9 new plants Wisconsin gardening experts are adding to their gardens this year

If you’re a real gardener, you’re probably already hip deep in garden publications in search of new plants for your green spaces.

So are many of Milwaukee’s gardening experts.

Like you, they are flipping through catalogs to find new plants to make their gardens rise to new levels.

What’s on their lists this year?

They all seem to want newly released plants in bold colors, and those that attract pollinators.

Jane Belanger, the new president of the Southeast Wisconsin Master Gardeners, said she plans to add three new perennials to a butterfly/hummingbird garden that already has a honeysuckle vine, obedient plants, cosmos, purple/pink yarrow, and old-fashioned pink echinacea.

She said her selection and design were inspired by a photo she saw in a gardening publication.

“I do one new area in my garden every year. There were no IDs on the plants in the photo, but I liked the way the plants were arranged and I liked that they had a common color theme of pinks, reds and whites," she said. "I did a screenshot of the photo and then selected plants I liked that gave a similar look.”

She added that she likes these plants because they don’t spread much. “I like to have my plants stay in their places,” she said.

Three new plants she's adding this year include:

Meant to Bee Royal Raspberry

Belanger will add this agastache hybrid to the back of her garden bed due to its height and width of 28 to 32 inches. “It has fragrant rosy purple spikes. I liked it because it attracts hummingbirds and it’s drought-tolerant. With the summers we have had, that’s something I’m looking for. It also holds its bloom,” she said. Plant in full sun.

Peppermint Patty bergenia

This plant, which is new for 2024, will go in the center of Belanger’s flower bed as it grows 22 inches tall and 16 to 18 inches wide. “It has white flowers with a pink throat and pink edging and it attracts butterflies and hummingbirds,” she said. It also has wavy, serrated leaves that are extra thick with prickly-toothed edges. Plant in part shade to shade. It blooms early to late spring.

Scentsation White verbena

Belanger said this plant attracts hummingbirds and butterflies and will be planted at the front of her garden bed as it grows only 9 to 12 inches tall and wide. “I wanted a white color to contrast the pinks and reds in that garden. I also wanted a plant with scent, as butterflies prefer to have masses of plants with scent,” she said.

Will Radler, of Greenfield, who propagated the internationally known line of Knock Out Roses, said because he’s partial to roses, he picked three roses released in 2024 to add to his two-acre gardens.

His first pick, Orange Glow Knock Out, is his newest introduction, while Easy Bee-ze and Sunblaze Dragon Fruit were propagated by others.

Orange Glow Knock Out rose

This shrub rose is orange with tones of coral, pink and yellow; has an abundant number of flowers; and blooms continuously. “The blooms have quite a few petals, which people are looking for. The flowers are about 2.5 to 3 inches in diameter. It’s a nice compact grower reaching 4.5 feet,” he said.

Easy Bee-zy Knock Out rose

This shrub rose continuously produces very bright yellow flowers that turn white and bloom repeatedly from spring to frost. “The flower is 3 inches in diameter, it gets about 3 to 4 feet tall, has a light citrus scent, and its foliage is a nice pleasant green,” Radler said.

Sunblaze Dragon Fruit rose

Radler described this miniature rose as having a deep pink color. “It grows about 18 inches tall and wide and has flowers that are 1 inch in diameter. It has lots of flowers on it, and the foliage backs up the flowers beautifully,” he said. He added that in addition to looks, this rose is also unique in that it is black spot resistant.

Local gardening expert Melinda Myers said three new plants she wants to add to her Mukwonago gardens are a vinca, a coleus and a grass.

“I want to put the annuals in pots on my front steps and patio. They are the perfect colors for the front of my home. I want to mix the vinca with some of my summer flowering bulb collections," she said.

“I like to try new varieties in pots, and then if I like the way they grow under my care — which is benign neglect — then I’ll put them into a garden.” She said the grass will be added to a perennial garden.

She said she also wants to bring these plants to the Wisconsin State Fair this year to show those who attend her presentations.

Salsa Red

This vinca in the Soiree Flamenco line is bright red and was introduced this year. “It doesn’t look like a normal vinca. The petals have a ruffled edge. It’s also heat- and drought-tolerant, which is perfect for the kind of weather we are having these days,” she said. It grows 8 to 12 inches.

Coleus Talavera Moondust

This is a new color in the Talavera series. Myers said she grew Chocolate Velveteen in this series last summer and it performed so well, she wanted to try Moondust.

“This has terra cotta-colored leaves with speckles of yellow and a little bit of green and scalloped edges. Last year Chocolate Velveteen didn’t flower till the end of the season; it looked gorgeous and didn’t need pinching,” she said. It can be grown in sun or shade and grows to 14 to 36 inches high and 12 to 18 inches wide.

Little Red Fox

Myers said she likes this new cultivar of little bluestem because it’s shorter and more compact, so it doesn’t flop. “Its foliage is gray-green in spring, then deepens to red in mid to late summer when it develops and matures.” It grows 24 to 30 inches tall and should be planted in sun and well-drained soil.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: New plants, flowers Wisconsin gardening experts are planting in 2024