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Do you know Splashberry? It is a drink from Ihop, the American restaurant, and it contains orange juice, Sprite and strawberries. It is colorful, sweet, refreshing, and it looks very tasty. No wonder its name was given to another gem among coral bells from the Indian Summer series. It produces bright chartreuse to golden yellow leaves with brick-red veins, which become more prominent as the leaves mature towards the end of the season. They leaves are firm, not very undulated but not completely flat either, and they co ...entire article

Pink Spike is a dark-leaved variety of bugbane with deep maroon to almost black, large leaves. They are 3-ternate-pinnate, with palmate, lobed, sharply toothed basal leaves. It is very attractive when new, bright green leaves emerge amongst intensely dark foliage. In late summer rise slender, dark stems bearing 30-40 cm long, erect racemes composed of small, pale pink, very fragrant flowers. They resemble cherry laurel flowers both in appearance as well as in scent. They bloom from late August until mid October. Flowe ...entire article

PRETTYCOAT is a unique variety of red-vein producing cute, little, bell-shaped, creamy flowers which almost lack pink margins. They show prominent maroon veins which meet at the very bottom of the bells and hang underneath the umbrella of leaves. Flowering begins in mid spring and deadheading of spent flowers is said to increase the number of flowers on young plants, however, we never do it and our shrubs are beautiful and flower abundantly every year. Apart from its beautiful flowers, red-vein is renowned for its oth ...entire article

Pagode is a red-vein variety producing cute, little, bell-shaped, creamy flowers. Compared to the species they are slightly bigger and have redder margins and prominent veins. They appear from mid to late spring, underneath the umbrella of leaves. Deadheading spent flowers should increase the number of flowers on young plants, however, we never do it and our shrubs are beautiful and flower abundantly every year. Apart from its beautiful flowers red-vein is renowned for its other feature: the autumn colour. The leaves, ...entire article

When I first saw the large, glossy, and thick leaves of TICO® Portugal laurel, it was clear that a new chapter of the evergreens was about to be written. First, I tested its hardiness in several locations of Czechia and while observing its performance and growth it struck me that this was exactly the type of plant that will look natural as a standard tree, not just a shrub. Clipping the laterals off its straight leader did the job and a small and rather cute crown was formed. In only two years it has develope ...entire article

Blue Baby is an attractive miniature of the sensational Blue Opall magnolia with bluish buds. If you stand both magnolias next to each other, you will probably not find a single significant difference in the color, shape of the flower or the leaf, but everything is about a third smaller – the size of the flower, of the leaf, and the plant itself. The flowers develop from pointed buds that have a striking, steel-blue frosting. Once opened, they reveal p ...entire article

Orange Bicolor is a bi-coloured coneflower variety from the FOUNTAIN™ series from 2018. It makes large, fragrant flowers with long ray florets with balayage effect. They are purple red nearer the centre and grade to orange towards the tips. Yound flowers have deep, warm tones whereas mature flowers are colder in the tone and pastel. Central cones (discs) are marron brown and hide plenty of nectar for bees, butterflies, and bumble bees. If regularly deadheaded and fed this variety can flower from July until S ...entire article

Linearifolium is probably the oldest selected variety of this unique so-called spider azalea. It is special for its extra narrow petals and leaves. The flowers are medium pink and slightly fragrant. Blooming begins in May and lasts for 2-3 weeks. Its leaves are semi-deciduous, narrow to almost linear, dark green, rather matte, slightly hairy, and tinged deep maroon from winter until late spring. They remain evergreen through mild winters and after cold winters they dry out and are replaced with new foliage after flowe ...entire article

StarStyle™ is a series of semi-deciduous azalea developed by Hilde and Matthijs Barendse from a Dutch nursery Kwekerij Arends in Paterswolde. So far in consists of 3 colours: purple pink, lilac, and white. StarStyle™ Lilac bears lilac violet non-scented flowers with narrow petals. Blooming begins in May and lasts for 2-3 weeks and in late summer the shrub re-blooms with a few flowers. Its leaves are semi-deciduous, narrow to almost linear, dark green, rather matte, slightly hairy, and tinged deep maroon fr ...entire article

