Darwin Perennials
New for 2025, Echinacea Double Scoop Raspberry Deluxe coneflower has a compact form and riveting raspberry colour.
Sidhu & Sons Nursery Ltd.
Canadian-bred Velveteeny Smokebush is the ideal smokebush for patio planters and small yards.
Casa Flora
Aubergine Lady Japanese Painted fern has no equal — it is the darkest fern on the market.
Suntory Flowers
New Sun Parasol Original XP Bluephoria is a breakthrough in mandevilla-dipladenia breeding.
Darwin Perennials
Agastache Summerlong may be a non-hardy perennial, but why not grow this pollinator magnet in container gardens.
The best new plants are the ones you remember.
Think back to last spring when you went plant shopping and loaded your vehicle with annuals and perennials. By summer’s end, which new varieties made the greatest impression on you? For me, it was Centaurea Silver Swirl, a versatile annual for 2024 from Darwin Perennials with silver-white, rubbery textured foliage. Silver Swirl’s trailing ribbons of lobed leaves glowed in last year’s containers and borders and is at the top of my plant-shopping list for this year.
The lineup of plants for 2025 features several new annual and perennial varieties sure to create a lasting impact. Let’s start with a new echinacea from Darwin Perennials.
Echinacea Double Scoop Raspberry Deluxe was exclusive to the Home Depot in 2024 but will be available at independent garden centres this spring. Notable for its fully double flowers with large drooping ray petals and central pompom cone, Raspberry Deluxe brings riveting colour to flower beds and containers.
It was the bold colour of the flowers that attracted me when I saw Raspberry Deluxe for the first time last summer but after planting it in my garden, I became even more intrigued by the red-tinted colour of the cone once the long-blooming petals gradually fell away. The central cone of Raspberry Deluxe echinacea gradually turns dark brown but this new variety maintains its ornamental appeal for a longer time than other echinacea varieties.
This first-year flowering series also includes Double Scoop Watermelon Deluxe and Double Scoop Strawberry Deluxe. Hardy to Zone 4A, Deluxe varieties have a more compact growth habit (56-61 centimetres tall) and a higher flower count than other double-flowered echinaceas.
A must-have new foliage plant for part shade to full shade has to be the Aubergine Lady Japanese Painted fern (Athyrium niponicum). The darkest fern on the market, it’s a cross between Lady in Red fern and Ghost fern. The upright and arching green fronds of Aubergine Lady transition from dark green to deep purple-black. Rated as hardy to Zone 4, the mature height of this unique fern is 30-60 cm.
Aubergine Lady fern is a new introduction from the breeding program of Casa Flora, a world-leading producer of ferns and heuchera based in Dallas, Texas. Picture Aubergine Lady in your shade containers combined with new Hula White, a floriferous spreading-type annual begonia covered with white flowers. Or contrast the finely textured fronds of Aubergine Lady in your woodland garden with the heart-shaped chartreuse foliage of Aralia Sun King Spikenard or other lighter-coloured perennials.
Here’s something exciting: a dwarf version of Royal Purple smokebush (Cotinus coggygria) that also offers greater cold-hardiness.
Velveteeny Purple smokebush is a new semi-dwarf deciduous shrub developed by Sidhu & Sons Nursery, which is located near Mission, B.C. Velveteeny’s mature height and width is 1.2-1.52 metres. It is rated as hardy to Zone 4 and requires a full-sun location. In comparison, Velveteeny’s maternal parent Royal Purple smokebush grows in excess of 1.75 metres tall and wide and has a hardiness rating of Zone 5.
Velveteeny has the same velvety purple-burgundy foliage and airy plumes of pink flowers as Royal Purple but offers gardeners more options for use in patio planters and small garden spaces. Velveteeny smokebush won a people’s choice award at the Farwest Show in Portland, Ore., in 2022.
Jeffries Nurseries, a wholesale nursery in Portage la Prairie that provides plants to garden centres across Western Canada, Ontario and the northern U.S., is bringing this new variety to its customers this spring. It’s exciting we’re finally getting a chance to see Velveteeny Purple smokebush, which was developed by a Canadian breeder. Another bonus: smokebush is not usually favoured by deer.
In our cold climate, Velveteeny may die back to the snowline. Plant it in a spot that receives reliable snow cover. Typically, smokebush (including the less-hardy Royal Purple) shows vigorous regrowth in the growing season. Velveteeny, with its incredible purple-burgundy colour will look outstanding paired with peonies and other perennials or as a specimen plant in a patio planter.
Mandevilla and dipladenia plants continue to confuse gardeners as to which is which, in part because growers persist in interchanging their names on plant tags. Or the name dipladenia is dropped altogether and labelled as mandevilla hybrid. Although related to one another, mandevilla is a tall and vining annual with large paddle-shaped leaves, while dipladenia has a bushier habit with small, perfectly smooth glossy leaves with a pointed tip. Both have showy trumpet-shaped blooms.
With the explanation out of the way, let’s take a look at a novel dipladenia introduction for 2025 that brings a dynamic new colour to the usual lineup of pink, yellow, white and red varieties.
“Sun Parasol Original XP Bluephoria is a true breakthrough in mandevilla-dipladenia breeding,” says Delilah Onofrey of Suntory Flowers. “Buds start out pink but open to shades of bluish-purple, creating a multi-tonal effect — that’s why it’s Bluephoria instead of blue.” Interestingly, the colour of Bluephoria is influenced by temperature. At the height of summer when temperatures are warmest, Bluephoria’s colour darkens to a purple-denim blue shade.
“It’s not a natural climber, so we recommend it for containers, baskets and beds,” says Onofrey. Bluephoria is not as bold as red or a vibrant pink, she says, but it brings a cool colour to patio pots with a tropical theme. Onofrey recommends growing Bluephoria in a monochromatic container garden or combining it with a yellow-flowered dipladenia like Sun Parasol Original XP Sunbeam.
“Sun Parasol Original XP represents the new generation of breeding with superior flower power and disease resistance to meet modern expectations,” says Onofrey.
Indeed, one of the biggest advantages of dipladenia is its overall stellar performance, including remarkable flower power from spring to fall.
A new introduction for 2025 that Zone 3 gardeners deserve to see this spring, but may not have the opportunity to, is the Summerlong Agastache series from Darwin Perennials.
The five colours (Coral, Lemon, Lilac, Magenta and Peach) are all timed to bloom together. But what is most striking about this new introduction is that Summerlong Agastache — just as the name suggests — comes into flower and stays in flower, spring through fall.
In addition to Summerlong Agastache’s extraordinarily long bloom period and gorgeous colour range, its compact height (41-56 cm), scented foliage and dense, mounded habit make it ideal for patio pots and garden borders. The beautiful, bright flowers are a summerlong magnet for pollinators.
So why is it that we may not see Summerlong Agastache this spring at local garden centres? The main reason is that it’s a Zone 7 perennial. But I’m more than happy to grow Summerlong Agastache as an annual. How about you?
“Many of our perennial introductions these days are being used as annuals because we are breeding them to bloom for a much longer period of time,” says Chris Fifo of Darwin Perennials.
Look for these stunning new selections at your local garden centre this spring. And if you can’t find them, ask for them by name!
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