WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-New flower varieties, Part 3

New flower varieties, Part 3

Here are more new flower varieties to try this summer in your garden.

This field of cleome is filled with a new variety, 'Senorita Rosita.' If you grow cleome you know that it self sows seeds throughout the garden, making for millions of baby cleome the next year that become weeds. 'Senorita Rosita' has flowers that don't set seeds, so the self-sowing issue isn't a problem. The plants stay nice and compact, flower all summer long and when it's done, it's done! It won't come back again next year in the form of seedlings. The bushy plant will flower all the way up and down the stalk and you won't get these long scraggly stems with a little flower on top.

There is also a new petunia variety called 'Pretty Much Picasso.' It's a small, lavender colored flower. The beauty of it is it has a green tinge around the petals. It's a creeping plant and is really nice in containers as well as planted at the edge of the bed.

Another new variety I really like is called 'Daisy Mae.' It's a Shasta daisy. The beautiful flower blooms all summer long. And what's nice about it is even if you don't dead head it, it will still keep blooming. Another way of treating it is instead of deadheading it all summer long, you can let the flowers pass and go brown, then whack the whole plant back. It will come up with a second flush of flowers in late summer. That will extend the flowering season into fall.
 
By Charlie Nardozzi