First Editions® Berry White® Hydrangea:
This long-awaited introduction is a step forward in paniculata breeding. With strong, upright stems and large cone-shaped flower panicles that stay upright, this plant is a summer stunner. Like the other paniculatas from Mr. Jean Renault of Pépinières Renault, the flower color starts out white in July then progresses to dark pink. Coloring occurs from the bottom and progresses to the top of the panicle. Berry White® blooms a little later than Strawberry Sundae® and about the same time as Vanilla Strawberry™. Color shades can vary according to location, climate and type of soil. Our growers like this plant, and we think you will, too.
First Editions® Lotty’s Love® Rose
This ever-blooming, heavy blooming, rugosa rose bred by Chuck Bock won a gold medal from the American Rose Society in 2009 with one of the highest ratings ever. Lotty’s Love®, named after Chuck’s wife, Charlotte, has clusters of semi-double cup-shaped blooms of beetroot purple suffused with magenta. The 3-4” diameter flowers have gold stamens and emit a strong cinnamon fragrance. Lotty’s Love® has the cold hardiness and salt tolerance that makes this species such a landscape favorite. Red hips, 1/2 inch in diameter, form in the fall. The dark green glossy foliage is resistant to major fungal diseases. The habit is more refined than the species.
First Editions® Flip Side™ Vitex:
This beauty is a seedling selection from Vitex trifolia ‘Purpurea’ x V. agnus-castus that combines the best of both parents. Flip Side™ is cloaked in 8-inch panicles of fragrant, deep purple flowers that attract a nonstop parade of pollinators. It’s also a strong rebloomer. Flip Side™ got its name because the greyish olive-green leaves are dusky purple on the lower surface. While V. trifolia ‘Purpurea’ is only hardy to zone 9, Flip Side™ has been hardy in Athens, Georgia, for a number of years, surviving a zone 7 winter. Flip Side™ is much more compact than either parent. This is a very cool plant for warmer regions.
Endless Summer® Summer Crush™ Hydrangea:
Endless Summer® Hydrangea’s newest introduction Summer Crush™ Hydrangea is a true differentiator in the marketplace with a profusion of big rich raspberry red or neon purple blooms. This color breakthrough in reblooming garden hydrangeas is a welcome addition to the Endless Summer® brand. Bred by Bailey Innovations, this new variety is the result of focused breeding and years of production and field testing. Proven to be zone 4 cold hardy and the most wilt resistant Endless Summer® yet, Summer Crush has dark green glossy leaves, tight internodes, and a genetically compact habit to fit into smaller spaces in the garden and a perfect size for patio containers.
First Editions® Fireside™ Ninebark:
We selected Fireside™ Ninebark because of the stunning foliage. Reddish new growth matures to deep red-purple foliage that holds its color reliably all summer whereas others take on brownish tones later in the season. Even in our Georgia trials, the summer color did not brown out. Add to that, Fireside™ didn’t show any signs of powdery mildew in field and production trials in multiple sites in 2015-2018. The leaf size is intermediate; bigger than Little Devil™ but smaller than Diabolo®. Pinkish-white flowers bloom in spring and foliage turns deep purple in fall. The plant habit is tidier than other Physocarpus with a rounded, upright shape.
For more information, www.baileynurseries.com
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