Our Display Gardens

We’re counting the days until Field Day on Thursday—our display gardens are looking lush and ready for visitors. The best way to find out which plants work well together is by touring our display gardens to see them in action. Take advantage of this opportunity to view our test cultivars for next year—here’s a sneak peek:

First up we’ve planted some of our disease-resistant impatiens with a new serrated coleus for next year—‘Chipotle’. This garden moves from full sun into shade so we can track how these plants perform in both scenarios. These impatiens are bushy and full of color; that’s ‘Bounce Violet’ in front, and we’ve spotted in four patches of ‘Sunpatiens Royal Magenta’—you can see some down in the lower left. 

Next we have a striking combination of colors: ‘Redhead’ coleus with ‘Cocktail^® Whiskey’ begonias. The solid red pairs nicely with the white begonia flowers for some dramatic sweeps and curves—wait until you see it in the sun. ‘Redhead’ is a tall coleus so we’ll be trimming it occasionally to maintain the rich red and keep it from overwhelming the begonias. 

Here is our all-out drama garden. That’s ‘Dipt in Wine’ coleus stealing the show with ‘Vertigo’ pennisetum grass and some large banana leaves in the background. If you can take your eyes off that coleus for a moment, notice how we’ve used the taller, stately material to bring the drama up and fill the large bed vertically.

Our frequent visitors will recognize the Diefenbacher patio behind this charming, durable shade garden. Those are ‘Volumia^™ Pink’ begonias in the front with some young ‘Kong’ coleus in the back. ‘Kong’ will get much bigger but we can get away with using it here because Volumia^™ is a larger begonia that can keep up the pace. 

Here we have a study in contrast using two different coleus selections. That’s ‘Dipt in Wine’ again in the middle straddled by ’Blackberry Waffle’ on either side to create a river of color. We have two contrasts going on in this garden: light vs. dark and pattern vs. solid. By using this basic design principle we are able to control the pop of color; come see this one in person to observe the subtle changes as the river flows from sun into shade.

Last but not least we have our African marigold garden, specifically ‘Taishan® Gold’ that was featured in landscapes at the Beijing Olympics. We grow this variety in the summer rather than in the spring because it is much better about handling summer rains than the other varieties. Taishan® Gold’ has very tight petals that keep moisture from penetrating the flowers. It sheds water well, keeping the blooms vibrant and fresh—as you can see.