The Year of...

African violet, Saintpaulia ionantha, was originally discovered growing in the wooded Usambara mountains near the border between Kenya and Tanzania in 1892. The original plant was collected by Walter von Saint-Paul-Illaire, after whom the genus was named. It was sent to a plantsman in Hanover, Germany and quickly caught the attention of plant-lovers. By 1927, the first commercial hybrids, all with blue flowers, debuted in the gardening market.

Earlier this year, we discussed two 2023 National Garden Bureau’s (NGB) Plants of the Year - this year's shrub (Spirea) and vegetable (broccoli). Orchids are the NGB houseplant of the year and the holidays are a great time to discuss this large group of flowering plants, which includes more than 28,000 species! Orchids are commonly available through garden catalogs and flower shops during the holiday season and make a great gift plant for the green thumb on your gift list.

For 2023, the National Garden Bureau’s shrub of the year is Spirea, which unfortunately often gets overlooked during the spring buying-rush as old-fashioned and uninteresting. In reality, spireas are tough, easy-to-grow shrubs and a workhorse in modern landscapes.

Spireas offer a wide range of colorful foliage ranging from blue to yellow, red to orange, and every shade of green in-between. A wide range of plant sizes and habits, as well as many flower colors, are additional reasons to reconsider these great shrubs.

Broccoli hails from the Mediterranean region and has been enjoyed there since Roman times. Other European regions eventually caught on and broccoli was popularized in France as “Italian Asparagus” in about 1650. The English adopted it about 70 years later.

We have been broccoli fans across the US since the 1920s when ice-packed broccoli heads rode the rails from California to the eastern US. In 2011, the United States produced more than 2 billion pounds with a value of over $750 million on more than 130,000 acres.

Each year the National Garden Bureau selects a flower, perennial and vegetable to showcase, with plants being chosen for their popularity, variety, ease of growth, wide adaptability and versatility. This year the flower being featured is Petunia, an incredibly versatile plant available in a multitude of colors. Exciting developments in petunia breeding over the last twenty years have resulted in great new plants for the garden.

Earlier this spring, we looked at three ornamental plants promoted this year by the National Garden Bureau – dahlia, snapdragon and Salvia nemorosa. It’s getting warm enough now (at least most days!) that we can begin planting their final “Year of the…” feature – pumpkin.

Pumpkins are a fun plant to grow, especially when gardening with children, with many uniquely colored or shaped cultivars from which to choose.

Pantone, a company with world-renowned authority on color, each year selects a Color of the Year. Living Coral, a vibrant warm coral hue with a golden undertone was the featured color for 2019, but for 2020 they have selected Classic Blue, a calming deep blue.

Pantone forecasts global color trends and their Color of the Year is a symbolic color selection, representing a snapshot of our global culture that serves as an expression of mood and attitude.

This year the All-America Selections (AAS) celebrates 88 years of testing and introducing improved flowers and vegetables. AAS was founded in 1932 to foster the development, production and distribution of new and improved horticultural and agricultural varieties of flowers, bedding plants and vegetables in North America. Plants are evaluated at a network of over 50 trial gardens and grown in 190 display gardens across the United States and Canada.

Since 1980 the National Garden Bureau has developed a “Year of” plant program, with the goal of educating and inspiring gardeners to try new crops. Over the years, the program has grown to include six plant classes – houseplant, bulb or bulb-like, annual, perennial, vegetable and shrub – with one specific plant per class featured each year.

Today we’ll look at this year’s featured houseplant - Peperomia, annual flower - Verbena and perennial plant - Phlox.

This week let’s look at the National Garden Bureau’s three additional featured plants for the year - Gladiola, lilac and salad greens.