New Plants to Attract(and Keep) New Consumers

Chris Beytes, Bill Calkins & Jennifer Zurko

Industry economists cite data showing customers who caught the gardening “bug” during the pandemic and in the years following have remained engaged with flowers and plants thanks in large part to houseplants, tropicals, potted and gift plants, and even cut flowers. It’s these categories where we’ll end our extensive new variety coverage of CAST 2024. Check out some of these intros and use them to attract and inspire plant lovers of all experience and skill levels.

You can watch all of the highlights from CAST on our videos on YouTube.

Petite Madinias from Syngenta are dipladenia-type tropicals with a more compact habit and better branching (fewer PGRs) than most others. This means lower maintenance and additional uses in containers as well as in the ground. New Petite Red has bright blooms that come early with no vining in production.

The newest members of the Inticancha series for patio pots are Paraiso (pictured), a beautiful dark purple; and Hula, with two-tone pink flowers tipped with green. Striking! These come from tissue culture and can finish in a gallon pot in just 14 to 17 weeks. Talk about traffic-stopping color!

Cut flowers are a staple for Japanese breeder Takii. In cut brassicas (cabbage/kale), the Crane series gets two new offerings: Early Red and Early White. They’re said to be seven to 10 days faster to harvest than regular Crane, with longer stems. (Pro tip: Cooler temperatures give more vivid color.) Also new in brassica: Feather Crane Snow, a white partner to Feather Crane King and Feather Crane Queen.

In calistephus (aster), the Nina Plus series is a spray aster series with small, but plentiful, flowers, strong stems and good resistance to Fusarium. Four colors: Blue, Pink, Purple and White.

6. Hydrangea My Beautiful Forest (ThinkPlants)

There were a ton of hydrangeas on display at ThinkPlants, but our favorite was called My Beautiful Forest, transitioning from green to white to light pink as the flowers age. Grown by Creekside Nursery, they looked just like florist potted hydrangeas, but we were told that these are landscape H. macrophyllas that will do fine on the patio and in the landscape.

The highlight of Schoneveld’s display was floating in thin air—literally—suspended on a magnetic turntable. Illusia is a mini cyclamen with unusual open, inverted flowers. We’re not quite sure how else to describe them; you’ll just have to look at the photo. There’s just one color right now and it’s slated for a 2026 launch. Oh, Schoneveld is trying not to refer to it as a cyclamen; they want it to be known as Illusia. We’ll see if it sticks.

This new fatsia from ThinkPlants will draw attention with its huge and multi-tone variegated foliage in yellow, lime and emerald green.

PlantHaven sources and distributes genetics from all around the world, including Hawaii, where they get colocasia from the breeding program at
University of Hawaii. New to the Royal Hawaiian line is Hawaiian Luau, the first edible/ornamental in the line, and it’s safe to say it’s the biggest edible plant we’ve ever seen. All colocasia tubers are edible when cooked; this one has tubers that are extra good for slicing and frying to make taro chips. (We just wish they’d had some on hand for us to try!)

Since it was in the entrance to their trial greenhouse, Selecta One must be putting emphasis on their dianthus program, which started in earnest in 2023 after they received the okay from USDA to bring in unrooted cuttings from offshore with no quarantine period. That opened up the market for pot carnations for holidays from Valentine’s Day through Mother’s Day. They’ve got loads of colors and plenty of POP to help you develop and sell a program. They even showed photo examples (pictured) from some of their growers and retailers.  

This vigorous, upright senecio called King Solomon is a silver-blue succulent. Tall and stately, it makes a nice companion to Senecio Blue and its more spreading habit.

12. Crassula variegata (Jaldety)

Israeli breeder/propagator Jaldety is mostly about succulents ... and not necessarily hot new hybrids, but the wonderful classic plants your grandmother or auntie might have grown, such as Crassula variegata.

This French breeder brings the ooh-la-la with their pretty cyclamen, which are exclusive in North America to Ball Seed. Along with some color additions to existing series, they have an all-new line (pictured) called Petit Moulin, or “Little Windmill,” for the interesting double flowers. They say the flowers are almost pollenless, which generally means longer-lasting—in this case, giving the flowers a shelf life of 100 days, they say—66% longer than the 60-day average of most cyclamen. Impressive! The series starts with a mix of pink and orchid shades.

Three new primula from Pacific Plug & Liner each offer a unique take on primrose. Belarinas come in more than five vibrant colors with ruffled, fragrant double flowers. The subseries Prima Belarina are larger and come in a range of colors. The primula Pollyanna series comes in eight colors with double flowers—like Belarina—but longer stems ideal for 6-in. pots. Lastly, the Pretty Polly series takes PP&L primula to another level with even larger stature for 8-in. pots.

Spreading to a low “mat” of small, chocolate-colored foliage, new Sedum Shamrock from Darwin Perennials is a full-sun succulent for containers or landscapes. Like other sedums, it’s drought tolerant and blooms in the fall. Zone 3a.
 

Is this a new genus? It’s semponium—a cross
between aoenium and sempervivum created by UK breeder Surreal Succulents. It creates thick, full, colorful succulents that combine the bold colors of aeonium with the compact, thick, full habits of sempervivum. Perfect for succulent collectors whether new or veterans.

Looking over the CAST itinerary we saw a familiar name that we didn’t expect to see on the trial stop list: Express Seed. The Ohio-based distribution company set up shop at Danziger to show off their new indoor potted plant program, InBlume, their new cut flower assortment, InFlora, and the HI Hydrangea assortment that they just picked up. GP