Proven Winners here.

Contributor Bio: Susan Martin is a lifelong gardener and perennial specialist with 18 years of experience in the Horticulture Industry. She is a native of Michigan where she has been gardening since the age of four in sandy and clay soils. 

Patent Info: SUPERBELLS® Garden Rose Calibrachoa USPPAF CPBRAF. CAMPFIRE™ Fireburst Bidens USPPAF CPBRAF. DAHLIGHTFUL™ Georgia Peach Dahlia variabilis USPPAF CPBRAF. DAHLIGHTFUL™ Lively Lavender Dahlia variabilis USPPAF CPBRAF. DAHLIGHTFUL™ Sultry Scarlet Dahlia variabilis USPPAF CPBRAF. Senorita Blanca® Cleome USPPAF CPBRAF. Senorita Mi Amor™ Cleome USPPAF CPBRAF. Sweet Caroline Sweetheart Lime Ipomoea USPPAF CPBRAF. LUSCIOUS® Pinkberry Blend Lantana camara USPPAF CPBRAF. INTENSIA® White Phlox USPPAF CPBRAF. SUPERTUNIA® Honey Petunia USPPAF CPBRAF US Utility 7,642,436B2. Lemon Coral™ Sedum mexicanum. Meteor Shower™ Verbena bonariensis USPPAF CPBRAF.

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