This is our second article on new introductions to Hortech’s lineup in 2023.
‘Poquito’ Lavendar Hyssop – Agastache
(Dwarf Hummingbird Mint) is prized for its compact bushy growth, long season of bloom, large flowers, and tolerance to heat and drought. Densely packed, bright lavender-pink flower spikes bloom from summer to mid-fall, attracting hummingbirds and other pollinators. A true garden work horse, it provides color, cut flowers, and sweet minty fragrance.
Poquito™ is a fitting name for the most compact series of Agastache plants available – a whole new way to enjoy this favorite waterwise perennial. These native hybrids are small and tidy, making them a perfect fit for small space gardens, containers, and sidewalk gardens. Give these Agastache plants the front row of your garden for non-stop blooms and pollinators. Plant it with other waterwise perennials such as ‘May Night’ Salvia, Penstemon pinifolius, Dianthus, and Nepeta. Not fussy, Agastache plants require well-drained soil and a sunny location. They are drought-tolerant once established. Deadhead spent flowers in summer to encourage more blooms, but leave some spent flowers standing over winter (songbirds love the seeds).
Butterfly Bush – Buddelia
Baby Bloomer Hot Pink
Baby Bloomer® Hot Pink is one well behaved butterfly bush, and grows only 2 1/2-feet-tall with an upright habit of silvery green foliage. Its sharply pointed, hot-pink floral spikes are long lasting and borne July through October upon stems that flare outward at 30-degree angles- like a firework that just exploded.
Baby Bloomer Magenta
Baby Bloomer® Magenta Pink is compact and as wide as its 2 1/2′-to 3-foot height. It never flops, always bears masses of richly magenta broadly triangular flower spikes and attracts masses of butterflies from July into October.
Flower Show Lavender
Flower Shower® Lavender might have been called ‘First and Last’, as it is first and last to bloom, beginning in July and flowering nonstop until November. During this exceptionally long bloom season it always looks clean and beautiful, with flowers cascading gracefully like a shower of lavender. And, in many ways, it is the perfect butterfly bush, imposing and beautiful, perfectly symmetrical, and never flopping, And, because of this its companions are limitless.
Mini Marvel Raspberry Purple
Mini Marvel® Raspberry Purple is a real miniature… growing like a squatty juniper in habit. But it’s chubby, raspberry-purple flower spikes are not miniature and show up handsomely against the deep green foliage. Due to its unusually dwarf habit, Mini Marvel® Raspberry Purple pairs nicely with many perennials.
Artic Fox Rose Foxglove – Digitalis purpurea
A superior selection of Foxglove, Digitalis, Arctic Fox Rose brings magnificent tall spikes of velvety rose bells from spring through late summer. Its wonderful flowers stay upright and don’t flop like other varieties. Another outstanding quality — it comes back reliably, even after a harsh winter. Arctic Fox Rose is a true perennial hybrid foxglove that comes back year after year instead of biennially, like other foxgloves. Spectacular in the garden and in containers. A test garden top performer. Deer and rabbit resistant. Poisonous if eaten.
We’ve been amazed at how long Arctic Fox Rose Foxglove blooms. Here at Thoms Bros it started in late spring and continued on and on throughout summer. Arctic Rose Foxglove is ideal for cottage gardens, cutting gardens, beds, and pollinator gardens. Try it in the center of your mixed containers for a super thriller.
Evergreen Solomon’s Seal – Disporopsis permyi Bill Baker
Disporopsis is an Asian genus closely related to polygonatum (Solomon’s seal). Despite the fact that many of our disporopsis hail from warmer climates, we have been amazed at their winter hardiness…some to Zone 5! Disporopsis are great, easy-to-grow woodland plants that combine well with both ferns and hostas.
Like their cousins, polygonatum, disporum, and uvularia, disporopsis prefer a woodland environment with partial shade and rich soil. Disporopsis is a tough genus whose members tolerate deep shade. Over time, disporopsis plants slowly spread on compact rhizomes to form colonies. In the spring, disporopsis produces white pendulous bell-shaped flowers that are followed in the fall by dangling purple berries (dangleberries?)
Molly’s White Lenten Rose – Helleborus FrontKiss
Clean white blooms are large and in mass on this hybrid Lenten Rose backed with gorgeous silvery-green marbled foliage. Molly’s White will brighten the partially shaded garden and will slowly naturalize. Like all of the Frostkiss® Hellebores, the evergreen foliage is attractive year-round and the beautiful early spring blooms are early compared to other perennials but compared to other Hellebore they are one of the last to bloom, making this series a favorite for the shaded landscape!
FantAsiatic Hot-Spot Pink Asiatic Lilly – Lillium
Asiatic Lilies are easy, dependable perennials that put on a great show in the early summer border. This selection features large, soft to deep-pink trumpets, colorful but lacking in fragrance. Stems are mid-sized to tall, and excellent for cutting. Lilies are a good choice for tubs or mixed containers. Divide every three years in October, moving to a new location. Remove old stems in late fall to help discourage diseases.
