Pentas has been around for a long time, but we have only placed it in active production the past couple of years. New genetics have greatly improved the flower performance with larger flower heads and a longer season of color—the better cultivars can keep a constant show of blooms all summer without the need to deadhead them. This year we have added the Butterfly Series to our collection, available in four colors: red, deep pink, lavender and white.

We introduced a number of fancy daffodils to our Early Spring program last year, and the response was pretty good. It was so good that we are adding three new cultivars to our collection, and bringing back most of last year’s mix. Daffodils are turning into interesting display plants—especially the doubles. Breeders are turning out different styles of ruffles and scallops on the bloom, as well as extending the color mixes into some deeper tones.

Acalyphas are fast-growing tropical shrubs that we treat as annuals. Popular in outdoor landscapes, showpiece containers and as summer patio plants, they sport foliage that is known to be pretty wild. Hort Couture has released the wildest one we’ve seen called ‘Jungle Cloak’—its signature feature is the distinctive tri-color variegation on the leaves. Furthermore, the variegation is all over the map so every leaf is different.

As you will recall from our earlier newsletters, we consider foliage color to be extremely important to the landscape or retail designer. The first and foremost advantage is a long lasting season-of-interest. Foliage plants stay in season from spring through summer and into the fall because their color display is in the leaves. This makes maintenance a snap as well, because leaves never need to be deadheaded.

With the decline of impatiens as a crop, there is increasing interest in a larger range of New Guinea Impatiens. Many newspaper articles go out of their way to mention that downy mildew DOES NOT affect New Guinea Impatiens, even though impatiens is right there in the name. No wonder the demand is scaling up—for us, the larger New Guineas are wonderful displayed in hanging baskets and large containers. Smaller New Guineas work well in small pots, as bedding plants, and as landscape color.