Garden gems

Arkansas Diamonds plants promise low maintenance, high satisfaction

Red Dragon Wing begonia will reach 2 to 3 feet tall — and wide — by the end of the growing season.
Red Dragon Wing begonia will reach 2 to 3 feet tall — and wide — by the end of the growing season.

Gardeners are in plant-buying mode, but visiting nurseries and garden centers can be a bit overwhelming with all the plants to choose from.

photo

Arkansas Diamonds

Purple angelonia or summer snapdragon blooms best when it’s planted in full sun and given a bit of water during very dry weather.

photo

Arkansas Diamonds

“Cora Cascade” polka dot vinca grows just 6 to 8 inches tall but spreads 32 to 36 inches wide, and it flowers from frost to frost.

photo

Arkansas Diamonds

“Redhead” coleus tolerates full sun but benefits from shade during the hottest part of the day.

photo

Arkansas Diamonds

Blue scaevola or fan flower is a low-spreading, heat- and drought-tolerant plant.

photo

Arkansas Diamonds

Gold or yellow lantana are disease- and insect-resistant plants that can fend for themselves much of the summer.

photo

Arkansas Diamonds

Red Dragon Wing

photo

Arkansas Diamonds

Purple angelonia

photo

Arkansas Diamonds

Blue scaevola

photo

Arkansas Diamonds

“Redhead” coleus

photo

Arkansas Diamonds

Gold or yellow lantana

photo

Arkansas Diamonds

This is the logo of the Arkansas Diamonds plant promotion program. Arkansas Diamonds is a cooperative effort among the Arkansas Green Industry Association, the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service, Arkansas growers and independent garden centers to promote plants that have been tested and found to be good performers in the state.

Let's say you want colorful blooms you'll be able to enjoy all summer without having to tend the plants every day or fret a lot about pests and unsightly diseases. How can you know which are the best varieties for Arkansas summers?

Helping the gardener make appropriate choices is the new Arkansas Diamonds Program -- a partnership of the Arkansas Green Industry Association, the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service, Arkansas growers and independent garden centers. The goal of the program is to educate Arkansas gardeners about plants that consistently perform well in our state so that gardeners will enjoy more success in their gardens.

The Arkansas Diamonds program also aims to promote the local growers and local independent garden centers. The plants chosen are locally grown and "Arkansas tough."

Each year the program will recommend a batch of Arkansas-loving summery plants. For the inaugural class, the six summer annuals chosen are

• Red Dragon Wing begonia

• Purple angelonia

• "Cora Cascade" polka dot vinca

• "Redhead" coleus

• Blue scaevola

• Gold/yellow lantana

BEGONIA

Red Dragon Wing begonia is a great all-season bloomer.

This cane-forming begonia produces large, glossy green leaves and drooping clusters of red flowers. (While it does come in pink as well as red, the red variety is the better performer.)

Because the hybrid is sterile, it wastes no energy setting seeds and instead keeps blooming from spring till frost.

Like all begonias, it does best in fertile, well-drained soil. To keep it growing throughout the summer, make sure it is fertilized with some regularity, and water when dry.

Dragon Wing-type begonias thrive on the heat and humidity of an Arkansas summer but will do best given some protection from the hot afternoon sun.

Give this plant room to grow, since it will reach 2 to 3 feet tall -- and wide -- by the end of the growing season.

ANGELONIA

Angelonia or summer snapdragon is another standout summer performer in full sun to partial shade. The more sun, the better it blooms.

While angelonias come in a range of colors from shades of blue and purple to pink and white, and some bi-colors thrown in, Arkansas Diamonds has chosen purple angelonia as the best bet.

These spike-forming bloomers will bring color all summer -- provided they get regular fertilization.

The plant is very heat- and drought-tolerant but will bloom best if given supplemental irrigation in dry weather.

This member of the snapdragon family has few insects or disease problems. Varieties do vary to mature height and spread but have a range between 1 to 3 feet tall and a spread of 6 to 12 inches.

VINCA

"Cora Cascade" polka dot vinca is an annual periwinkle. While it grows just 6 to 8 inches tall, "Cascade" spreads 32 to 36 inches wide, and flowers from frost to frost.

The blooms are very evenly distributed, eliminating the bald spots that plague some varieties of vinca. Large, white to pale pink flowers with a red center draw the eye, and the plant also has glossy, dense green foliage.

This vinca thrives in full sun, is quite drought-tolerant and also very disease-resistant.

COLEUS

"Redhead" coleus ranks among the deepest red coleus plants on the market.

Although it will grow in full sun, it would benefit from a bit of shade during the hottest part of the day -- unless you can keep it well watered. It can also do well in partial shade.

These new varieties of coleus do not produce their flower heads until very late in the season, if they ever do. This allows the plants to direct their energy toward producing dense foliage. The mature plant can be 2 feet tall and wide.

The plant does well in containers or in the ground, and the intense red makes it really a standout coleus plant.

FAN FLOWER

Blue scaevola or fan flower is another full-sun bedding plant that will tolerate partial shade. The fan-shaped flowers are produced all season long on low-spreading plants. It is heat- and drought-tolerant, and while it also comes in a range of colors, the blue variety is one of the best performers.

The plant grows 8 to 10 inches tall with a spread of 12 to 24 inches, depending on variety.

LANTANA

Lantanas are one of the most heat-tolerant bedding plants we have for Arkansas gardens. In southern Arkansas, these plants are perennials, but in central Arkansas they are hit and miss; in the northern tier, they are annuals.

While there are many varieties of lantana to choose from, Arkansas Diamonds has chosen the gold or yellow varieties.

Size can vary tremendously by variety, but they all thrive in full sun and warm conditions. Although they often can survive on their own, without your help, in the hottest, driest months they would appreciate a little extra water and reward the care by putting on a bit more of a show. They are very disease-resistant and insect-free.

So if you are trying to choose a good summer annual, there you have six good options.

Arkansas Diamonds are available at independent garden centers. A list of participating retailers is at argia.org.

Retailers will display the Arkansas Diamonds logo. By selecting a Diamond, gardeners can feel confident that they are supporting local businesses and purchasing a plant that will most likely be successful in the garden.

Janet B. Carson is a horticulture specialist for the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service.

HomeStyle on 04/18/2015

Upcoming Events