Proven Winner announces top picks from 2024 varieties lineup

Proven Winners has announced its Top Picks, the most outstanding and unique varieties from its 2024 new introduction lineup. Selected for strong consumer appeal and backed by Proven Winners national marketing, these are varieties growers and retailers will need in their 2024 programs. Among this year's class of Top Picks are two novel colors of double Calibrachoa, the most compact hardy hibiscus to date, and a savory rose selected for its fruity flavored petals and robust growth. Like all Proven Winners, each of the Top Picks has been rigorously tested for superior garden performance, including disease resistance, vigor, durability, and more. 

"Our plant development and trialing programs bring forth awe-inspiring, quality new plants that are rated for heat, humidity, and hardiness," said Proven Winners Vice-President of Sales Dave Konsoer. "The Top Picks will have strong consumer appeal, earning them increased attention across our marketing efforts which build further consumer excitement and demand. They should be in every grower's and retailer's 2024 program."  

2024 Top Pick Proven Winners Annuals:

• SUPERBELLS® Double REDSTONE™Calibrachoa – For something truly unique, try this new fully double, vermillion, and gold bicolor selection. The petite blooms appear prolifically on robust, well-branched, mounded plants from spring into fall without deadheading.
• SUPERBELLS® Double VINTAGE CORAL™Calibrachoa - Everything vintage is trending with consumers, and this antique amber-orange veined, fully double-flowered calibrachoa is everything they are looking for. Received top marks in Florida trials for its robust habit and seasonlong performance.
• SUPERTUNIA® HOOPLA™ VIVID ORCHID™Petunia - See what all the hoopla is about! This picotee patterned petunia is the best Proven Winners has trialed in years. It meets Supertunia standards for seasonlong performance without deadheading, has a well-branched habit, and exhibits a consistent, bold color pattern.
• SUPERTUNIA® SAFFRON FINCH™Petunia - As yellow continues to trend with consumers, Proven Winners is excited to introduce this new sunny yellow Supertunia with a full, well-branched, rounded habit. It'll work well in your spring and summer recipes and deliver a stellar garden performance.
• SUPERBENA® PINK CASHMERE™Verbena - This pastel pink Superbena captured Proven Winners' attention in trials with its delicate flower color, extremely vigorous growth, huge umbels and exemplary resistance to powdery mildew.
• HEART TO HEART® 'Rain or Shine'Caladium hortulanum – One of the most unique and vigorous caladiums Proven Winners has trialed. It sprouts and finishes quickly in production, resulting in gorgeous finished plants. Large, bronze pink-red leaves with soft pink speckles and black veining stand out easily on grower and retail benches. 

2024 Top Pick Proven Winners Perennials:

• 'Silver Lining'Artemisia – Grown for its spectacular foliage, this native cultivar forms a low, wide mound of dissected silver foliage that keeps its shape all season. It is reliably perennial and does not spread by underground runners. Use it as a filler at the border's edge or a spiller in container recipes. Hardy in zones 4-9.
• RAINBOW RHYTHM® 'Blazing Glory'Hemerocallis - This striking daylily bears very large 6", golden yellow flowers with a bold burgundy red eye and matching picotee edge that extends around the entire margin of the petals. A fragrant, semi-evergreen tetraploid with a high bud count, blooming first midseason and reblooming in late summer. Hardy in zones 3-9.
• SUMMERIFIC® 'All Eyes on Me'Hibiscus - One of Proven Winners' most compact hardy hibiscus introductions to date. Well-rounded plants with dark green foliage bloom top to bottom with very large 8", blushing pink blossoms with a bright red eye from midsummer to early fall. Heavily overlapping, ruffled petals give the impression of being semi-double. Hardy in zones 4-9.
• SHADOWLAND® 'Love Story'Hosta - This medium-sized hosta bears long, heart-shaped, green leaves with chartreuse jetting that bleeds into the creamy white center. It's made extra special by variegation, which extends from petiole to leaf tip and wavy piecrust leaf edges. Tall scapes hold large clusters of white flowers in early summer. Hardy in zones 3-9.
• LUMINARY®' Prismatic Pink'Phlox paniculata - Classic bubblegum pink flowers with a dark pink eye form large, dense panicles atop the clump of mildew-resistant, dark green foliage for several months beginning in midsummer. A good match for the series; perfect size for mid-border and a great cut flower. This native hybrid is a pollinator favorite. Hardy in zones 3-8.
• ROCK' N GROW®' Midnight Velvet'Sedum - This striking upright sedum creates interest from the moment its deep purple foliage emerges in spring. The full, domed habit is adorned in late summer with large clusters of mauve buds which open to reveal rose-red flowers that attract pollinators before transitioning to dark red seed heads. Hardy in zones 3-9.

2024 Top Pick Proven Winners ColorChoice® Flowering Shrubs:

• STARBLAST CHIFFON™Hibiscus syriacus - A stellar plant with large, pure white flowers artistically inked with outwardly radiating red and pink veins to create a festive flower unlike any other. This variety flowers earlier and longer than typical and has a low seed set. Hardy in zones 5-9.
• LET'S DANCE SKY VIEW®Hydrangea macrophylla x serrata – A standout cultivar noted for its consistent bloom and rebloom, whether you grow it in Michigan or Florida. The compact cultivar is loaded with blooms which shift easily to sky blue. Hardy in zones 4-9.
• PUFFER FISH® Hydrangea paniculata– Think of this new selection as a larger, more puffed-up Bobo®, with fluffy white blooms that engulf the entire plant, nearly obscuring the foliage. The unique blossoms age to lime green rather than pink. Hardy in zones 3-8.
• FLAVORETTE™Honey-Apricot Rosa – This edible rose was selected specifically for its lush, full flowers, vigorous growth, as well as the sensuous texture and sweet, fruity flavor of its petals. The fragrant blossoms appear continuously throughout the summer. Hardy in zones 4-8.
• BLOOMERANG®PURPINK™ Syringa × pubescens - Unquestionably one of the most prolific rebloomers in this series; classically fragrant flowers are produced in spring, summer, and fall. Reliable disease resistance creates durability in the landscape. Hardy in zones 3-7.