The CENSATION™ series of avens is bred by Armand Kremer from a German perennial nursery Green Globe. Yellow Fluffy is a cheerful variety with banana yellow flowers tinged salmon pink on the reverse. They are 3-4 cm wide, semi-double, and open atop 35-45 cm tall maroon stems. It begins to bloom in late April and continues for 4-5 weeks. Under good growing conditions it can re-bloom sporadically until late summer. The flowers are nodding until they are fully open and only ...entire article

M.F. Rose White Bee is Magic Fountain larkspur variety forming dense and extremely pretty inflorescence composed of large, semi-double, lilac rose flowers decorated with dwarf white petals that look like a bee feasting on their nectar. Basal leaves are mid green, up to 20 cm across, palmate, 3- or 5-lobed. Stems are 90-120 cm tall and from June till July produce flowers in erect spikes. Once the flowering has finished you can cut back the entire plant for the second flush in September and October. Grow larkspur in ...entire article

Burning Hearts is a rough oxeye variety with bright golden flowers. The ray florets are rich golden yellow with mahogany red-brown centers and are composed around small discs in one or two rows. The dramatic appearance of the plant is enhanced by the dark maroon tinge of dark green leaves and almost black stems growing about one meter high. The leaves have smooth (entire) edges and are paler purple closer to the ground. The plants form dense clumps and are suitable for all types of perennial beds. In semi-shade, th ...entire article

Alpine wood fern is a semi-evergreen type of fern that is most often found in the higher altitudes of Hawaii, Mexico, Argentina, Jamaica, Indonesia and the Himalayas. It was named after a siginificant botanist of Danish origin Nathaniel Wallich (1786-1854), who – like many others – originally had an entirely different profession: he was a surgeon. But as soon as he arrived in India in 1807, he was immediately enchanted by the beauty and diversity of the flora there, and seven years later he quit his medical practice to become the director of the I ...entire article

GREENFINGERS® is a large-leaved Mexican orange variety from 2019, developed by Peter Catt from Liss Forst Nursery in Liss, Hamshire, England. It bears evergreen, softly leathery, glossy, palmate leaves divided into 7 leaflets, which have a distinct, spicy aroma when crushed, but do not use them for cooking. They are bright green as they emerge and dark green in summer. From late April till early June it blooms with a number of star-shaped, 5-petalled flowers, larger than those on original choisya. They have a ...entire article

This sweet box is believed to have come from western China where it probably originated as a natural hybrid of two species. Nowadays, you will not find it in the wild either because it is extinct or perhaps it never existed as a botanical species. Very interesting is a fact that there are no varieties since its seedlings are always identical to the parent. Compared to other sweet box species, s. confusa features shorter but wider leaves and upright growth. The leaves are evergreen, leathery, fresh green, rippled, 5-6 cm long, 3-4 cm wide, and very glossy. ...entire article

ROYAL LACE is a fine-leaved Mexican orange variety from 2013, developed by the original hybrid choisia breeder Peter Moore from England. It was granted EU patent No. 41455 in 2015. It bears evergreen, softly leathery, delicatly narrow leaves that resemble those of Apple Blossom variety. They are palmately divided into 3-7 thread-like leaflets, which have a distinct, spicy aroma when crushed, but do not use them for cooking. Their color is chartreuse to lime green in winter, and as soon as the chlorophyll rises up thro ...entire article

Silver Carpet is a valued selection of lamb’s ears which produces masses of velvety soft foliage on fast-growing plants that will soon form an impenetrable carpet. The leaves are narrowly obovate, pale green covered with a profusion of silvery hairs. They are evergreen in mild winters. Just remove old leaves after a bad winter and a couple of times during the growing season to keep it tidy and handsome. Silver Carpet does not produce many flowers. Only seldom it makes a wooly stem about 30 cm long topped with co ...entire article

