Fresh out of CLOTHES (Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show) in Baltimore, I made many new contacts and found many interesting plant presentations that I want to use in my future landscaping projects. I’m excited about the 2024 gardening year and the new plants and ideas that are hitting the shelves of nurseries and garden centers. In this post I will review the plants and products that interested me, but this is just a small sample that will be available in nurseries in 2024.
For more than 30 years, I’ve watched the show evolve to its current state, where the Baltimore Convention Center is filled with every type of plant and gardening tool you can imagine. And the industry’s plant lovers, growers and landscapers come in droves to see the new introductions, sort out their inventory and get ideas for the upcoming gardening season. Only wholesale for trade, there is nothing for the public to buy, but plenty to gawk at.
With over 1,500 booths across 300,000 square feet of exhibition space, the expo is huge and takes me 3 full days to get through it all. And I still miss parts of it!
With the increase in interest in houseplants, Proven winners has a new collection called leaf joy whose goal is “Staying connected and nourishing plants all year round.” This stand turned out to be one of my favorite places to explore, although I mostly use outdoor plants in my work, rather than indoor plants. But if you love plants, you love all plants! Houseplants have come a long way since their heyday in the 1970s and 1980s. Leafjoy plants come with large, informative labels with detailed instructions on how to care for your specific choice and attractive containers.
Looking through all the offerings, I immediately realized that these are not the “usual” houseplants you buy at a big box store.
Are you interested in a 100% biodegradable solution for planting your seedlings in pots? Peat-free, plastic-free, and family-owned. cow pots, They are made with composted cow manure from the family’s dairy farm to create a completely sustainable product. Genius! I have used them for years and wouldn’t use anything else. Check out my post on seed starting for more information on tips on starting seeds.
Another interesting stop was at pink soilAn eco-friendly, biochar-based potting medium for houseplants, cacti and seedlings. A sustainable solution for the extraction of peat fields. I really liked their soil mixes. Stay tuned for my reviews of this new floor.
A big draw for me, I want to know what new plants will arrive at the nurseries for the next planting season. I realize that many of the new plants will fade, but there will be some that will be a hit and stick around. Here are some that interested me:
Lugarsia Royal Waikiki Hawaiian It attracted a lot of comments and looks and I will be using this tropical plant as a container plant for my designs. It’s not the first year it’s been out, but I couldn’t find it in any retail stores.
Aspidistra ‘Tokyo Skies’ from Southern Living Collection caught my eye, but since it was a zone 8-10 plant, I knew it would be a houseplant for me. It was awesome!
I love silver foliage plants because they highlight many other plants with that contrasting gray foliage. Centaurea ‘silver swirl’ It’s on my list to get this year.
A flaming red ornamental stalwart of the fall landscape, burning bush, has been revamped to create a non-invasive variety. So many people like burning shrubs for their fabulous fall color and ease of maintenance and cultivation, that this is a boon to the landscape industry. The new variety is called ‘Seedless Fireball‘ and will be available this spring to wholesale nurseries. I can’t wait to use it!
Native plants are a huge and growing trend and I was interested in seeing many new native plant introductions to round out my native plant toolkit. I receive so many requests for landscapes, using only natives, that I welcome any new submission to meet a particular need. Native American plants is front and center with the presentation of unusual and worthy native candidates. Who says native plants are uninteresting and dirty? These new ones might change your mind.
One of my most requested solutions as a landscaper is to create a good fast growing screen to block a view like a neighboring property and provide privacy for people. For the arborvitae candidates, I have limited myself to green giants culminating in 40 to 60 feet and a width of 12 to 18 feet and Emerald greens that grow 10 to 15 feet and 3 to 4 feet wide. There was nothing in between. But now there is Junior Giant that will meet that need. Much more manageable in today’s smaller landscapes, I will definitely be purchasing this one for my clients.
Another new selection candidate I saw was ‘Jump skinny‘, a cherry laurel that has a more upright columnar habit than the older species. A screen or windbreak for tight and difficult spaces, this is now on my list to try.
I also use evergreen a lot. Leucotoe, not only because of the different colors of the landscape and hardness, but also because of its resistance to deer. If I need a deer-resistant, full-shade evergreen, I turn to Leucotoe And the more colors available, the better. Burning love Leucothoe It has dark red new foliage that ages and turns green in summer and purple in winter. He was on the purple stage when I saw him at the show, and I’m sold! I love evergreens that change color seasonally and stay manageable in the landscape.
Another deer resistant evergreen is osmanthusan evergreen false holly, and this ‘misty river‘ from Southern Plant Collection will be on my list to use this year. Deer resistance in a plant is often overrated, but osmanthus It is a stalwart plant that deer have never eaten and I love the golden variety of this plant. Brightening shady areas is another valuable addition to my shade plant palette.
Cavano’s is one of my go-to options for purchasing quality wholesale perennials for my customers. They have added a new ‘lifestyle’ plant series that is “an expertly curated line of premium and exclusive plants focused on six seasons of interest” called Brandywine Cottage. Based on the book by author, gardener, speaker, plant breeder and designer David Culp, A Year at Brandywine CottageThe plants included are tried and true plants as well as new and must-have plants. Ferns, grasses, bulbs and perennials are part of the line. David Culp, who attended the show, says of the new line of plants that he “hopes to encourage you to embrace gardening (and nature) as a lifestyle, something that enhances every facet of life.”
I totally agree with the sentiment and I looked at the selected plants and the different seasons (early spring, late spring, summer, early fall, late fall and winter) and saw that your selections are things that I really like and that I have been using. for years, plus a few new ones to me. Some of the plants like Aster ericoides snow fairy, I’ve been using it for over twenty years and thought it should be used more widely. I use an aster ground cover which is hardy and blooms profusely. snow flurry as a late flowering low mat for dry and difficult locations in full sun.
Cyclamen coum It was also on the plant selection list, which is an underused groundcover that naturalizes easily in shady conditions and has fabulous, beautifully marked foliage.
Spigelia marilandica Little Redhead It was another choice and I love this underused gem.
The one that moved me the most was reclining pachysandrathe native ground cover of pachysandra. An excellent evergreen alternative to the old invasive Pachysandra that is ubiquitous in older landscapes, it is a deer resistant native.
This is it for a successful MANTS show!
