Nothing makes gardeners happier than discovering and experimenting with new plants.   Not sure about you but we are looking for some bright and cheery additions for our gardens this year.  With that in mind, we are highlighting many bold, vibrant colored annual flowers for you to think about adding to your garden. 

Listed below are new varieties from several breeders that will be available in local garden centers.  Let us know what you think!

Begonia

Double Delight Blush Rose is a spectacular new fragrant begonia that is the perfect filler for your hanging baskets.  The double flowers come in shades of pink during the summer months.  This annual flower from Proven Winners prefers partial sun to full sun for optimal growing.  These begonias prefer moist but not wet, well-draining soil.  While the plant is not hardy, the corms can be dug up, stored for the winter, and replanted the next spring. Hardiness zones 9-11.

Bidens

Sun Drop Double Yellow has large cheerful flowers that will bloom from spring to fall in your garden or containers.   The eye-catching blooms also work well in mixed containers.  These plants from Ball FloraPlant are much larger than other Bidens on the market.  Grow them in full sun and fertilize them once a month.  This flower is a great bee attractor too! Learn more about this flower in this video.

Calibrachoa

Bumble Bee Orange is causing a lot of buzz!  The bright, vibrant tropical blossoms have a ruby red center surround by perky bright tangerine-orange petals.  Pollinators in your garden will love this flower.  The plant with its trailing flowers will look wonderful in hanging baskets, window boxes, and patio planters.  With this plant, you will enjoy nonstop blooms all summer long.  Another plus is this Calibrachoa needs no deadheading.  Cut scraggly Calibrachoa plants back by half in late summer to spur growth and encourage new flowers.

Celosia

Kelos® Candela Pink was called by an All-American Selection Judge the “Energizer Bunny” that just kept blooming!  This plant has beautiful bright pink blooms that are above the foliage.  It will grow tall just like a tapered candle.   The distinctive pink plumes of flowers keep their color all season long.  It looks great in containers or used in mass plantings and borders.  One more thing, it works great as a dried flower.

Kosmo Orange is a dwarf variety of wheat celosia.  Some people describe this plant as a bottle brush.  The interesting shape looks great in your garden patio planter.  This type of celosia can also be grown indoors on your windowsills.  The bright orange shade is the newest addition to this type of celosia.  The blooming season is late spring through late summer.  The celosia plant loves sun and heat, so put yours where it will get full sun. In fact, these plants do best with at least eight hours of sunlight each day.

Dipladenia (Vining)

Coral Orange Sunrise’s bright orange color is a one of a kind in the Dipladenia/Mandevilla market.  You will enjoy the blooms from spring through autumn. This sun-loving vining variety is earlier to bloom than others on the market.  The plant is heat and drought tolerant and also bad weather resistance.  Grow this plant alone or mix it with other sun-loving varieties in patio or garden containers with support.  The plant will need hand-training to a trellis. 

Lantana

Purple Falls has large clusters of purple flowers that will attract butterflies and hummingbirds and blooms all summer long.  They will grow 20 - 24 inches high and 15 – 20 inches wide. These sun-loving flowers tolerate heat and drought and are also deer resistant.  They provide a pop of color to your containers, hanging baskets, and borders.

Osteospermum

Sunshine Beauty has dazzling orange blooms that fade to a yellow center.  New blooms emerge in brilliant, more vibrant hues that lead to three shades of blooms at one time.  These pretty daisy-like flowers create beautiful accents to garden beds and containers.  The plants grow 10 – 14 inches tall and 14 – 20 inches wide.  These eye-catching flowers will bloom from spring through autumn.  They are a great pollinator attractor and are also deer and rabbit resistant.  Osteospermum not only bloom into the fall when the temperature gets cooler, but they are also drought tolerant.

Petunia

Bee’s Knees brings the most intense yellow petunia to the market, along with the best performance!  The colors in the flower include a warmer brighter yellow and crème. The yellow holds better than any other yellow petunia.  The trailing petunia is a heavy-bloomer that grows 8 – 10 inches tall but spreads almost two feet wide making it ideal for hanging baskets or the spiller in a container.  It blooms from late spring to autumn and grows best in full sun.

Pink Diamond has huge double flowers, which makes it a great pick for hanging baskets. The flowers are hot pink with white edges.  New blooms cover old flowers for a fresh-looking plant all season!  The plant does not need to be deadheaded.  Grow it in full sun.  It is heat and drought tolerant.

Purple Heart Surfinia is another bright colored petunia.  Each white flower features a pattern of five purple hearts.  This petunia looks wonderful in your spring and summer hanging baskets and containers.  Purple Heart Petunia’s are extremely fast-growing, profuse bloomers that are self-cleaning and have superb weather tolerance!  

Portulaca

Retro Summer Combination is for Portulaca fans.  It is a new mix of plants that includes Portulaca RioGrande™ Orange, Portulaca RioGrande Scarlet, and Portulaca RioGrande Yellow plants.  This innovative mix has a big appeal to bees.  The flowers bloom from summer to fall.  They look great when grown in patio containers or window boxes.  The flowers are heat and drought tolerant.

Verbena

Firehouse™ Blue Fizz is perfect for hanging baskets.  This bicolor verbena has a unique pattern of a purple center surrounded by outer white tinged with purple petals.  It is said to have a “ring around the Rosie” effect.  This particular verbena does not spread out too much.  They grow about 8 – 10 inches tall and bloom all summer long.  Bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds are drawn to these flowers.  Verbenas are heat tolerant and this variety is also resistant to powdery mildew!

Viola

Quicktime Blue™ is a vibrant blue early-blooming flower for your spring or autumn garden.  The plant is fragrant and low maintenance.  This particular variety will bloom 2 weeks faster than other violas on the market. The flowers grow 6 – 8 inches tall and wide.  This plant likes to be grown in partial shade and sun and the plant is also frost tolerant.  You will love it in your garden as much as the bees.

Zinnia

Profusion Red Yellow Bicolor is a new compact, disease-resistant series and it won the 2021 AAS (All-American Selection), best-of-the-best Gold Medal.  With this flower, you get two zinnias in one.  This zinnia starts the season with a bold vibrant red center ring surrounded by golden yellow outer petal.  As the season continues, the mature flowers change into soft pretty shades of apricot, salmon, and dusty rose creating quite a show in your garden.  The flower is a heavy and constant bloomer, showing color from planting to frost.  It prefers full sun.  Profusion Red Yellow Bicolor will be available in many garden centers in May.

Photos Courtesy All-America Selections, Ball Seed, Proven Winners, and Suntory Flowers.