Plants that Impress

It's the last day of January and there is over a foot of snow on the ground here in Michigan, but spring is almost here. I say this because we turned on the heat in our greenhouses today. We are waking up our plants, so we can start propagating. 

Last year, I didn't post all that much and I'm going to blame it on Covid. The pandemic had such a strong impact on the nursery business and we've been incredibly busy trying to keep up with the demand for plants. My Delta account is full of cancelled tickets, because I did not go to Italy, Germany, Korea or the Netherlands as I had planned. On the positive side I did spend more time in our trial garden, R&D greenhouse and breeding fields evaluating plants. Today I want share with you some of the plants that impressed me the most. Hopefully you'll see something you like, and the spring and summer photos will warm you up until spring arrives for real. Enjoy.

Let's Dance Sky View™ reblooming hydrangea

With each passing year the genetics on our reblooming Hydrangea macrophylla keep getting better and better. Let's Dance Sky View hydrangea is one of the best yet. When we trial reblooming hydrangeas we cut our plants back hard in that fall and once again in the spring. We do this to simulate untimely frosts. We also trial them multiple years outdoors to make sure they'll bloom reliably in our harsh Michigan climate. If they bloom here, the should bloom anywhere. As you can see from the photographs below, Let's Dance Sky View excelled in both our trials, blooming nicely after being cut back as a container or having been frozen back in our field. When treated with aluminum sulfate or grown in acid garden soil, the flowers are an attractive sky blue color.  

Plants on the left were cut in fall and the plants on the right were cut back again in spring

Let's Dance Sky View hydrangeas flowered well after freezing back to the ground in 2020 and 2021.

'Viva Polonia' and Happy Jack® Purple Clematis 

So many consumers are disappointed by clematis and it's not their fault. We set out to change that.  You many not know it, but most clematis varieties on the market are selected for their flower size and how they perform for the grower, while we select ours based on garden performance. 'Viva Polonia' and Happy Jack Purple offer the very best in terms of garden performance. Here you can see how they looked in our trial garden last summer. Simply amazing! 

'Viva Polonia' clematis in our test garden 

Unique reddish-pink, star-like flowers on 'Viva Polonia' clematis

Happy Jack Purple is always looking happy and healthy

Happy Jack Purple climbing on a Quick Fire hydrangea 

Puffer Fish™ Hydrangea paniculata

Puffer Fish™ hydrangea is a new selection developed at North Carolina State University that will be at retail in a year or so.  Think of it as a super-sized Bobo hydrangea. Just like Bobo, it has full, lacy blooms from top to bottom, but the blooms are much bigger. The flowers open pure white and remain white until they transition in fall to a light green. It's also quite distinct in that new flowers continue to produce at the tip of the panicle, making it looks as if the puffer fish flowers are spitting a bit of water. Puffer Fish has been a standout in all our trials.   

Puffer Fish hydrangea in our trail garden
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At full bloom it's hard to see the foliage on Puffer Fish

An easy to identify bloom, Puffer Fish blooms spit a bit of water

Wine & Spirits™ Weigela

We evaluate a lot of Weigela breeding each year and one of plants that shinned was Wine & Spirits™ weigela, a new variety developed by Megan Mathey. What I love about this selection is its fresh greenish-white flowers. I've never seen this color before and it just makes the flowers almost glow against the backdrop of its dark foliage. Growers and retailers will appreciate how well it looks in a container in the spring, and gardeners and landscapers will love how it looks in the landscape. Its unique flower color and overall flower power made it a standout in all of our trials. 

The greenish-white flowers of Wine & Spirits weigela appear to glow 

A standout Weigela in our container trials

With lots of flower power, it lights up a garden even more than Wine & Roses.

Mr. Mustard™ Sorbaria

When we trial a new variety, we compare it to similar plants on the market, and if it's not better we pass on the plant. Mr. Mustard™ Sorbaria sorbifolia was clearly brighter and more compact than 'Sem' and the others. The plant is at its best in spring when it is flushing, showing off its feathered hues of red and yellow. While other selections burn or get ragged by mid-summer, Mr. Mustard Sorbaria passes inspection with its clean green foliage and cherry-red fruit. Be aware this species sends out runners in loamy soils and should only be planted in areas where it is contained. Plant in a isolated bed, or keep it contained by growing it in a decorative container. It's plenty hardy and will overwinter just fine. Its white, conical, summer blooms look a bit like Astilbe and are wonderful for attracting pollinators. This is a tough, hardy plant that performs wonderfully when in the right location.

