Add some color to your production plans.

Whether you’re a rookie or pro at producing perennials, check out these new plants from breeders around the world. For a comprehensive list of new perennial introductions, see the August issue of Greenhouse Management & Production.

1. AJUGA
Ajuga ‘Sparkler’ from Terra Nova Nurseries has thick, dark green, shiny foliage covered in creamy-white splashes that light up the floor of a garden. ‘Sparkler’ has hybrid vigor and produces blue flowers in spring. It reaches 3 inches tall and 10-24 inches wide. It is hardy in USDA Hardiness Zones 6-9.

2. ALOE
Rancho Tissue Technologies has released an aloe hybrid. ‘Sunset’ has a light pink tinge to the foliage and red trimmed edges. It should be planted in full sun to preserve its unique coloring. ‘Sunset’ is drought tolerant, cold hardy and heat loving.

3. ASYSTASIA
Asystasia ‘Manaus’ from GroLink is a creeping, herbaceous perennial that reaches 4-6 inches tall and produces glossy green and yellow variegated leaves. It grows best in full to partial sun. In the summer and fall this plant will produce funnel-shaped, deep purple to white flowers. It makes an excellent ground cover for the landscape or can be used as a trailing component plant in mixed containers. Hardy in Zones 9-11.

4. COREOPSIS
Coreopsis verticillata ‘Route 66’ from ItSaul Plants produces yellow flowers with a beautiful ring of burgundy around the crown that bleeds down to the petal tips. Discovered by Patti Bauer of Bauer’s Forever Flowers in Lucinda, Pa., it has come back for three years in USDA Hardiness Zone 5. It prefers full sun to partial shade and grows to 24 inches tall. Hardy in Zones 5-9 and possibly colder.

5. DIANTHUS
Dianthus ‘Hearts Desire’ is available from Blooms of Bressingham. It produces double bubblegum pink with darker pink eye flowers in mid to late spring with slight rebloom in fall. A sport of long-time Blooms of Bressingham favorite ‘Rosish One.’ Plants have a sturdy, uniform habit making them good for containers with excellent flower canopy. Plants reach 6-8 inches tall in flower by 10 inches wide. Hardy in Zones 4 to 8. It was developed at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

6. ECHINACEA
Echinacea purpurea ‘Hot Summer’ is exclusively available from Northwest Horticulture. Flowers open orange and fade to red. It boasts a good flower petal count and produces an abundance of blooms from late June to August. ‘Hot Summer’ grows 18 inches tall and 12-18 inches wide.

7. ERIOGONUM
Eriogonum allenii ’Little Rascal’ is a durable perennial from Jelitto that was selected for its handsome rosettes of grey-green, paddle-shaped leaves, neat, low-growing habit (16 inches tall) and consistent growth. It can be used in mass landscape plantings or combined in a well-drained border, rock garden or mixed containers. It flowers for nearly three months. Its maturing seed capsules make it an interesting addition to dried arrangements. It is very drought resistant and hardy in Zones 5-10.

8. GAILLARDIA
Mesa Yellow Gaillardia from Darwin Perennials is the first F1 gaillardia from seed and is easy to grow. This 16- to 18-inch tall first year-flowering perennial is uniform, well-branched and produces masses of huge, clean yellow flowers. An All-America Selections winner for 2010, it is hardy in Zones 5-9.

9. GERBERA
Florist de Kwakel has introduced its Garvinea winter hardy perennial gerbera, which are available in 15 different colors from Northern Innovators. Outdoors the plants’ small flowers provide a tremendous amount of color until winter. The strong plants with compact foliage can take cold temperatures.

10. HOSTA
Walters Gardens has released ‘Tropical Storm,’ an exceptionally showy new sport of ‘Rainforest Sunrise’. Heart-shaped, puckered leaves of good substance emerge green with a light green margin, but then quickly develop wide, brilliant yellow gold margins which remain all season. Lavender flowers top the clump in early to midsummer. Plants reach 8-10 inches tall and 16 inches wide. It is hardy in Zones 3-9.

11. LEONOTIS
Leonotis menthifolia ‘Savannah Sunset’ from Skagit Gardens produces furry, orange flowers on tall stems. Flower clusters are perfectly round, arranged in whorls. With age, new growth appears from each blossom center, creating an interesting tiered effect. Light green, bushy foliage is aromatic with somewhat woody stems. Plants reach 60–72 inches tall and 36 inches wide.

12. PHLOX
The Phlox paniculata Candy Store series, exclusively from Novalis Plants that Work, includes Bubblegum Pink, Coral Crème Drop, Cotton Candy and Grape Lollipop. This mildew resistant series consists of compact, well-branched varieties that produce bright, fragrant flowers that appear from early summer until fall. Plants reach 18-22 inches tall and 18-24 inches wide. These full sun plants should be planted in a well-drained soil. Hardy in Zones 3-9.

13. PHYSOSTEGIA
Physostegia virginiana ‘Crystal Peak White’ from Benary is excellent for mass plantings or as a filler in mixed combination planters. The 16-inch tall, well-branched plant produces a multitude of bright white flower spikes that do not fade or brown as they age. It is hardy in Zones 2-9.

14. PULSATILLA
The Pulsatilla vulgaris Pinwheel series from Syngenta Flowers includes Dark Red Shades, Blue Violet Shades and White. Plants produce interesting looking flowers with contrasting yellow centers over fine-textured foliage. This is a unique impulse item for early spring sales.

15. SALVIA
Danziger has added Pink to its Salvia nemorosa Sallyrosa series. This variety is tolerant to drought and low and high temperature extremes. Pink produces soft pastel-pink flower spikes that stand at attention above nicely mounded foliage. Plants have aromatic deep green basal leaves and reach 15 inches tall and 16-18 inches wide. They are well-suited for pots, patios and landscape beds. It attracts butterflies, bees and hummingbirds and is deer resistant. It’s hardy in Zones 3-8.

16. VERBASCUM
Verbascum ‘Flower of Scotland’ from Plants Nouveau produces flower buds from June to August that open a rich-wine red and mature to a soft mauve-pink. This reblooming plant grows to 5 inches tall by 6 inches wide. ‘Flower of Scotland’ comes from Dick Maas of Maas en van Stein Nurseries in the Netherlands. Plant in front of a dry border, on dry, sunny slopes, in rock gardens and in dry mixed and specimen containers. Hardy in Zones 4-8.

— Compiled by David Kuack, editor  of Greenhouse Management & Production, dkuack@gie.net.