Grow something new and different this year with these brand new varieties. Plus 2016 has been declared the Year of the Cosmos, so I’ve picked out two great new cosmos varieties for you to try.
Petunia ‘Night Sky’
This petunia has already won an award and it is so unusual! The petals have a unique starry pattern of white speckles against a deep purple-blue colour. It’s a great trailing petunia for pots and hanging baskets.
H25cm S30cm
Cosmos ‘Rose Bonbon’
A highly ruffled fully double cosmos flowers in a powder pink. The blooms are borne on strong stems that make them great for cutting and adding height to an annual border. It flowers late summer for a romantic cottage garden style.
H60-90cm
Cosmos ‘Xanthos’
Named the world’s first yellow cosmos, this pastel-toned variety is a compact plant that is not susceptible to wind damage. It has ferny foliage and a good branching habit with 5cm blooms from May to October.
H60cm S40cm
Rudbeckia ‘Russet Glow’
This unusual rudbeckia is a hardy perennial. It has stunning burnt copper petals with yellow and orange tones and dark centres. Flowers from June to the first frosts. It’s great for cutting and popular with pollinators too.
H40-50cm
Poppy ‘Falling in Love’ Seed Mix
A delightful mix of single and double-flowered poppies. Colours include whites, pinks, reds, mauves and even smoky grey. The annual frilly tissue paper flowers will be loved by pollinators too.
H60cm
£2.25 for 500 seeds from Mr Fothergill’s
Bacopa ‘Secrets XXL Double Lavender’
A very large-flowered bacopa with double blooms in a pale lavender colour. It is a spreading or trailing plant that’s ideal for containers or ground cover. The flowers have a delicate, elegant shape.
Dahlia ‘Verrone’s Obsidion’
An unusual deep red or burgundy dahlia in a Catherine wheel shape that’s great for cutting. It has a yellow centre and pointed petals that curl in on themselves. The plant flowers in mid to late-summer and has mid-green foliage.
H60cm
Chrysanthemum carinatum ‘Cockade’
An annual chrysanthemum with eye-catching concentric yellow and deep red rings around a dark burgundy centre. It’s an easy-to-grow plant that flowers for months on end and will attract bees and butterflies.
Sweet Pea ‘Emilia Fox’
This large-flowered variety of sweet pea has attractive waved petals in distinctive deep red and pinky-purple colours. It’s a highly fragrant variety that’s great for climbing up trellis and makes for good cut flowers.
H180cm
£2.15 for 20 seeds from Mr Fothergill’s
Delphinium x cultorum ‘F1 Raider Blue’
An unusual double-flowered delphinium with a relaxed shape and style. The outer petals are a vibrant blue with more muted lavender tones on the inner petals. It’s also great for cutting.
H1.5m
David Domoney is a Chartered Horticulturalist, Broadcaster, and Author. David has worked with a number of the UK’s leading garden retailers as a plant buyer and strategic consultant. With more than 30 years experience, in horticulture, David is as passionate about plants now as he was when he bought his first plant at a village fete.
Lovely – I wonder if the bees will be able to find their way in on some of the double flowered varieties though…
I wondered the same thing! Same with the finches looking for seeds.
Sure they will humming birds love these…..