New Flowering Plants for Gardeners to Try

If you are a gardener, you probably have some favorite plants that you grow year after year. But you might also like to try new plants sometimes.

Gardening expert Jessica Damiano recently reported for the Associated Press about one way to find new plants that might appeal to growers.

Each year, the independent, nonprofit organization All-America Selections (AAS) enlists more than 80 horticultural professionals from around the United States and Canada to serve as plant-trial judges.

Today, we share newly developed flowering plants meant to improve the appearance of your garden.

Plants for a beautiful garden

Celosia Flamma Pink is an upright flowering plant.

This pink variety is the latest introduction in the Flamma Celosia series. It is a small, easy-to-grow celosia noted for strong blooming and vibrant, long-lasting flowers.

Judges praised its good performance even in hot and humid weather. It also lasts a long time in a container after it is cut. The plant is bred by Clover Seed Company.

Vinca Sphere Polkadot is a flat wide-petaled flower.

Judges called this vinca variety resilient and beautiful. With a naturally tightly grouped, rounded appearance, the plant blooms throughout the summer. It grows well in hot, dry conditions and has good disease resistance and durability against heavy rain and storms. It is bred by Miyoshi & Co.

Zinnia Crestar Mix combines “the best” crested zinnias in one seed pack. The pink, orange, red, white, peach and yellow flower blends well for mass plantings and succession sowing. Succession sowing means growing several plants that bloom in different seasons in your garden. Zinnia Crestar Mix can also provide a continuous supply of cut flowers during summer. The sun-loving plants also tolerated heat and humidity well in the trials. It is bred by Takii Europe.

Dahlia Black Forest Ruby has ruby-red flowers that show up nicely against dark-colored leaves. The disease-resistant plant impressed judges with its overall durability. It was bred by Takii Europe B.V.

Dianthus Interspecific Capitán Magnifica is a new dianthus plant. It thrived through the test gardens’ summer heat. Its pink flowers, that grow on long stems, can be used as cut flowers. Cutting the plants back after their first bloom can result in strong new growth and better flower production. This dianthus was bred by Selecta One.

Marigold Mango Tango is a marigold that has two-colored blooms: yellow and red. The small, strong plants provide nonstop color over an extended season. The variety was honored by European judges. It can be used for plantings in garden borders and in containers. Ernst Benary of America bred this variety.

Nasturtium Baby Gold, Nasturtium Baby Red, and Nasturtium Baby Yellow were also praised by European judges.

These new, small nasturtiums produce golden-yellow, rich red and soft yellow flowers that look pleasing next to their dark-green leaves. The judges praised their uniformly small appearance. Takii Europe BV bred these flowers.

Petunia Dekko Maxx Pink is easy to grow and grows quickly.

These spreading, flat blooms excited the judges during summer trials. Flowers covered the plants throughout the season and held up well against heavy rain and bad weather. It was bred by Syngenta Flowers.

Petunia Shake Raspberry F1 has been compared to “a blended raspberry milkshake swirled with lemon-lime green sorbet on a superior-performing petunia.” This flower resisted heat and provided colorful blooms all season. It was bred by Hem Genetics BV.

Snapdragon DoubleShot Yellow Red Heart F1 smells like sweet candy. It bloomed earlier than similar varieties in the trials. Trial judges noted its healthy, strong growth, long-lasting flowers, and good heat tolerance. Hem Genetics also bred this variety.

And finally, Zinnia Zydeco Fire is a disease-resistant zinnia variety that is fiery orange colored with strong stems. Judges found its flowers to be larger and more resilient than those of similar plants. Syngenta Flowers bred this variety as well.

We hope this list provides you with ideas for your garden planting wherever you are.

I’m Caty Weaver.

The Associated Press gardening expert Jessica Damiano wrote this report. Caty Weaver adapted it for VOA Learning English.

gardener –n. a person who grows plants for food or beauty

enlist –v. to use in a certain way

horticulture –n. the science of growing garden plants

variety –n. a particular kind of thing that belongs to a larger group of similar things

bloom –v. to produce flowers

vibrant –adj. bright in color and healthy in appearance

breed –v. to cause a plant to reproduce in a controlled way so that the offspring have desired qualities

petal –n. the colorful, round, flat part of a flower

resilient –adj. able to recover from bad conditions or treatment

durability –n. the ability to last and to not be damaged from use

tolerate –v. to be able to withstand something

humidity –n. the amount of water gas that is in the air, usually measured as a percentage

thrive –v. to reproduce, develop and to be in good health

stem –n. the long parts of a plant that hold up flowers

uniform –adj. similar in appearance

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Word highlighting is estimated until aligned timings are added.