One of the themes of the year is multi-season and multi-use plants, plants that provide different pleasures at different seasons. In fact I've written a whole book on the subject, and it's just out.

This impressive little peach, ‘Crimson Bonfire' (left, click to enlarge), has two distinct and valuable features in addition to its succulent fruits. The fruits themselves are dark red,  almost purple, and gold in colour taking the tones of their colouring from the foliage.

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Here's a new Monarda, a first-year-flowering perennial, which is prolific, colourful, easy-to-grow and attracts pollinating insects.

'Bergamo' (left, click to enlarge) is a hardy perennial, not an annual as some catalogues say, and reaching 20-24in/50-60cm in height, sometimes as tall as 3ft/90cm, this is a well branched plant, needing spacing of 14-16in/36-41cm to show itself off well. Often considered more elegant than the more familiar forms of Monarda didyma, this hybrid has its flowers gathered in a series of tiers making up long, elegant spikes in two tones of rosy purple.

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Until about ten years ago, hardly anyone had even heard of Physocarpus and even fewer actually grew it. Now it’s at last being recogised as amongst the best deciduous foliage shrubs we have, and a new dark-leaved variety emphasises the point.

The wild species, Physocarpus opulifolius, is originally from eastern North America, where it’s named ninebark from the fact that the bark peels away in thin strips which curl into the shape the number nine. In the wild it tends to grow in damp woods and along streams but in gardens seems much more adaptable. Last winter in Poland, it survived outside in pots at -30C/-22F!

‘Midnight’ has the darkest foliage of any variety so far, a deep midnight purple with a lovely sheen, and unlike some other dark-leaved types it has a neat, compact and bushy habit - better for smaller gardens. In June and July clusters of pink-tinted white flowers line the branches, and these are followed by  black berries.

‘Midnight’ was named by John Jones of Hyfryd Plants, a small nursery in Mid Wales. “Three seedlings were selected from a batch of about 150 in the early 2000s,” John told me. “One was an exceedingly bright gold form (now discontinued as it suffered very badly from late frosts) and another was the same type as 'Lady in Red' which may be introduced in the USA. The third was ‘Midnight’. All the seedlings came from 'Diablo' which was planted next to 'Darts Gold' and obviously cross pollination had taken place.”

Look out for more Physocarpus varieties from John, and elsewhere, over the next few years.

You can order plants of Physocarpus opulifolus ‘Midnight from Plantify.

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Astelias are unusual perennials. Most silver foliage plants grow best in relatively dry conditions but astelias are more adaptable. They grow naturally in boggy places in New Zealand and so will take more moisture in gardens than you might expect; but they've also proven to be drought tolerant.

The problem is that although they make very effective foliage plants for the late spring and the summer, in autumn and especially in winter they can look rather ragged.

The smart approach comes in two parts. First, try this new Astelia hybrid - ‘Silver Shadow'. A cross between two of the most widely grown species, A. chathamica and A. nervosa, it's vigorous, it develops into an impressively architectural specimen up to 39in/1m high and it has more brightly silvered leaves than any others astelias.

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Cambridgeshire plant breeder David Kerley is known the world over for his Tumbelina series of double petunias. They're the best; that's all there is to it. He's also introduced many many other fine petunias as well as phygelius, primroses, violas, chrysanthemums and more. I've featured him a number of times here on the RHS New Plants blog, and I'm happy to do so again here with a one-off petunia, Martha Washington (‘Kermartha')

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Spiraea betulifolia is not a shrub that most gardeners will know. It has just three stockists in the RHS PlantFinder and I only recollect ever seeing it once or twice. It’s a small shrub with neat rounded, toothed leaves and clusters of white flowers in early summer.

Then the variety ‘Tor’ appeared, a neatly mounded form with lovely autumn foliage in red, gold, yellow, bronze and purple. Now we have ‘Tor Gold’.

This neat deciduous shrub reaches about 2ft/60cm high and as much across, and the foliage opens in bright yellow in spring. As the foliage continues to retain its eye-catching colouring, the clusters of white flowers open in June. As the flowers fade the foliage changes to a yellowish green through the summer then in autumn undergoes quite a transformation. In yellow, purple, pink and greenish tones it makes a lovely specimen for its autumn colour.