Autumn monkshood, sometimes also called azure monkshood, is a showy and tall perennial flowering from late summer till autumn. It produces erect racemes of large, hooded flowers of deep violet blue flowers from September till October. The throat is decorated with dark grey stamens. The inflorescence is an erect raceme and sits atop sturdy stems one and a half (or a little more) meters tall. The wise thing about this monkhood is that even though the blooming time is very late in the season, it offers something more to gain your attention early in the seaso ...entire article

Every gaura series must have its white flowering variety and Gambit is no exception. Gambit White gaura produces pure white flowers like tiny butterflies whirling among thin stems. The plant is more compact than older varieties yet airy enough to enable movement in the slightest breeze. Trimming off stems with spent flowers will encourage production of new ones. Flowering begins in June and continues till the first frost. We noticed that if the plant is frequently fed it is big and beautiful but tends to mature mo ...entire article

Paris is beautiful, charismatic, and unique. Many of us associate it with love and romance, and when we plan a trip there we feel entitled to receive an experience of something extraordinarily beautiful. Looking at her invention, American plant breeder Janet N. Egger from the Terra Nova® Nurseries probably didn't take too long to decide to name her new coral bells variety after this French capital. This variety is worth every compliment, just like Paris, and is surely hard not to fall in love with. Again, just like Paris. US patent No. PP18881 was grante ...entire article

Little Vision In Pink is a dwarf astilbe with dense and congested inflorescence of clear pink colour. Its strong stems grow only some 30 cm tall which is unusual for a Chinese astilbe hybrid. It forms compact tufts with lots of healthy, dark green and glossy leaves. Blooming begins in late June and continues for almost two months. Grow astilbe in humus-rich soil. If planted in boggy or regularly watered bed they can sit in full sun, too, otherwise choose a semi-shaded or shaded location. They are water loving plant ...entire article

PETITE LANTERN is a low and compact growing panicle hydrangea from Liss Forest Nursery in Hampshire, England. It is a beautiful piece that bears firm, upright, pointed inflorescences composed of both sterile (large) and fertile (small) flowers. They begin to bloom in early July atop ruby red, sturdy stems 60-80 cm tall. They are bright creamy white as they emrge but soon turn a bold shade of pink that deepens to dark crimson purple in early autumn to live up to their name 'Little Lantern'. The deciduous leaves are ova ...entire article

Look At Me is a compact astilbe variety from the arendsii group, bred by Tom de Bruijn from the Netherlands in 2005, i.e., 11 years before another successful variety of his named Smile At Me. It produces compact plumes of pale pink flowers on garnet red stems about 40 cm tall. They bloom from mid June for 3-4 weeks and re-bloom sporadically until late summer. Leaves are divided, healthy, glossy, dark green with red stalks. Patent No. PP24798 granted in 2014. Grow astilbe in humus-rich soil. If planted in boggy or ...entire article

EARLY® MAGENTA is another of the great EARLY START™ summer phlox. From about mid June appear large panicles of numerous, bright magenta purple flowers which open continuously for almost 3 months. The first panicle has two flushes of flowers and once the second flush has gone, remove the panicle to encourage formation of new lateral branches with new flower buds to continue blooming until August. The flowers are fragrant and attract butterflies. Stems are dark green ...entire article

RASPBERRY is another astilbe variety bred by Dutch perennial specialist Jan Verschoor and belongs to the SHORT N’ SWEET series which comprises of compact, low growing varieties with beautifully coloured, sweetly scented flowers. Patent No. PP27701 was granted in 2017. RASPBERRY is a hybrid astilbe a. arendsii x a. japonica with soft raspberry pink flowers composed in fluffy plumes atop 30-40 cm tall stems. Blooming begins in late June and may repeat flowering until August. Plants are compact and mound-formin ...entire article

Vision Vulcano is a glowing purple pink astilbe variety with erect, dense yet fluffy inflorescence. Compared to Vision in Purple it is shorter, more compact, and the flowers have more of a dark pink tone. Blooming begins in late June atop 30-40 cm tall, strong stems, and may last until mid August. Deciduous leaves emerge dark maroon and mature to dark green, they are divided, each leaflet heavily serrated at margins, healthy, and glossy. Grow astilbe in humus-rich soil. If planted in boggy or regularly watered bed ...entire article

