A perfect storm of Mother's Day, sunshine, and annual planting time converge to make this the biggest nursery shopping weekend of the year. My husband fondly remembers buying and planting red geraniums for his Mom every year; in our family Mother's Day was all about fuchsia baskets. Today's equivalents are probably coleus and abutilons, but the celebration of Moms and spring and warmer weather is pretty much the same.
Since you'll no doubt be cruising a nursery or two in the next few days, here's a heads up on a couple of very cool new plants due out this spring:
Sapphire Indigo clematis is an award winner for its profuse dark violet flowers which open from spring through autumn. This is an easy to manage clematis, because it grows slowly and so compact that it's ideal to grow in a pot or along a low fence.
Sunny Knock Out rose looks like a small-scale version of the classic 'Sally Holmes' which is one of the most beloved roses, ever. It seems an improvement over other roses in the Knock Out series, but maybe that's just because I love yellow roses...the fragrant flowers are larger than other Knock Outs, and they open a bright yellow and fade to cream. 'Sunny' is tough and disease resistant, and grows four to five feet tall and three feet wide.
Magical fantasy weigela (W. florida 'Kolsunn') was bred by a cut flower guy in the Netherlands, and no wonder - both variegated foliage and long-blooming pink flowers are great vase fodder. This pretty weigela isn't one of those leggy old-fashioned ones, but tops out at a trim three to four feet tall and wide.
All photos courtesy of Monrovia
