Best new perennial flowers of 2015: George Weigel

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Echibeckia Summerina Orange is a new plant creation, combining Echinacea with Rudbeckia.

(Pacific Plug and Liner)

A coralbell with purple leaves, a native grass that turns maroon in fall, and two all-new plant creations top the list of interesting perennial flowers debuting in 2015.

Here are some to watch for at the garden center this spring:

Echibeckia Summerina. Let's start with the new creations. An "echibeckia" is a cross between two compatible genera (genuses) – the coneflower (Echinacea) and the black-eyed susan/gloriosa daisy (Rudbeckia).

Summerina is the first three-variety series of this new cross, coming in an orange-with-yellow bicolor, a yellow-with-orange bicolor, and burnt orange.

Carleen Vorisek, the perennials manager at Ashcombe Farm and Greenhouses in Monroe Twp., likes the promise of echibeckias, combining the look and fast growth of Rudbeckia with the hardiness and disease-resistance of coneflowers.

The 3-inch flowers are big, showy and long-lasting – about 2 months, according to Summerina's West Coast introducer, Pacific Plug and Liner.

Vorisek says both coneflowers and black-eyed susans "serve as good staples for any gardener. They're both tough plants for this area. I can't wait to see how (echibeckias) perform."

Plant in full sun to light shade and ideally in a somewhat winter-protected area since Pennsylvania is at the northern cold limit for echibeckia.

Mukgenia Nova 'Flame.' The second new creation is this combination of the little known mukdenia (a heat-shy shade perennial grown mainly for its cut-edged, reddish-green foliage) and the bergenia (a glossy-leafed perennial with pink springtime flower spikes.)

Christened "mukgenia," the first variety of this new cross combines the leaf color of mukdenia with the durability, heat tolerance and pink flowers of bergenia.

"It has unusual leaves with rich-red tinting," says Dan Heims, president of Terra Nova Nurseries Inc., the Oregon plant company that developed 'Flame.' "And it has Wisconsin hardiness."

The plant grows about 6 inches tall with glossy, leathery leaves that have deep-red accents in summer. It turns even redder in fall before dying back in winter.

Dark-pink flowers poke up another 6 inches on clustered spikes in April and May. Part shade is ideal light.

Coreopsis Li'l Bang series. Gardeners and growers alike hailed the Big Bang series of this sun-loving perennial for its extremely long bloom time when it debuted 2 years ago. The main criticism, though, was that the plants tended to flop.

The same breeder, Darrell Probst of Massachusetts, managed to "de-flop" the line by coming up with an even newer series that's half the height of Big Bang. They're being dubbed "Li'l Bang."

"These long-blooming perennials offer a lot of flowers over the bloom time," says Steve Norman, merchandise manager at Stauffers of Kissel Hill Home and Garden stores, which plans to carry all four colors of Li'l Bangs. "They're also very hardy and extremely disease-resistant."

Colors include 'Daybreak' (red with yellow-orange perimeters), 'Red Elf' (red with yellow centers), 'Enchanted Eve' (dark yellow with red-orange centers), and 'Starlight' (creamy white with raspberry accents).

Each grows about 12 inches tall and blooms non-stop from early summer into fall.

Switchgrass 'Hot Rod.' Stephanie Cohen, Pennsylvania's "perennial diva" and author of "The Non-Stop Garden," believes gardeners will "get all revved up about this unique grass."

'Hot Rod' is a new variety of a native grass that Cohen says turns red earlier than any on the market so far.

"The blades are blue-green when they emerge in spring, then they gradually redden in summer until the whole plant is a deep maroon," she says. "It generally stands up straight and is courteous to its playmates."

The height is 3 to 4 feet. Full sun is best. Tan, "airy" seed plumes form in late summer that birds appreciate over winter.

"Now every gardener who has wanted a 'Hot Rod' can have one, and it's really hot!" Cohen says.

Helleborus Wedding Party series. This new five-color series from Walters Gardens' breeder Hans Hansen offers some of the heaviest blooming Lenten roses yet.

Erica Shaffer, the manager at Highland Gardens in Lower Allen Twp., picks Wedding Party as her favorite new perennial introduction of 2015.

"Oh, my goodness," she says. "Large flowers for a hellebore, up to 3 inches across. And double-petaled, too. The colors are super-gorgeous."

Helleborus blooms in early spring on 18- to 24-inch-tall plants that are critter-resistant and ideal in shade to part shade.

'Wedding Bells' blooms white, 'Best Man' is soft purple, 'Blushing Bridesmaid' is a purple and white bicolor, 'First Dance' is greenish-white, and 'Maid of Honor' is rosy-purple.

Coralbells 'Forever Purple.' Stauffers' Norman also likes this new coralbell with vivid purple leaves that hold that color even over winter.

"It's from Terra Nova Nurseries, and they said they tried to name it something else but kept coming back to this name for the simple reason that it is forever purple," he says. "This plant is a knock-out with ultra-purple glossy leaves, fluted edges and great vigor. It has very short spikes of purple-pink flowers in summer and four seasons of purple in the garden. It's a real show-stopper."

Bryan Benner, a grower at the wholesale Quality Greenhouses near Dillsburg who also picks this as his favorite new perennial of  2015, says 'Forever Purple' is an excellent choice for mixed containers and hanging baskets.

The plant grows about 12 inches tall and is best in shady to partly shaded locations.

Campanula 'Catharina.' Looking for a blooming groundcover? David Wilson, the Lower Paxton Twp. marketing director for Garden Splendor Plants, likes this creeping, 8-inch new version of the Dalmation bellflower.

"It's a super little perennial for raised beds, rock walls, spaces between stepping stones, troughs or for the front of beds and borders," he says. "It's covered by masses of little lilac-blue bell-shaped flowers in early summer. It flowers sporadically throughout the summer and usually comes again with a stronger burst in early autumn. It spreads a little but in a nice way."

Give 'Catharina' well drained soil in a sunny to partly shaded spot.

Coneflower Butterfly 'Julia.' This new variety of our native coneflower blooms for about 8 weeks in early summer in a tangerine color – similar to the color of the European butterfly after which it was named.

Angela Treadwell-Palmer, co-owner of the Plants Nouveau plant-introduction company, picks it as her favorite new perennial of 2015.

"'Julia' is a strong plant that supports many single, tangerine-orange blooms," she says. "Butterflies flock to this bright and cheery plant."

Treadwell-Palmer says she's found that butterflies prefer coneflowers with simpler, single-petaled blooms as opposed to fuller-blooming ones with double the petals.

'Julia' grows about 18 inches tall and does best in full sun and well drained spots.

Read George's best new edibles of 2015.

Read George's best new annual flowers of 2015.

Read George's best new trees and shrubs of 2015.