2013 gardening trends
Here’s what’s on our radar for the 2013 gardening season.
Pantone’s colour of the year
Last year it was tangerine tango, a lively shade of orange you could add to your garden via plants, like begonias, or pots, tools and garden paraphernalia. Pantone has named emerald green it’s colour for 2013. I’m going to state the obvious here. This rich, royal hue is already pretty prevalent in all of our gardens, either as foliage, shrubs or leafy plants, like hostas. However I’ll be looking for jewel-toned specimens for my containers this year. I really like the look of this “spiller” called Big Leaf Creeping Wire Vine from Proven Winners. The leaves are so dainty, yet richly hued.
image courtesy of Proven Winners
Enticing the birds and the bees—and other wildlife
It used to be hard to find bee and bat boxes—unless you came across an industrious woodworker who had them for sale. With all the prevalent information in the news and other frequently read publications about the importance of pollinators and good bugs in the garden, these little structures are now being mass produced.
I love this one from Pinebush Home & Garden. Check out their website for more options. They supply fantastic bird feeders, too!
image courtesy of Pinebush Home & Garden
Weather-proof plants
Xeriscaping has been a buzzword for the last couple of years or so as gardeners seek low-maintenance plants that will survive dry conditions. As our weather becomes more unpredictable, growers have taken this concept a step further by raising plants that will survive extreme conditions, like heat and flooding.
An example is Tesselaar’s Next Generation Flower Carpet roses, described by the company as the world’s first easy-care, eco-friendly groundcover roses. The Flower Carpet rose shown here, Pink Splash, is the newest addition to the line.
Image courtesy of Tesselaar
Pansies in the fall?
How can anyone resist the sweet, colourful faces of pansies? Well, these guys from the Wave family have been a bit slow to catch on as most people have put their gardens to bed and are planting bulbs by the time autumn rolls around. But I think we’ll be seeing more of these little gems as consumers discover their blooming power throughout the colder months.
Image courtesy of Panamerican Seed
Interesting seed blends
We’ve seen cleverly arranged pots bursting with themed plant mixes—herbs for your barbecue menu, salad mixes, etc. Seed companies are also cleverly packaging their blends.
Last year I discovered Mrs Richter’s Special Herbed Tea Blend, five herbs that can be planted together to create a flavourful caffeine-free brew. This year, I have a packet of the Quick Stirfry Blend ready to plant from Renee’s Garden’s new organic line. It’s a mixture of mizuna, mispoona, mild mustards and Russian kale. Yum!
Images courtesy of Richters and and Renee’s Garden
Try calibrachoas in lieu of petunias
I have had a love-hate relationship with petunias. Every year I decide to try something new, but then I’m wooed by these delightful new colours. First black was such a novelty and last year I succumbed to a shade called pink lemonade. Then partway through the summer, they usually start to get leggy and thin, and I vow next year I’ll take better care to keep them full or avoid them altogether. This year, I will keep my eye out for ‘Superbells Lemon Slice’ and ‘Superbells Double Plum’. These aren’t delicious new petunia names, they are actually calibrachoas, a plant that botanists once thought were petunias, but they’re a different genus. Apparently the petals are not sticky like a petunia’s, and you don’t have to deadhead them. The ones shown here from Proven Winners are doubles, so they have even fuller petals, which I love.
image courtesy of Proven Winners
Article courtesy of Canadian Gardening & Tara Nolan
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