April 21, 2017

California Spring Trials (CAST)


You know what they say...time flies when you're having fun.  I find that to be true because this is already my third time attending CAST and it's always a blast!   Over 1,000 people visited the Proven Winners site including media and garden writers (so glad to see all of you).   After talking to everyone about the new shrubs we had on display, I thought I'd share a few crowd favorites. 

Double Take Peach™ Quince Chaenomeles
What a stunner!  This one was loaded with buds at the beginning of the week so it was looking really sharp throughout the week with it's soft peach colored blooms.  This variety is very tolerant of heat and dry conditions...oh and it's thornless too!

Winecraft Black™ Smokebush Cotinus
My personal favorite of our new introductions, this one looks really sharp.  It doesn't get as big as your traditional smokebush and reaches just 5-6ft tall and wide.  New growth comes in a reddish color and aging to a rich near black tone that doesn't fade. 



Invincibelle® Series -The Invincibelle series of hydrangea is expanding again this year, now with three dwarf varieties.  Choose from Invincibelle Limetta™ hydrangea with its rich lime blooms or Invincibelle Mini Mauvette™ hydrangea with pink blooms. Both of these grow to 3ft tall and wide. Looking for something even smaller?  Try Invincibelle Wee White™ hydrangea that grows 1.5-2 feet tall. 

 
 

Tuff Stuff™ Series - Another great series that I personally have several of in my garden...love the lacecaps!  These guys live up to their name...they are tough as nails and are very hardy.   There are three in the series Tuff Stuff™ hydrangea, Tiny Tuff Stuff™ hydrangea and the newest, Tuff Stuff™ Red hydrangea

 

 

At Last® Rose - People love this rose!  The rich orange bloom draws everyone in, but then the fragrance wows everyone. To top it off, it's disease resistant.  It was also the 2016 Shrub Madness champion! 


Spilled Wine® Weigela - A great landscape plant!  These rock beautiful pink flowers with deep purple foliage like Wine & Roses® weigela, but has smaller, more cascading habit.