‘Tor Gold’ was found in The Netherlands in 2008 as a sport on a plant of ‘Tor’ which, because it will take very low temperatures, is grown widely in gardens and as a landscape plant in Scandinavia and in Eastern Europe. ‘Tor Gold’ is equally tough.

Happy in full sun and any reasonable soil, its yellow foliage, white flowers and very colourful autumn foliage – combined with its neat growth – make this a fine plant for small gardens and for containers.

You can order plants of Spiraea betulifolia ‘Tor Gold’ from The Plantsman’s Preference.

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We’ve seen some impressive developments in tomato growing for home gardeners in recent years, and many have come from the world of commercial tomato growing. But some varieties are developed specially for the home gardener, and they include these two new dwarf bush tomatoes from The Netherlands, ‘Donna’ and ‘Tarzan’. Both are ideal for patio pots

‘Donna’ (above) develops into a spreading plant 20-25cm high and 50-60cm wide making a broad specimen ideal for baskets and trailing over the edge of large tubs. It does not need support. Even in a 30cm pot each plant should produce about one hundred fruits, in trusses of seven to ten, over a long season. Each fruit is about 3cm across and has a fresh sweet flavour. While not completely resistant, ‘Donna’ is very tolerant of blight.

‘Tarzan’ (left, click to enlarge) matures into a larger plant, up to 40cm high and 50cm wide, making a more upright specimen better given a tub of its own or used as a centrepiece in a large container. With fruits 5cm or slightly more in diameter, and a very thin skin, a dense meaty flesh and a sharper taste, ‘Tarzan’ is ideal for sandwiches and the barbecue. Each plant should produce at least a kilo of fruit in trusses of three to five. This too has a good tolerance of blight.

You can order a collection which includes both varieties from Simply Seeds and Plants.

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I’ve lost count of the number of excellent hardy geraniums that Alan Bremner has developed at this garden up in the Orkney Islands, but you’ll find that many of the best and many of your favourites originate there.

Amongst those he raised are ‘Anne Thomson’, ‘Dilys’, ‘Joy’, ‘Orkney Cherry’, ‘Patricia’, ‘Sabani Blue’ and ‘Sirak’. His latest is ‘Dreamland’.

Originally discovered in Orkney back in 1998, it then underwent five years of trials in The Netherlands where not only did it prove reliable, prolific and long flowering but also it happily survived temperatures down to -5F/-20C.

Making a plant about 16in/40cm high, and about the same in width, from May to September ‘Dreamland’ produces a long succession of pale pink flowers with darker veins shading down to a white centre, all set against fresh green toothed foliage.

Ideal as ground cover under well-spaced roses, Dreamland is also very useful towards the front of the border in a small garden. Spilling out of a container, it’s lovely around a purple-leaved Cordyline. Dreamland is happy in any reasonable soil that is not parched or waterlogged in full sun or partial shade.

Geranium Dreamland (‘Bremdream’) is available from Crocus, from Mr Fothergill, from Plants Galore and from Woottens Plants.

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For many years Thompson & Morgan have been offering a reward for new plants discovered by their customers and that the company introduces in their catalogue. Now I know some people have been a little sceptical about this offer but in fact quite a few T&M customers have had their new plants taken up and received the reward.

Plants that T&M have introduced which originated from a find by a customer include: Digitalis ‘Primrose Carousel’, French marigold ‘Mr Majestic’, nasturtium ‘Flame Thrower’, Sweet Pea ‘Ballerina Blue’ and also a vegetable, Tomato ‘Sungella’. Now there’s also a new Petunia, ‘Sparklers’.

A white form petunia with unique star-shaped flowers was found by T&M customer Edward Cragen of Bexleyheath in Kent and in 1998 he sent seed to Thompson & Morgan. Their plant breeding team set to work to stabilise the variety and add new colours and this year have introduced ‘Sparklers Mixed’ (above, click to enlarge), a mixture of colours, all with these unique starry flowers. Also, the leaves are pointed to match the flowers.