Little Vision In Purple is a fantastically coloured astilbe with deep purple fuchsia plumes. They are dense, erect and the stems with flowers reach a height of only slightly over 30 cm which is considered dwarf for a Chinese astilbe hybrid. It forms compact tufts with lots of healthy, dark green and glossy leaves. Blooming begins in late June and continues for almost two months. Grow astilbe in humus-rich soil. If planted in boggy or regularly watered bed they can sit in full sun, too, otherwise choose a semi-shade ...entire article

Mainz is a japonica hybrid astilbe from 1952. Its flowers are cotton-candy-like pink plumes atop almost 50 cm tall stems and bloom from late June. Leaves are dark green, divided, heavily serrated at margins, healthy, and glossy. Grow astilbe in humus-rich soil. If planted in boggy or regularly watered bed they can sit in full sun, too, otherwise choose a semi-shaded or shaded location. They are water loving plants and require a good dose of nutrients to look their best. They will not grow in chalky or clay soil th ...entire article

Fanal astilbe is one of the earliest varieties with red flowers. It begins to bloom in mid June and forms rich raspberry red flowers atop 30-50 cm tall stems. Leaves are divided, healthy, glossy, mahogany red as they emerge and turning dark green before flowering starts. It was awarded AGM (Award of Garden Merit) by Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) in 1993. Grow astilbe in humus-rich soil. If planted in boggy or regularly watered bed they can sit in full sun, too, otherwise choose a semi-shaded or shaded location. ...entire article

Caradonna sage belongs among the top perennial bestsellers all around Europe. In 2021 arrives its new sister, a chance seedling discovered by Jonathan J. Tuite in England and was named CARADONNA PINK INSPIRATION. It does not bear blue flowers but boasts charming rosy pink flowers attached to deep purple stems. They are around 40 cm tall and upright even after a heavy rain. The main flowering begins from late May and lasts for about 6 weeks, meanwhile new flower ...entire article

SpinTop™ is a blanket flower series from Dutch company Dümmen Orange® introduced to market after 2015. SpinTop™ Copper Sun is a unique variety with petals that are rolled up into narrow trumpets. They are a combination of rich copper red and amber golden at tips. The centres are yellow with red corolla when young, and mature to dark ruby red. Blooming usually begins in mid June and continues restlessly until October, sometimes even November if early autumn is sunny and warm. The stems are hairy and sh ...entire article

Queen Guinevere was the wife of 5th and 6th century British king Artur. She was Welsh, beautiful, and much younger than her husband and legend has it that when she first saw knight Lancelot, she fell in love with him, and since he requited her feelings, they had an affair of which Arthur learnt after a long time. When he was told the truth about his unfaithful wife, he got furious and as he was planning a revenge Lancelot fled the country. King Arthur decided to sentence Guinevere to be burnt at a stake. Despite all Arthur’s efforts to prevent Lancelot from returning with his kinsmen to ...entire article

Drinking Gourd is another name for the Big Dipper asterism and if combined with Abiqua, which is a name of a waterfall in Oregon, USA, as well as a name for a hosta series, we have a beautiful large-leaved variety of plantain lily. Its rounded, deep blue-green, seersuckered leaves are 20-25 cm across and have a conspicuous tip. They curve their margins upwards, forming a cup almost 10 cm deep. For this reason, it is not recommended to grow under the trees whose waste, collected in the cups, would spoil the aesthetics. ...entire article

Timeless Night is an eye-catching coral bells variety with dark leaves and profuse flowering. It makes shallowly lobed, palmate, and very glossy leaves of deep purple to aubergine black colour. They are reliably evergreen in mild winters. Undersides are magenta pink. From early summer rise 40-45 cm tall, slender stems with abundant and compact panicles composed of tiny, coral pink flowers. They rebloom again in August. The plant grows fast into a dense and mounding habit some 40 cm tall and 40 cm wide. Timeless is ...entire article

