Best New Plants for 2014

Every year, each of us tries new plants. Some are very successful, others do not do as well. Thinking about the plants we grew for the first time this year, I decided to write a post about the best ones among our own first timers. I restricted the choice to the best three, each of which is a plant I would most certainly keep or even grow more of.

The "first prize" goes to Oenothera (Gaura) lindheimeri 'Rosy Jane'.

Gaura lindheimeri 'Rosy Jane'

I had tried Gaura lindheimeri before (I read that taxonomists have now moved it to the Oenothera genus) without much success.  This goes to show that when a plant does not do well, the problem is often with the gardener who fails to give it the right conditions, rather than with the plant itself. However, I must have put it in the right spot this time, as it was a revelation.

Gaura lindheimeri 'Rosy Jane'

It started to bloom early in the summer and has not stopped blooming. I don't just mean that it is still producing a number of blooms. Actually it is now, in September, blooming as profusely as it did when it first started to flower, and it has never stopped blooming like that the whole summer. There are also white and pink varieties of this plant, but 'Rosy Jane' which combines both colours seems particularly attractive.

Gaura lindheimeri 'Rosy Jane'

It creates a cloud of blooms that are renewed as old one fades. It is in full sun, but apparently it can take some shade. It is indifferent about soil, but requires good drainage. In my old garden I had probably put it in a place that was not well-drained enough, which would explained why it did not do well and promptly died.  I read that they do just as well grown in a pot, so I plan next year to buy a different variety to grow in a container. The one I bought this spring shares a raised bed with mostly xeriscape plants.

In second place among our best new plants for 2014, I would chose Salvia sclarea var. turkestanica, a plant I wrote about earlier this summer. It is a superb-looking plant that is in bloom for a good two months. I would have put in in first place, if it were not biennial. This means it has to be reseeded every year if you want to keep it from year to year.

Salvia sclarea var. turkestanica 

Finally, my third and last best new plant for 2014 is Agastache rupestris. It is a rather discreet plant, certainly not as showy at the previous two, with its foliage and flowers in tones of grey and bluish red. Its thin grey foliage identifies it right away as a drought-tolerant sun lover.

Agastache rupestris

Apparently, it can reach three feet tall. Ours, which was grown from seeds I got in a seed exchange, is in its second year and blooming for the first time. It is at most one foot tall. I expect it would look better in a drift than as a single specimen as in the picture above.  It is in a very dry raised bed, in full sun. Being a fall bloomer, the flowers are now just starting to open.

It is attractive to look at,  but perhaps what I like best about it is the smell. It has a wonderful fragrance which is best appreciated when you brush against the foliage and blooms. To me, it certainly is comparable to lavender.  It is one of these pungent smells one associates with deserts in places like Arizona. It has so far been completely trouble free and very undemanding.

What were your own best new plants for 2014?