‘Cartwheel Strawberry Twist’

Bold, bright colors—that’s what comes to mind when we think of gerberas, and it’s one reason why they’ve remained so popular after all these years. They also pack a solid punch for very little maintenance and can actually be quite versatile. Whether we use them for indoor or outdoor displays we know we can count on these charming African daisies to get noticed, and elicit more than their share of smiles from the crowd. 

Diascia—backward facing spurs are full of nectar

You might find that diascia seems familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. This new selection for early spring is a South African native that’s related to the snapdragon—if you look closely you’ll notice the family resemblance. It’s a little off the beaten path so we use this variety to add a unique element to mixed combinations.

Flowers are small here but there are lots of them. Now zoom in on one and you can see the snapdragon connection: a tubular bloom with one long top petal and two side petals that have backward pointing horns, or spurs. These spurs are actually nectaries—full of the sweet stuff that keeps visiting bees buzzing.

WonderFall™ series

One of our new favorites for early spring is the WonderFall™ series from Syngenta. This high-performance trailing pansy exceeded our expectations last year, so we’re offering three unique varieties in hanging baskets to rev up the cool weather color this season. 

If we had to describe the WonderFall™ series in one word it would be vigorous. These plants spread up to three times more than traditional pansies and are simply blanketed with big, brilliant blooms. That means we get the same color coverage in a landscape bed with one-third the amount of plants—a great value.

Creative colors

Tinkering around with different color combinations helps us get a handle on which plants to pair up in a landscape bed. Let’s take a look at some of the creative displays we put together in 2016.