‘Sparklers Mixed’ was trialed all over Europe by Fleuroselect, the pan-European organisation that trials new plants and gives awards to the best. Last year Petunia ‘Sparklers Mixed’ was recognised as an Approved Novelty, confirming it as new, different and without off-types that would spoil the display.

If you’re interested in finding out more about how to find or breed new plants, and perhaps win that £500, take a look at T&M’s detailed guide to finding or developing new plants.

You can order seed of Petunia ‘Sparklers Mixed’ from Thompson & Morgan, or order plants of Petunia ‘Sparklers Mixed’ from Thompson & Morgan

 

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There’s been a great deal of new development in phlox recently, but most of it has been with the tall, summer flowering border phlox. The new Paparazzi series of phlox are different. These new phlox are spring flowering, fragrant and they’re short and bushy.

Developed in Japan mainly from forms of the familiar spring flowering species Phlox divaricata and P. subulata, plants in the Paparazzi Series reach about 8-10in/20-25cm high and about 12-18in/30-45cm across. The mass of flowers, often held on dark stems opens over neat narrow foliage.

Hayloft Plants are offering three varieties from the series. ‘Paparazzi Angelina’ is lavender, with a tiny purple eye, and is named for the actress Angelina Jolie; ‘Paparazzi Lindsay’ open in rose pink and develops richer pink tones, and is named for the actress Lindsay Lohan; while ‘Paparazzi Miley’ is pink with sparky dark purple eye, and is named for singer and actress Miley Cyrus.

Flowering from March to May, these evergreen perennials will thrive in retentive soil in full sun or in partial shade and make lovely additions to the spring tapestry. Clipping them over as the flowers fade will neaten them up and may prompt the appearance of more flowers.

You can order these Paparazzi Series phlox individually or as a collection from Hayloft Plants.

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Over the last twenty years, black kale has gone from a plant that no one had heard of, to a fashionable vegetable, to an unexpected ornamental and then to cause of frustration. Also known as Tuscan kale, Cavolo Nero, Lacinato kale and Tuscan cabbage, amongst other things, it’s an important ingredient in traditional Italian minestrone.

The problem has been that while many of us wanted to grow it, the plants we grew were rarely very consistent. I know when I grew it years ago as a summer foliage plant no two were quite the same. Now comes a British-bred variety, ‘Black Magic’, which solves that problem and which also brings other great qualities.

As well being uniform in colour, the foliage of ‘Black Magic’ is darker than earlier forms and with more intense puckering. The leaves are a little narrower, it’s much less likely to bolt, and its frost resistance is even better than before. Ready to pick about three months from sowing, baby leaves are ready in about 30 days and when harvested as a baby leaf crop, its leaves are more tender. And there’s one more thing.

I found that plants I’ve grown in the past tended to stretch up on leg, making them unstable; you really don’t want to have to stake kale. ‘Black Magic’ stays more compact and produces its rosette of leaves closer to the ground.

You can order seed of kale ‘Black Magic’ from Plants of Distinction and from Suttons.

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New echinaceas seem to be appearing on all sides but there’s still a relatively small choice for gardeners who like to raise their echinaceas from seed.

Winner of a Gold Medal from Fleuroselect, the Europe-wide flower trialling organisation, ‘Cheyenne Spirit’ (left, click to enlarge) is an echinacea mixture to raise from seed. It produces plants with large single flowers in six colours: red, orange, yellow, purple, rosy-red, and cream. So there’s an excellent range of colours (although no pure white), and, great news for the gardener, the plants flower in their first year from a spring sowing – treat them like a half-hardy annual to give them a good early start.

The plants all reach about the same size, whatever the colour – 27-31in/68-80cm in height and 25-30in/64-76cm wide – the plants are very bushy and while in their second year they should flower from June to September, flowering will begin later in the first year.

‘Cheyenne Spirit’ is ideal in sunny borders, where as well as providing its own shining colours, it attracts bees and butterflies and it’s also good as a cut flower. Cut the stems just as the petals are unfurling. And once your plants are flowering, you can pick out your favourite color and divide the plant so you have more for the future.

