Fresh for the Mid-Summer

  Midsummer plants are ready to ship now 

We have a wide range of fresh midsummer crops shipping now in addition to the classic Begonias, Petunias, and Vincas. The peak of the season includes a lot of fun, different, and exceptional items that perform well during the high summer. Let’s take a walk through the greenhouses and have a look at what’s shipping this week:

 
Vibrant flowers of ‘Truffula Pink’ resemble those of ‘Fireworks’

‘Truffula Pink’ shows the difference that habit can make with a plant. While the flowers are very similar to Gomphrena ‘Fireworks’, the plant presents itself in a perfectly balanced way, as opposed to the wild child scaffolding style of ‘Fireworks’. If ‘Fireworks’ is the hair you wear to the rock concert, ‘Tuffula Pink’ is how you look at your job interview.

Both of these Gomphrena varieties perform well under heat and drought conditions. They’re long-blooming, attract bees and butterflies, and make great cut flowers. It’s in the presentation of their hot pink flowers that they diverge, in hairstyle and in size, with ‘Fireworks’ coming in at 48 inches tall and wide, and ‘Truffula Pink’ half that size at 22–28 inches tall and 22–26 inches wide.

‘Truffula Pink’ delivers the ‘Fireworks’ look in a plant that’s half the size

At this smaller size ‘Truffula Pink’ makes a wonderful cut flower, too. Blooms dry while on the stem so they’re ready to go into wreaths or other décor projects. It’s a very easy care plant and a fun pop of color.

Gomphrena ‘Truffula Pink’ is shipping now in the 8-inch pot. ‘Fireworks’ is available in the 8-inch pot as well.

Deep yellow flowers of ‘Showstar’ tolerate drier soil

We are trying out a new Melampodium if you need an abundance of long-lived deep yellow flowers this summer—‘Showstar’ from Benary. It has the same heat tolerance and self-cleaning habit as the favorite ‘Million Gold’ with one major difference: ‘Showstar’ handles drier soils better. Keep it in mind if you feel a need for a tougher blanket of yellow.

Melampodium ‘Showstar’ is shipping now in the 8-inch pot.