New Varieties Plants and Hydrangeas
They’re always coming out with so many different varieties of plant. And the simple fact is, no single nursery can carry every variety out there.
We try to take the best of each size or color and bring those best plants in the best varieties of those plants, so there’s not a lot of overlap. We can always get stuff in if we don’t have it in stock.
One of my favorite new ones a few years ago was Lava Lamp Flare, and Lava Lamp Flare is like a dwarf Pinky-Winky. It’s a paniculata, so it’s a cone shaped flower, but it’s got bright red stems with green leaves. So even when it’s not blooming, there’s some two-tone color to the plant. There’s value to the plant beyond what just the flowers are.
There’s plenty of other plants now that stay small like that one, but they don’t have that two-tone foliage. So why not plant something that’s gonna have interest beyond just the flowering stage? I planted some of those by my deck a few years ago, and they’re just beautiful.
Over the last 10 years we’ve seen a lot of different varieties. I met with some of the large growing nurseries and plant breeders here last summer and when we sat down they were asking us, ‘What do you guys want and what are your customers asking for?’ The biggest thing I told him, when we’re sitting in this meeting, like stop reinventing the wheel. We don’t just need another variety of plant to have another variety of plant. I understand that you’re marketing, that’s how you want to grow your business, but I want a plant that solves a problem that is truly unique. Those are the things that I’m looking for. If there’s not a unique aspect to this plant, why are we producing? It’s just another plant that I’ve got to try to carry in my inventory that people are gonna ask about.
We got a new one last year called Toy Soldier. It’s a type of Oakleaf hydrangea and the new growth comes out like an orangish yellow, hardens off to a green. The foliage turns a beautiful orange red in the fall, and then it gets its normal big white flowers on it in the summertime, but it’s super highly resistant to disease. One of the problems with oakleaf hydrangeas is they get a black spot fungus on them, and this plant is completely resistant to that black spot fungus. That’s the kind of unique, problem solving plant we’re looking for.
Questions? Email us at [email protected] or call one of our two locations: Portage (330-499-0101) or Everhard (330-492-1243).
