Grower News

Pachystachys lutea is better known as Golden Shrimp or lollipop plant. It’s an Arkansas Diamonds selection for 2019. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette/JANET B. CARSON) Let’s hope the recent cold weather is it for the year and we can safely begin planting our summer annuals. Some people jumped the gun and may be replanting after last week, but luckily they have plenty of options. Summer annuals are a great way to add color, and the Arkansas Diamonds program can guide gardeners toward some of the best ones for this area. Arkansas Diamonds is in its sixth year of promoting high-performing annual plants that do well throughout the state and have been commercially grown and brought to market by Arkansas growers. Gallery: Tough, beautiful Diamonds Arkansas Diamonds is a program of Arkansas Green Industry in partnership with the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service, those local growers and independent garden centers. A committee meets annually to discuss what plants are working and what plants aren’t before choosing options that should grow well statewide. In addition to adding three new summer annual plants this year, they have also added some ideas for your fall planting of winter annuals. New for summer 2020 are: • Persian shield • "Bandana White" lantana • SolarPower "Black Heart" ipomoea (sweet potato plant). For planting this fall, you will have "Rose Pink" pansies from the Nature series of pansies and "Glamour Red" kale. PERSIAN SHIELD Persian shield (Strobilanthes dyerianus) is an outstanding foliage plant for the summer garden. The leaves are a combination of green, iridescent purple and silver. It can grow 3 feet tall and wide in one season. It will grow well in light shade to heavy shade but avoid direct afternoon sun, which can bleach out the color. It thrives in heat and humidity and will give you stunning color all season when given even moisture. Fertilize it once a month and it will reward you with nonstop color. LANTANA Lantana is a proven performer in Arkansas. The hotter summer gets, the better lantana performs. "Bandana White" is a midsize lantana. […]

Source: www.nwaonline.com