You can order seed of Echinacea ‘Cheyenne Spirit’ from Nicky’s Nursery.

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Alstroemerias with more than just flowers seem to be demanding more attention these days. There were a number in the recent RHS trial and two variegated varieties, ‘Phoenix’ and ‘Spitfire’, were given Awards of Garden Merit. Back in February the brightly variegated Alstroemeria ‘Rock and Roll’ featured here on the RHS New Plants blog. Now, another with good foliage but in a different style: ‘Indian Summer’ is the first with dark foliage and is too new to have featured in the trial.

Making a rounded plant no more than 30in/75cm high, the foliage of ‘Indian Summer’ is dark green stained with smoky bronze. So even before the flowers open the foliage marks its mark.

Then, from June to October, the flowers open in a fiery mix of orange and yellow. The intensity of flowering may vary a little over the months but even when flowering is less intense, there are the red buds.

‘Indian Summer’ makes an excellent specimen in a container. In a large container partner it with calibrachoas in fiery or autumnal shades, the old tall single French marigold ‘Striped Marvel’, with gold and orange lantanas, or with other plants in fiery colours. It will also thrive in rich soil in a sunny border.

You can order plants of Alstroemeria ‘Indian Summer’ from Thompson & Morgan, or look out for it in garden centres next year.

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Every few years a new series of foxgloves comes along, each said to be better than the last. The Dalmation Series really does look to be an improvement, with some lovely colours and the ability to flower just a few months after sowing. And, as the name indicates, all are beautifully spotted.

Dalmation Series foxgloves reach 31-43in/80-110cm in height, and can produce their well-filled spikes of flowers in just sixteen weeks from sowing. Start seed in February, in heat, and raise as a bedding plant for June flowering or sow later to flower later in the summer. Unlike traditional foxgloves, plants do not need a cold spell (vernalisation) to prompt flowering but late spring and summer sowings will not flower until the following year when the plants will then be larger and produce more flower spikes.

There are five colours in the series, although not all are available from all suppliers. ‘Dalmation Cream’, sometimes listed as ‘Dalmation Crème’, is a lovely soft creamy yellow with deep crimson spots; ‘Dalmation Peach’ is soft apricot-peach with pale, delicate spotting; ‘Dalmation Purple’ is foxglove purple with bold spots; ‘Dalmation Rose’ is purple-pink with fewer spots; ‘Dalmation White’ is bright white with small crimson spots.

One interesting feature of these plants is that as the flowers open they tend to hang down in the same way as a wild foxglove, then as they mature they move to a more horizontal position where their markings can be seen more easily.

Seeds of varieties in the Dalmation Series of foxgloves are available from Mr Fothergill, Nicky’s Nursery, and Thompson & Morgan.

Plants of varieties in the Dalmation Series of foxgloves are available from Crocus, and Woolmans

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Since the Million Bells series of calibrachoas came on the market about twenty years ago they’ve come a long way. Often called mini-petunias, the earliest varieties had brittle stems, they tended to become hang in vertical sheets when trailing out of baskets and other containers and soon became bare at the base. They tended to suffer from root diseases and although the flowers came in bright single colours, they were not always very prolific.

Now, things have changed and Calibrachoa ‘Superbells Lemon Slice’ is a fine example of how far calibrachoas have come. Slightly bushy and semi-trailing, the habit is ideal for baskets and other containers. The plants stay well-furnished with foliage and flowers towards the base, are disease resistant, and the stems don’t snap in breeze.

As you can see (above, click to enlarge) the plants are very prolific and this new colour is simply delightful. Calibrachoa ‘Superbells Lemon Slice’ comes in bright yellow with five white flashes and, unlike similar patterns in petunias, the star pattern is very stable in a range of growing conditions. It’s ideal as a specimen in a container by itself, with other calibrachoas, or with the colourful foliage of coleus or oxalis.

To get the best from calibrachoas, grow them in full sun or just a little shade, feed them regularly and don’t let plants become parched.

You can order plants of Calibrachoa ‘Superbells Lemon Slice’ from Dobies and from Suttons.

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