BLOOMBUX® MAGENTA rhododendron is a sister variety which rose from the same breeding as NUGGET BY BLOOMBUX® and only differs in having deeper pink flowers with magenta calyxes. It is a beautiful rhododendron cross between r. micranthum and r. hirsutum. It is a compact, evergreen shrub with profusion of small but lovely flowers from late May until mid June. They open from dark pink buds into funnel-shaped flowers that look like miniature weigela flower ...entire article

PINK FRAGRANCE™, or also marketed under its complete name SPRING PINK ETERNAL FRAGRANCE™, is a sister variety which arose from breeding its predecessor – ETERNAL FRAGRANCE™ variety. Its is a compact and dense growing hybrid daphne with long flowering period. It makes small, tubular, medium to pale pink flowers which release a strong and sweet perfume. They are produced in profusion from late May until early July, and then ...entire article

Mojave Jewels Ruby is a stonecrop variety from AB Cultivars in the Netherlands from 2018. It makes extremely dark foliage and stems which perfectly contrast with its flowers. Deciduous leaves are broadly elliptic, mildly serrated at margins, and matte. Stems are upright and strong enough not to flop, bend or break in open ground (plants in pots may be weaker). Both stems and leaves are deep purple, almost black like egg-plant but without glossy skin – they are matte which looks velvety. In late August appear ...entire article

Royal Flush monkshood makes almost one meter tall, extra strong, maroon stems topped with erect racemes composed of huge, deep indigo blue flowers with anthracite anthers. The plant is very healthy which contrasts with many other perennials that are slowly becoming unsightly as they go dormant at the time this monkshood shows its assets. The stems are many branched offering multiple inflorescences and blooming until the last sunny and warm days of autumn. The leaves are dark green, deeply dissected, and highly glossy. ...entire article

SOFIA is a dwarf cherry laurel that can easily be mistaken for a holy because of its distinctly serrated (not spiny) leaves. Hoar frost makes a picturesque sight in autumn and winter and you will want to make a photo of them every time you pass them by. They are evergreen, leathery, narrowly lance-shaped, dark green, and glossy. The plant is compact, slow growing (5-15 cm per year), densely branched, and reaches about 1.5 m in height and width in maturity. Flowers have not been observed so far. Pruning is possible in ...entire article

SPOT ON™ PINK is a Caucasian stonecrop with light pink, star-shaped flowers which usually open from mid July and flower for 3-4 weeks. They are a magnet for bees that feast on them. Evergreen leaves are small, narrowly obovate, pale green. It forms densely branched, less uniform mounds compared to its older brother SPOT ON™ DEEP ROSE, and looks great among rocks, or surrounded by white or light grey gravel in an alpine border. It is suitable for troughs and other outdoor pots. It does not require any maint ...entire article

SPOT ON™ DEEP ROSE is a Caucasian stonecrop with deep rose to rich purple pink, star-shaped flowers from July until August. They are a magnet for bees that feast on them. Evergreen leaves are small, narrowly obovate, dark green and flushed maroon on flowering stems, otherwise almost rounded and green. It forms compact, densely branched mounds, and looks great among rocks, or surrounded by white or light grey gravel in an alpine border. It is suitable for troughs and other outdoor pots. It does not require any ma ...entire article

BLUE BOUQUETTA® is a fantastic dwarf woodland sage found as a mutation of a salvia bestseller Ostfriesland by Theo Alkemade in their nursery in Dutch town Lisse in 2013. It forms small and neat mounds of only some 20 cm tall, upright stems producing deep violet blue flowers. The plants are dense and uniform and do look like a tiny bouquet. Flowering usually begins in early July and continues for 4-6 weeks. If you cut the whole plant back to the ground after the first flowering phase, and feed it a little, it will ...entire article

Silver Heart is a Siberian bugloss variety discovered by Peter Jan Willemsen in 2010 producing large, softly hairy, broadly heart-shaped, up to 20 cm wide leaves. Their colour is brilliant silver within almost entire surface of the leaves expect for dark green veins and margins. In mid spring, commonly late April in zone 6, appear small, sky blue, forget-me-not-like flowers on thin stems 20-30 cm tall, in thin, cyme-like panicles for almost two months. They look best in mass plantings and as the plant is a slow gr ...entire article

