Little Duck Marigolds

Pom-pom style Marigolds are retro chic 

Another plant from Grandma’s day that’s currently seeing an uptick in popularity is the Marigold, so we’ve been experimenting with different varieties. We lean toward the African pom-pom style with big two-inch blooms, and thick doubles with tight crinkles in the petals. Usually they grow on tall, thick stems but we have a new series that brings the look to a smaller, tighter package.

Big African-type heads top these tidy, short plants

Unique tubular blooms are popular with hummingbirds and butterflies

‘Vermillionaire’ has been around for a while—it’s a great hummingbird attractor. If you give this plant full sun you’ll get brilliant orange flowers all summer long, even through the heat. Notice the unusual tubular shape of the blooms.

Though they are small, the flowers make up for their size with the abundance of blooms that appear on the plant at any given time. Full sun also brings out red and yellow highlights in the orange. It’s striking planted en masse in the landscape.

What these flowers lack in size they make up for in quantity

We also like to use Firecracker plant in window boxes and containers because it plays so nicely with others. This selection reaches 18–28 inches tall but it grows upright so it doesn’t overpower a combination.

‘Vermillionaire’ comes in the 4.5-inch pot.

 
A fun new bicolor Supertunia

Bicolor Petunias bring a lighthearted element to a design and we’ve added a fun new selection to our Supertunia collection. ‘Lovie Dovie’ has large white flowers that are slightly ruffled, with a vibrant magenta star pattern on each one. We especially like the way these blooms brighten a dreary old cement planter—they pop against the gray.

Supertunias are vigorous with a mounded, trailing habit so we use them as both fillers and spillers in containers. Unique ‘Lovie Dovie’ is an eye-catcher trailing out of baskets or window boxes, or planted en masse in those extra large urns you see in plazas. Plants bloom continuously without the need for deadheading—so there’s more time to enjoy all the hummingbirds and butterflies.

‘Lovie Dovie’ is available in the 8-inch pot.