I love silver-foliaged plants because they set off so many other plants with that contrasting grey foliage. Centaurea ‘Silver Swirl’, from Darwin Perennials, a hardy perennial, is on my list to get this year. Winter hardy, and unlike the grey foliaged Artemsia selections like ‘Powis Castle’ or ‘Silver Brocade’, this one is supposed to be resistant to the root rot that makes these plants rot and die back after just one season in our humid Maryland weather.

Diervilla Kodiak Jet Black

On the other end of the spectrum of color are purple or black foliage plants that give much needed interest to any garden. The new Proven Winner shrub Diervilla ‘Kodiak Jet Black’ caught my eye since I use Kodiak Orange extensively already and this just expands the color palette. A native plant and deer resistant, the color is to die for, color wise! Plus the fall foliage is vibrant so it is a multi-season plant. Staying small at 4′ x 4′, Diervilla has bright yellow flowers in the spring that adds even more contrast. Thriving in deep shade, partial shade or sun, this is the perfect landscape specimen.

Another dark foliage plant, Eclipse Big leaf Hydrangea, has beautiful purple/black foliage that contrasts nicely with cranberry and white flowers- a must buy for me! The claims are the foliage will hold true all season, as all too frequently most purple foliage disappears as the season progresses. 

Womenswork Gloves

I love the products made from Womenswork for the garden as I find that so many work gloves are made for the larger hands of men. I have used their gloves for years as they are the best garden gloves in the business and they also make other products like skin care for gardeners, hats, and other unique garden supplies. A women owned and operated business, I was happy to see them at the show as they hadn’t been there since 2018. Their rose gloves which were very reinforced but still flexible looked awesome!

Foxglove Arctic Fox Lemon Cream

A new Foxglove (Digitalis) from Darwin perennials hit the market called ‘Arctic Fox Lemon Cream’ offers winter-hardiness for northern growers and summer-long blooming for southern growers. The nice thing I noticed about this plant was the multiple flower stems and the robust foliage.

 

Touted as acting more like an annual with all season bloom, rather than a brief perennial bloomer, I am anxious to try it out.

Mangaves

Mangaves have hit the scene big and they are a cross between a Manfreda and Agave to create this fast growing succulent-like specimen plant. I love them for containers and they will take neglect like a succulent, as they can go for a long time without water. A very architectural plant with unique coloration, they can stand alone as a specimen plant or in a mixed container but aren’t cold hardy to my region.  But I am interested in any plant that is deer and bunny resistant.

Laura from Walters Gardens shows off some new cultivars of Mangave, Nepeta, Epimedium, Heuchera, and Yucca in the following video:

Plant Screens

Arborvitae Junior Giant (Green Giant’s Baby)

One of my most requested solutions as a landscape designer is coming up with a good quick growing screen to block a view like a neighboring property and give people privacy. For arborvitae candidates, I have been limited to Green Giants which top off at 40 to 60 feet and a width of 12 to 18 feet and Emerald Green’s which grow 10 to 15 feet all and 3 to 4 feet wide. There was nothing in between. But now there is Junior Giant which will fill that need. Much more manageable in the smaller landscapes today, I am definitely going to be buying this one for my clients.

Nelliet Holly

Most people are familiar with ‘Nellie Stevens’ Holly that is a cross between the English Holly and the Chinese Holly. The new ‘Nelliet’ Holly reminded me of that classic holly but offers superior branching, denser foliage, and minimal pruning. Bearing bright red berries, and hardy to -10F, this Southern Living Plant Collection plant offering can get 15 to 25′ tall and 10-15′ wide.

And there are lots of plant society’s and gardening organizations that have booths at MANTS and I always stop at The Holly society to see what is the Holly of the Year –  Ilex opaca Boiler Boy. Developed in Delaware by Jim Resch, it was named after Boiler, a black and tan dachshund, and grows rapidly into an upright, narrowly conical specimen, useful in today’s landscapes. A male holly, this is a good choice as a landscape specimen and pollinizer for female American hollies, and bears semi-glossy foliage and abundant flowers.

For more about hollies and service berries with Heartwood Nursery, check out the DCGarden Podcast around the 1:20 mark.

Leucothoe

I also extensively use evergreen Leucothoe (Dog Hobble), not only because of the display of different colors in the landscape and toughness, but also for their deer resistance. If I need a full shade evergreen plant that resists deer, I turn to Leucothoe and the more colors available – the better. Burning Love Leucothoe has dark red new foliage that ages to green in summer and purple in winter. But another Leucothoe really wowed me – Paisley Pup, also from Proven Winners.

‘Paisley Pup’ Leucothoe has multi-colored foliage in pink, green, and white, that is also deer resistant, does well in the shade, and is evergreen. Growing around 4′ tall and wide at maturity, I will be using this one for shade deer-browsed gardens.

Itoh Peonies

I predict Itoh peonies are going to be huge hit with gardeners everywhere. The cultivar Bartzella (yellow) has been around for a long time and seen everywhere but now a whole new line of colors are appearing – finally!

A cross between herbaceous and tree peonies, Itoh combines the best features of both. Producing the immense flowers of tree peonies, they have a mounded growth with long lasting blooms and strong stems with wonderful dark green foliage. I grow several of these, Bartzella and Cora Louise, and the foliage holds up much better than regular peonies. There is a whole new line appropriately called Garden Candy of coral, pink, red, yellow, and white with wonderful shadings and markings.

Encore Azalea

Holden’s Rhododendrons

The new intro ‘Holden’s Rhododendrons, available from Brigg’s Nurseries, caught my eye, and comes in Fuchsia, Peach, Pink, Pink Flare, and Red. Developed with improved resistance to root rot disease (Phytophthora) which is a scourge of rhododendrons, they stay small, 4′ x 4’ and are hardy to zone 5. I picked up a sample plant of the red variety and am anxious to see how it does. I love Rhododendrons but the soil pathogen always stopped me from planting them.

 

Greener Gardens Antique Garden Accessories

Greener Gardens  from Annapolis, MD,  had a wonderful display of unique garden accessories from hand forged 1900’s intricate wrought iron railings to hand carved fireplace mantels, fired clay architectural elements and 8-foot-long basalt troughs. Each one a piece of art, you can personalize your property by incorporating pieces from their carefully curated French garden antiques collection.

Unusual Conifers

Peace of Mind Nursery in Oregon drew me in because I use lots of fresh greens for porch pots, garlands, and wreaths for Christmas decorating.  Offering a fantastic array of rare and unusual conifers and ornamentals, they sell their plants but I was more interested in ordering from them for some of my Christmas decorating projects. They sell an incredible selection of cut boughs called Wild Thing that I will be ordering for arrangements.

That’s wraps it up for a successful MANTS show!