ANNIVERSARY ROSE is a winning selection of speedwell bred by German branch of Dutch breeding company Florensis B.V., in Quedlinburg. It boasts pastel pink flowers composed in slim, erect spikes from late June until early autumn. Yes, this speedwell continuously produces new flowering spikes which extends it blooming season until the first frosts. Removing spent flowers will encourage formation of new flower buds. Leaves are narrowly lance-shaped, serrated at margins, deep green, and usually healthy. The plant make ...entire article

Totally Tangerine is a hybrid Chilean avens from Timothy Crowther from USA who in 1999 crossbred Mrs. Bradshaw avens with rich red flowers and geum rivale. The result is a sterile variety with handsome tangerine orange, single, about 4 cm wide flowers. They come out continuously from late May until late summer atop 70-90 cm tall, strong stems. Basal leaves are rounded, shallowly toothed, fresh green, quite showy, and can make a nice groundcover in mass plantings. They are semi-evergreen in mild winters and show purple ...entire article

FLOWERFESTA® WHITE is a compact, repeat-flowering lilac which in late May produces a profusion of pale salmon pink buds that open to pure white. They bloom for about 3 weeks, after a short pause they re-bloom in early summer, and at the beginning of autumn a new flush of flowers appears for the third time. Individual flowers are narrowly tubular, composed in large, upright panicles, and release a pleasing, sweet perfume. Leaves are rather small (3-5 cm long), rounded to ovate, deciduous, and fresh green. It f ...entire article

Purple Stem is a Himalayan sweet box variety renowned for rich maroon stems in late winter and spring. They also may (but may not) turn purplish blue in autumn just like young stems of some blue hollies. It boasts highly glossy, evergreen, narrowly lance-shaped, dark green foliage. In autumn are formed small flower buds which open during a warmer period of mid to late winder and early spring. Flowers are small, white, tinged pink, extremely fragrant, and if pollinated they are followed by dark red to almost black, sph ...entire article

Venus is a fascinating magnolia variety from Germany. From about mid April produces abundance of 14-16 cm large, fragrant flowers of noble shape. They are peony-shaped as they emerge and open into lotus-like shape in maturity. Their firm petals are deep magenta purple outside and almost white inside with some purple red veins. Individual flowers boast unique longevity of up to 12 days and often re-bloom in midsummer in a lighter shade. Being late to flower they easily escape late spring frosts. Venus magnolia is a ...entire article

Dark Eyes is a hybrid mullein bred by Harini Korlipara from Terranova Nurseris in Oregon, USA, and patent No. PP16986 was granted in 2006. It is a perennial variety producing vanilla yellow flowers with dark maroon red centres. They are composed in up to 30 cm tall, dense spikes, and as they open from the bottom upwards new, lateral branches are formed, holding flower buds for later. Blooming begins in late May and continues until midsummer. If you cut off stems with spent flowers you can prolong flowering until end A ...entire article

CHICK CHARMS® is a fascinating and beautiful series of hens and chicks including the award-winning gem Gold Nugget from 2017 that was bred by Chris Hanson and which emerges golden orange and red and shines like a real star. But it would be unfair not to mention the others which are no less beautiful and offer various shades of red, green, and blue. Houseleek is so easy to grow. Just place your plant into gritty, sharp-draining soil in full sun and enjoy its happy life. No other needs. Fertilizing is possible i ...entire article

It happened in 1899 when Mrs. Popple was giving one of her tennis parties. One of the invited was a nurseryman Clarense Elliott of Six Hills Nursery in Stevenage, England. Apart from ball and his racket he also paid attention to the plants growing around and he noticed a beautiful fuchsia just behind the court. His hostess had no idea where the plant had come from and how long it had been there. She allowed him to take cuttings for further propagation and he named the variety in honour of her name Mrs.Popple. Mrs.Popple fuch ...entire article