Mr. Mustard is a colorful container plant 

At its best in spring, Mr. Mustard is colorful and compact

In the summer the foliage turns to green, as opposed to brown like 'Sem'

Sting™ Thuja occidentalis 

I am partial to columnar plants, so it is no wonder that Sting arborvitae captured my heart and imagination. This seedling selection of 'DeGroot Spire' that I sowed out some 15-18 years ago has remained exceedingly slim and attractive. Hardy and heat tolerant, use it as an exclamation point, or go all in and plant it in rows down each side of a road, like the Italians do with their narrow Mediterranean cypress, Cupressus sempervirens. Sting Thuja is a fun tree that is only limited by your imagination.       

Make a statement with Sting arborvitae, the super narrow Thuja occidentalis 

Sting arborvitae in our test garden

That's all for now. Join me soon when we'll take a look at some new and exciting plants specifically for the South. Until then, stay warm. 

Trial Garden Update

Every picture tells a story, so today's post is photographic journal of what is looking good in our trial garden. Our test garden is a fantastic resource for our nursery. It is a big investment to maintain such a large garden, but It allows us to test new plants and compare them to older cultivars.

It is here that we learn about a plants traits, both the good and bad, and determine if a plant is good enough to be introduced. Here is a sampling of plants that caught my eye over the last few weeks. What do you like and why?  

Calycanthus 'Aphrodite'

Festivus Gold a new compact ninebark from the Netherlands with bright gold foliage

Black Lace Elderberry is at its best when you let it grow big

Golden Glitter new variegated selection of Halward's Silver dwarf spirea. Every inch is covered with flowers.

Summer Wine Ninebark is wide, cascading shrub that flowers all along the stems.

Spilled Wine Weigela continues to impress visitors.  

Happy Face White Potentilla flowers earlier and heavier than other selections

Oso happy Smoothie is thornless shrub rose. It's a personal favorite. Very hardy. Very floriferous.   

Glow Girl Spirea is as neat as a pin without pruning. Great flowers, foliage, form and fall color.

Reblooming Flowering Shrubs: Part I

With the advent of Endless Summer Hydrangea there has been a lot of interest in reblooming shrubs. And why not? Garden space is valuable and you should get the most out of your shrubs. Here are few of my favorite rebloomers.

Indigofera pseudotinctoria 'Rose Carpet'

Leptodermis oblonga

Bloomerang Purple Lilac

Viburnum plicatum 'Summer Snowflake

Ghost Weigela

I don't want to overload you with too many images so I will show you some more rebloomers in my next post. You can learn more about each plant by clicking on the plant name. What have I missed? What are good rebloomers for you?

New Plants at the Mid-Am Tradeshow

I just got back from a week in Chicago at the Mid-Am nursery tradeshow. Nursery tradeshows are a great place to get a feel for the nursery and gardening industry, to see what’s new and to discover new trends. Here are a few of the highlights of the show and a taste of what’s to come in terms of new plants.



One of the highlights of the show was the appearance of Dutch nurseryman, and My Monet Weigela originator Bert Verhoef. Bert was at the show signing posters of his new 18” tall, green, cream and pink Weigela. It was interesting to see people lining up to get their personally signed poster, and to hear their glowing comments of how the plant has brightened the home garden. I was able to procure some of these beautiful posters and will send a signed copy to the first five people (North America addresses only) that send in a request.

In terms of new plants here are some of my favorites:

Reblooming Hydrangea continue to hit the market. Blushing Bride Hydrangea is a new addition to the ‘Endless Summer’ line. This plant has white flowers that are tinged with pink. Personally I like this plant better than the original Endless Summer. The white flowers combine well with other plants in the garden, and the plants themselves are not as tall as the original.




