New Plant News

At this year’s CAST trials in California, DANZIGER of course showed off new plants, but they also told a story. It centred on how people are actually gardening today: smaller spaces, city living, balconies, patios and even tabletops. The big question was actually quite simple: what can we grow when space is tight? As it turns out, quite a lot. With a carefully chosen range of compact, eye-catching plants, DANZIGER showed that small-scale gardening doesn’t have to feel limited.

If there was one company at FlowerTrials® prepared to challenge conventional thinking, it was Graff Breeding. The fourth-generation family business has never been afraid to do things differently, and that’s part of what makes a visit to its displays so interesting. Their philosophy is refreshingly simple: create value for the consumer first, and the grower benefits will follow.

Here’s your weekly Hort Report - the round-up of industry news, retail insights, home gardener gossip, influencer spotlights, social media news, and so much more. Grab a cold drink, and catch up on the latest below… NEWS FLASH A University of Michigan study has found that wild morning glories may be prioritising larger flowers to attract dwindling pollinators over adapting to climate change, leading to a 96% decline in their rate of adaptation over nine years.

In my role as a plant promoter, I come across so many new plants each month. And with each plant I post on social media, I’m often asked where it can be purchased for home gardens.

Innovation in horticulture often focuses on finding alternatives to peat-based growing media. It’s a big, big challenge, and one that has been enduring for many years… but for Selecta one⁠, the question was much more fundamental: what if there was no growing medium at all? That simple but bold idea became RCS® 2.0, a propagation system developed by Selecta one that roots cuttings in biodegradable cellulose paper rather than traditional substrates. No soil!! Incredible.

Every now and then a plant comes along that sounds suspiciously like nursery marketing: Flowers for six weeks in late summer. Loves sunshine. Thrives in wet weather. Hardy to -20°C. Flowers on new growth. Attractive to bees. Virtually pest free. Suitable for patios. Not fussy about soil. At some point you find yourself asking: “What’s the catch?” According to Willem and Robert Hooftman, there isn’t really one. Which is perhaps why Lagerstroemia is finally having its moment.

Here’s your weekly Hort Report - the round-up of industry news, retail insights, home gardener gossip, influencer spotlights, social media news, and so much more. Grab a cold drink, and catch up on the latest below… NEWS FLASH BBC Gardeners' World Live will relocate to the picturesque Packington Estate in 2027, just a short distance from its current venue.

There was plenty to see on the LAZZERI stand at this year’s FlowerTrials®, with the Italian breeder once again demonstrating why it has built such a strong reputation for combining eye-catching genetics with varieties that are easy for growers to produce. From festive favourites to spring performers, the focus was firmly on bringing something new to the market without compromising on performance. Three introductions, in particular, really caught the eye.

I post a lot of new plants on my Instagram - many of which are so new that they’re yet to appear in garden centres and the like.

My next stop of the magical mystery tour of the California spring trials was Benary, who were hosted by Por La Mar tropical plant nursery. This approach made sure their display was really, really bold and expressive, and you can’t help but think… imagine bringing just a slice of that energy to the UK. Even the smallest balcony or patio could feel transformed into something far more exotic and alive - just check out how they’ve blended begonias with what we see as typical houseplants.