The Top 10 New Garden Plants for 2023
Updated: Feb. 24, 2023Bright new colors, bigger blooms, pollinator appeal. Freshen up your gardens and pots with these top new plant picks.
Act fast! Shop early for the best selection of newly introduced plants. They are often available only in limited numbers in garden centers and plant catalogs. Keep a list of varieties you want to try in the future when they are more readily available.
Aromance Mulberry Nemesia
Nemesia fruticans, Zones 8 to 10, Annual elsewhere
Add fragrance to pots, gardens, hanging baskets and window boxes with Aromance Mulberry nemesia. While all nemesias shine during cooler weather, this one also has heat tolerance. It bloomed throughout last year’s hot Midwest summer. These new garden plants grow 10 to 18 inches tall and wide, and are covered in plum-fuchsia and lavender flowers.
Why we love it: The aromatic flowers keep coming without having to be deadheaded.
Check out the top 10 annuals that attract hummingbirds.
Calliope Cascade Violet Geranium
Pelagonium interspecific, Zones 10 to 11, Annual elsewhere
Enjoy a twist on a longtime favorite. The award-winning Calliope series is the first cascading geranium of its type. Its spreading growth habit works well in containers and hanging baskets. The vigorous growth and intense violet semi-double flowers make it a real showstopper, while also attracting bees and other pollinators.
Why we love it: This geranium is heat tolerant, so it blooms all summer.
Design a gorgeous garden with colorful flowers.
Persimmon Supertunia
Petunia hybrid, Zones 10 to 11, Annual elsewhere
This uniquely colored petunia has a yellow eye surrounded by persimmon-orange petals that seem to change color depending on the light and time of day. Like other Supertunias, Persimmon is heat tolerant and low maintenance and prefers full to part sun.
Why we love it: The mounded habit makes it useful as a filler or thriller in pots or at the front of a garden bed. Bees, butterflies and hummingbirds like it.
Zydeco Fire Zinnia
Zinnia marylandica, Annual
Boost the heat tolerance of your summer garden with Zydeco Fire’s vibrant orange double flowers. This new color in the award-winning Zydeco series also brightens cut flower arrangements. The flowers are 25% larger than similar zinnias, and the plant resists powdery mildew and is drought tolerant.
Why we love it: It grows easily from seed.
Lunar Lights Sterling Moon Begonia
Begonia ‘Sterling Moon, Zones 7 to 9
The puckered leaves of this shade grower are forest green with silvery frosting and mint green flecks. Salmon pink flowers complement the foliage of this 24- to 30-inch-tall plant. The new garden plants will nicely fill any small space.
Why we love it: In warm climates, enjoy it as a perennial. In colder regions, grow it as a houseplant in the winter. Or grow it indoors all year.
Cannova Red Golden Flame Canna
Canna x gernalis, Zones 8 to 11, Annual elsewhere
Add tropical flair to your outdoor spaces with this 30- to 48-inch-tall canna. Attractive wide leaves provide the perfect backdrop for the red flowers with petals edged in yellow. Make a bold statement by planting several in the garden or just one in a large pot.
Why we love it: Sun-loving cannas are a host plant for the Brazilian skipper butterfly.
Bluesette Russian Sage
Perovskia atriplicifolia, Zones 4 to 9
You’ll enjoy early blooms and amazing fragrance with these new garden plants. Blusette, a compact Russian sage, does best when grown in full sun and well-draining soil. Watch for the bees and butterflies that will no doubt stop by. This is a worthy addition to your yard, because it’s heat and drought tolerant, as well as deer and rabbit resistant.
Why we love it: At 14 to 22 inches tall, Bluesette is perfect as a vertical accent in containers or as a front-of-the garden plant.
We found the top 10 small shrubs for small spaces.
Blue Spreading Cool Wave Pansy
Viola x wittrockiana, Cool season annual
This new color in the Cool Wave series has long-lasting blooms and the same low-spreading growth habit as other members of this family. Plant Cool Wave pansies in fall or spring. If you’re in Zone 5 or milder, you can plant them in fall and enjoy their comeback in spring.
Why we love it: Pansies provide food for early spring and fall pollinators.
Love the color? Check out more pretty purple flowers to grow in your garden.
Blue by You Salvia
Salvia hybrid, Zones 4 to 9
Grow this All-America Selections winner for hummingbirds and butterflies to enjoy. Its blue flowers appear several weeks earlier than similar salvias. This adaptable, sun-loving perennial tolerates frost, heat and rain. Deadhead to keep it blooming from late spring to fall.
Why we love it: Deer and rabbits tend to overlook it.
Bandolista Red Chili Lantana
Lantana camara, Zones 8 to 11, Annual elsewhere
Grow this low, spreading lantana as a ground cover, or as a trailer in pots or hanging baskets. It has the same sun, heat and drought tolerance as other lantanas, but the vigorous growth and profusion of flowers gain it recognition.
Why we love it: The sterile flowers are prolific and have great pollinator appeal.
Grow these potted flowers and plants that attract hummingbirds.
New Native Garden Plants: Cultivars Worth Knowing
- Golden Feathers Jacob’s ladder (Polemonium pulcherrimum)
- Midnight Oil bee balm (Monarda bradburiana)
- MiniBeckia Flame black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia)
- Sombrero Poco Hot Pink Echinacea (Echinacea)
Check out the top 10 easy-to-grow native plants
Money-Saving Garden Tip
Stretch your budget with a good mix of new garden plants and longtime favorites. Grow the newer, more costly varieties in prime locations where you’ll most enjoy them, and fill in other spaces with flats of less expensive selections.
Next, check out the top 10 fast-growing annual flowers.