I am particularly excited about Let’s Dance Hydrangea ‘Moonlight and Let’s Dance ‘Starlight; two new rebloomers with large mop-head and lace-cap blooms respectively. I had better be excited about these plants, because the Let’s Dance series comes out of my personal breeding program (full disclosure). My breeding goal was to develop rebloomers with more intense flower color and improved foliage quality. I think I’ve achieved my goals and this is particularly exciting because Endless Summer is just the starting point in the reinvention of the Hydrangea macrophylla.




Two new yellow leafed Barberry were launched at the Mid-Am; Sunjoy ‘Gold Beret’ is a new dwarf mounded plant that stands less than 12” in height, and Sunjoy ‘Gold Pillar’ is new upright, columnar plant with bright yellow foliage. Both plants are noted for superior sun burn resistance. Gold Beret was developed by Stanley Talago of the US and Gold Pillar is a new introduction out of Poland.



When looking for the best new perennials Dan Heims at Terra Nova is always a must visit during tradeshow season. The plant breeding at Terra Nova goes well beyond Heuchera. I was particularly excited about his new, zone 6 hardy Begonia ‘Metallic Mist’ that looks a lot like a tender Rex Begonia, and his new intense orange coneflower, Echinacea ‘Tiki Torch’. While there are many new Echinacea hybrids on the market this beauty is the result of a wide cross recovered through embryo rescue. In layman’s terms this means it will not set seed and become weedy in the garden like other Echinacea hybrids. I’ve always hated unwanted Echinacea seedlings in my garden and Dan has solved the problem and delivered really exceptional color.

All I can say is thank goodness I’m in the plant business. There is always something new and better each year. And what beautiful products we have; products that make the world a better place, one yard at a time.

Changing the Way We Garden

Changing the Way We Garden

Every once in a while, a new plant comes along and changes the way we garden. Case in point, Weigela florida (pronounced: Why-gel-ah). New introductions are forcing landscapers and gardeners to reassess its value and its how its used.

Long considered an overly large, old fashioned shrub of one dimension, newly introduced cultivars have extended its season of color and opened up new landscape applications.

The first major shift came about eight years ago when Herman Geers developed and introduced Wine & Roses Weigela, Weigela florida ‘Alexandra’ pp#10,772. Wine & Roses Weigela, with its dark burgundy foliage, proved that Weigela had ornamental value beyond its two to three week spring bloom time. While Geers developed the plant as an ornamental cut branch for the European cut flower market, it also made a big impact on the North American garden. It sparked a resurgence in the popularity or Weigela, as people began to use it in ways never considered before. Most radically, perennial gardeners began to realize that this plant was right at home in the perennial garden; a perfect complement to Rudbeckia, Perovskia, Echinops and a host of other pink, blue or silver herbaceous plants. Additionally, it found advocates that used the plant in mixed decorative containers and yes, of course, in the cut flower garden. No one ever dreamed of using Weigela ‘Red Prince’ or any of the older cultivars in such untraditional ways.

The next paradigm shift came about six years ago with the introduction of Midnight Wine Weigela, Weigela florida ‘Elvera’ pp#12,217, another Herman Geers development with dark burgundy leaves. At a mature size of 12 to 18 inches, as opposed to the typical 5 to 8' height of the species, this Weigela opened up even more garden applications. Before this plant, no one their right mind would have considered using Weigela as a bedding plant, edging plant or as a ground cover, but that is what’s happening today. In the spring of 2006, My Monet Weigela, Weigela florida ‘Verweig’ pp#16,824, joins Midnight Wine in this new class of miniature cultivars. This much anticipated gem sports brightly colored, tricolor leaves of cream, green and pink. Each of these minis can be used in place of such as coleus, silver mound Artemisia, creeping phlox, candy tuft and so on. You get the idea. A shrub that was recently seen only as a farmhouse relic is now perfectly at home in an annual display, perennial bed, a decorative patio container or for that matter a window box.

Plants like this change everything, and they keep gardening fun. As a plant hunter, I am always thinking about new directions in plant breeding and how they will change the way we garden. I am always on the hunt for plants that make gardening more rewarding or solve a problem. As residential lots get smaller and smaller, and as time becomes more precious, people will have less room in their garden for large, short season shrubs that require a lot of care.

New plants, particularly new flowering shrubs, are changing the way we garden.