2024's Best new trees and shrubs
Instead of ringing in the new year with champagne and balloons, why not treat yourself to a few new plants that you can enjoy through the growing season? There are a lot of interesting tree and shrub introductions to get excited about this year.
Eclipse® bigleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla)
You can’t miss the stunning deep purple, almost black, leaves of this new bigleaf hydrangea. We liked how well Eclipse held onto its dark color all summer in sun and part shade. Raspberry pink blooms show up in summer and repeat until frost, fading to green and then brown papery flowerheads you can leave standing for winter interest. This beautiful shrub is great as a focal point. Or grow several together to create a hedge with three-season drama.
Type Shrub
Best features Raspberry pink blooms on deep purple foliage
Light Full sun to part shade
Soil Well drained
Size 3 to 5 ft. tall and wide
Cold hardy USDA zones 5 to 9
Introducer Bailey® Nurseries
Source Sooner Plant Farm, 918-453-0771
Enter to win an Eclipse bigleaf hydrangea!
This spring we're giving away Eclipse bigleaf hydrangeas to 5 lucky winners. Enter for the giveaway here for your chance to win!
Itsy Bitsy® Peach miniature rose (Rosa hybrid)
This pint-sized rose may be small, but it packs a flowery punch. Peachy pink blooms start in late spring and keep going until frost. Its disease-resistant foliage means plants look good all season too.
Type Shrub
Best features Peachy pink blooms on a small rose
Light Full sun
Soil Well drained
Size 18 in. tall, 24 in. wide
Cold hardy USDA zones 5 to 9
Introducer Monrovia®
Source Local garden centers
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Tour a Beautiful Rose Garden
El Niño™ desert orchid (Chitalpa hybrid)
The beautiful and fragrant orchidlike blooms of El Niño have their biggest flush in late spring and rebloom sporadically through summer. Heat-tolerant with disease-resistant foliage, plants develop a mounded habit and have little need for pruning.
Type Shrub
Best feature Lots of orchidlike blooms
Light Full sun to part shade
Soil Well drained
Size 5 to 8 ft. tall, 4 to 6 ft. wide
Cold hardy USDA zones 6 to 9
Introducer Proven Winners®
Source Forestfarm at Pacifica, 541-846-7269
Autumn Moonstruck™ azalea (Rhododendron hybrid)
One of the latest introductions to the Encore® series, Autumn Moonstruck has 2½-inch white flowers in spring and again in summer and fall. But the deep green and chartreuse variegated evergreen foliage is showstopping all year.
Type Shrub
Best feature Variegated foliage
Light Full sun to part shade
Soil Well drained
Size 5 ft. tall, 4 ft. wide
Cold hardy USDA zones 7 to 10
Introducer Encore® Azaleas
Source Local garden centers
See More New Garden Plant Introductions for 2024:
Best New Annuals & Tender Perennials
Best New Sun Perennials
Best New Shade Perennials
Best New Fruits & Vegetables
Symphony™ Pink snowberry (Symphoricarpos doornsbosii)
If you like the native snowberry but find the habit a bit rangy, this new selection can help. It’s tidier, more compact and has loads of eye-catching pink (instead of the more common white) berries to keep the late summer and fall border colorful.
Type Shrub
Best feature Lots of pink berries and a compact habit
Light Full sun to part shade
Soil Moist, well drained
Size 3 to 4 ft. tall and wide
Cold hardy USDA zones 4 to 8
Introducer Plants Nouveau
Source Local garden centers
Hearts A’fire™ redbud (Cercis canadensis)
While the dark pink early spring blooms of Hearts A’fire are pretty (and loved by native bees), it’s the foliage that will really turn heads. Heart-shaped leaves emerge burgundy, red, tangerine and gold, and mature to red-green by summer.
Type Tree
Best feature Dramatic foliage that changes color
Light Full sun to part shade
Soil Well drained
Size 10 to 15 ft. tall and wide
Introducer Garden Debut®
Source Sooner Plant Farm, soonerplantfarm.com, 918-453-0771
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